Tigers split pair last week at home

Ipswich prepared for its boys' high school regional tourney action with two homecourt regular-season games last week and the Tigers split both outcomes. They upended Sunshine Bible Academy 69-49, but lost to Potter County by a 67-64 verdict two nights later.

Against SBA, Ipswich never trailed and gradually pulled away. The Tigers led 24-13 after a quarter and upped their lead to 49-24 at intermission. They narrowly won the third quarter 9-8 to take a commanding lead into the final quarter, even though they were out-scored by their visitors 17-11 in that stanza. (Ipswich's largest lead was 31 points.)

Carson Simes led Ipswich with 15 points, including three treys and Ty Kadlec was next with 11 points, also featuring a trio of treys. Reece Moehlenbrink scored eight points, followed by Will Kadlec with seven points and he included a trey and five of his team's 27 assists. Jacob Nierman utilized a pair of three-balls for his six points and Ben Kulesa also tallied six points.

Daniel Braun and Matt Miller each included a trey among their five points and Jadon Onken scored four points. Ethan Gilbert added two points.

The visitors received a game-high 18 points from Jade Burma and Travis Hass was next with 14 points. Four other SBA players scored.

Ipswich totaled 27 accurate floor shots in 56 tries, including its 11 treys and was 4-6 in free throw attempts.

The visitor included three treys in their 20-47 floor-shooting effort and were 6-12 at the charity stripe.

Ipswich enjoyed a 35-27 rebounding edge, led by Nierman with five in a very balanced effort.

The IHS contingent committed 14 turnovers; SBA, 17. The Tigers came up with seven steals, again led by Nierman's two.

Meanwhile, the Tigers lived up to their nickname and clawed back into contention against Potter County. They had to overcome a 34-25 halftime deficit, after knotting the first-quarter score at 17-17. Ipswich then shaded PC 16-14 in the third quarter and also won the final quarter 23-19, despite seeing the Battlers grab that late three-point advantage. But the Tigers had a three-point basket attempt in the air before the buzzer that would have forced an overtime.

Max Geditz and Will Kadlec shared IHS scoring honors with 18 points apiece. (Geditz included four treys and Will Kadlec a pair.) Nierman almost reached double-figure scoring honors, as well, with nine points, thanks to a trio of accurate treys.

Braun scored six points with a trey and Moehlenbrink tossed in four points. Simes and Ty Kadlec each netted a trey for their three points and Onken had two points, followed by Kulesa's free throw. The Tigers helped enable all that with 23 assists led by Will Kadlec with 11 for a double-double.

Dawson Simon had 27 points for the visitors that was game-high and Calen Decker also reached double-figure scoring territory with 14 points. Five other Battlers scored.

The Battlers shot 27-48 from the floor with seven treys and were 6-16 at the line. Ipswich finished 23-59 in floor shots, including those dozen treys and went 6-11 at the line.

Ipswich narrowly won the boards 33-30, helped by Will Kadlec with nine retrieves and Kulesa with six.

The visitors committed 16 miscues; Ipswich, 19. Geditz led the Tigers in steals with three.