Two more wins for Tigers last week

Ipswich claimed two more boys' high school basketball wins this past week, both non-conference.

The Tigers were able to handle Hitchcock-Tulare 50-32 last Tuesday in the Tiger Den and the IHS boys added a 48-44 come-from-behind win at home over Florence/Henry on Friday. That improved the Tigers record to 5-0 entering the Christmas break and their next appearance will be another homecourt girls/boys doubleheader hosting Waubay/Summit on December 29. Then on January 3 the Lady Tiger girls and Tiger boys will host league foe Warner in a girls/boys twinbill.

Against H-T, the Tiger boys jumped ahead 11-4 after a quarter, then manufactured a 21-7 halftime lead thanks to some stingy defense. Ipswich also led 36-21 with a quarter to play.

Ipswich featured a very balanced scoring evening, led by Will Kadlec and Ben Kulesa with nine points apiece. (Kadlec included a pair of treys.) Daniel Braun added eight points. Reece Moehlenbrink and Jacob Nierman each tallied six points and credit Nierman with a pair of treys for his six-point effort. Max Geditz scored five points including a trey and Carson Simes four points with a trey. Ty Kadlec rounded out scoring with three points.

Hitchcock-Tulare's Ty Hofer led all scorers in the game with his 24-point evening. His team shot 14-48 from the floor including three treys and was only 1-3 in free throw attempts. Ipswich countered with a 20-54 shooting night that featured six treys and a 4-15 free throw effort.

Ipswich utilized a 45-32 rebounding lead, paced by Will Kadlec's nine retrieves. Each team committed 17 turnovers and Ipswich had eight steals, led by Braun and Geditz with two each.

Fast forward to December 21! It was fair to say that it was definitely a tale of two halves with the Tigers building up steam for a late rally that carried them past their visitors. (Their last lead in the first quarter had been 9-8 and after that the visiting Falcons led 15-11 after a quarter, 32-21 at intermission and 38-31 with a quarter to play.)

In that quarter Ipswich outscored its visitors 17-6 to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as the old saying goes. With 1:46 on the game clock Moehlenbrink netted a pair of free throws to deadlock the score at 44. The Tigers forced a steal and Will Kadlec's trey put Ipswich up 47-44. The Falcons then missed another scoring opportunity that was rebounded by Moehlenbrink, who was immediately fouled. His second attempt found its mark for the final four-point two-possession margin.

Ipswich was led in scoring by Will Kadlec with a game-high 20-point evening that featured two treys and he in fact was the Tigers' lone double-figure scorer. But Nierman almost reached that plateau with three accurate treys for his nine points. Moehlenbrink, meanwhile, finished with six points, followed by Kulesa with four points. Braun and Ty Kadlec each added a trey for their three points and Geditz also scored three points to complete the ledger. (Will Kadlec and Braun each added four assists.)

The visitors featured one double-figure scorer, Mason Schroeder, with 12 points and six of his teammates also got into the scorebook in a balanced effort.

Ipswich totaled 15 floor shots of which seven were treys and was 11-18 at the line. The Tigers also owned a 38-34 rebounding edge, led by Moehlenbrink with eight and Braun and Kulesa with six apiece. Each team sustained 13 turnovers.