In recent years (and even those not-so-recent) the number of times that Iola and Yates Center have met on a court or a field or even a ball diamond is few in number, despite the two schools being just 20 miles apart.
So, when the schools do happen to meet up as they did Tuesday night for the boys semifinal of the Wilson County Classic, it helps to have a little bit of drama and intrigue.
Yates Center strolled in with all the confidence in the world and just one loss so far this season while Iola, riding a two game win-streak, felt they were playing their best basketball of the season.
The Mustangs fought hard at times but couldnt put a complete game together as the Wildcats pulled away in the final quarter for a 60-52 win.
Theyre a good team and they hit shots all night long but what killed us was after that first quarter, they beat us to nearly all the loose balls and rebounds, Iola head coach Luke Bycroft said. They wanted it more than we did and it showed.
Heading into the game, Yates Center (10-1) was already down one of their own. Head coach Jason Graf, after struggling with a virus for a of couple weeks, found himself briefly hospitalized over the weekend and thus out for the first couple of days of the tournament. Taking his place was first-year assistant Tanner McNutt.
Hes back home now and hes rested so hopefully, hell be back for us on Friday, McNutt said.
Iola (5-5) came out swinging and quickly grew their lead to double-digits. Their dominant start showed hope for a different outcome but as theyve done throughout the year, the Mustangs managed to get in their own way.
In the first quarter we were attacking the basket and we just got anything we wanted, Bycroft said. But then we let how easy it was get into our heads. And thats what we saw for the rest of the game.
The comeback for Yates Center started after the first quarter. The Wildcats clamped down significantly on defense, limiting Iola to half of its production from the first quarter while shots started to fall for other Wildcats aside from senior Aaron King who had the lions share of Yates Centers first quarter points.
We knew after that first quarter that we needed to make a defensive change, McNutt said. As a first-year coach, I know that I dont have a lot of Xs and Os. But I know the type of effort that these guys are capable of and they really turned things up on defense and thats what flipped things.
The teams went into the half with Iola leading 33-28 but it didnt take the Wildcats long to pull themselves back up and take the lead, which they never surrendered.
Senior point guard Derek Bycroft went down with an ankle injury that kept him out for the remainder of the game leaving a gassed and scrambling Iola team down one of their best ball handlers.
Yates Center led by as much as nine in that third quarter and was up six heading into the fourth.
The Mustangs started to get some life back in them and cut the Wildcats lead to three but back-to-back Yates Center buckets pushed the game back out of reach and put Iola back into scramble mode for the final minutes.
Wed done the work to get back in it, Bycroft said. They were getting nervous and their crowd was getting nervous because wed been down nine earlier, But we stopped playing defense and stopping the ball and they just got whatever they wanted and the comeback was over.
