IHS Boys open season with wins

Ipswich opened its 2018-19 boys' high school basketball campaign with a pair of Lake Region Conference victories, one on the road and then one at home.

The Tigers indeed topped Eureka-Bowdle 72-31 in Bowdle last Tuesday and returned home to conquer the Langford Lions 60-32 two nights later.

Against E-B the Ipswich contingent gradually extended its lead and eventually placed 11 players in its scoring ledger. Will Kadlec led the balanced effort with 15 points and featured three treys. Ben Kulesa was next with 11 points, including a trey and Ty Kadlec also reached double-figures with 10 points, including a trey.

Maxwell Geditz was next with eight points, including a pair of three-balls and Ethan Gilbert contributed seven points with one trey. Daniel Braun added five points with a trey. And Matthew Miller, Carson Simes and Reece Moehlinbrink each chipped in with four points. Jacob Nierman and Jadon Onken rounded out the effort with two points apiece.

The hosts and all scorers for that matter were led by Alec Maier with 22 points.

Ipswich shot a warm 31-53 from the floor, including those nine treys and was 1-8 at the free throw line. The Patriots were only 10-37 from the floor but a better 10-17 at the line.

Ipswich edged its host 16-15 in rebounding. The Tigers were led by Braun and Onken with three retrieves apiece. The Tigers committed 15 turnovers; the Patriots, 22. Six of those were thefts by Will Kadlec. The Tigers recorded a total of 16 steals. Ipswich utilized 18 assists in its offensive attack led by Will Kadlec and Simes with three each.

Ipswich scored the first basket of the game by Braun against Langford. But the Lions grabbed a narrow 12-11 lead after a quarter and a little later in the half obtained its lone two-possession lead of the game, 17-13. After that it was nearly all Ipswich.

Onken's pair of free throws gave the Tigers a 24-22 halftime lead. And Ipswich scored the first seven points of the second half, starting with a Nierman trey, then a Kulesa drive into the paint and a Will Kadlec drive to the hoop. That put the Tigers up 31-22 and they would later grab their initial double-figure lead of 34-24 with a Geditz trey.

Ipswich then led 46-26 after three quarters and further extended its advantage down the stretch.

Ipswich again featured balanced scoring with 10 players denting the scorebook. Geditz and Onken each led the way with 10 points, each including a pair of treys. Next was Will Kadlec with nine points and Kulesa with eight points followed by Braun with six points. Simes added five points including a shot-clock beating trey. Nierman also tallied five points with a trey. Matthew Miller added his three points with Ipswich's remaining trey and Ty Kadlec and Moehlinbrink each added a basket.

The Tigers were 22-57 from the floor with the seven treys and shot 9-17 at the line. The visitors were 12-48 from the floor and 8-15 at the line. They were led by Colin Frey's game-high 15 points and Bryce Peterson was next with seven counters.

Ipswich garnered 15 offensive rebounds and 22 defensively, led by Braun with 11 and Kulesa with eight. Ipswich totaled 19 assists, paced by five from Kulesa and Geditz and Will Kadlec with four each. The Tigers committed only 11 turnovers; them, 16 miscues, of which 12 were created by Ipswich steals.