Tigers stop JVC Vikings

Ipswich swept a homecourt girls/boys Saturday afternoon varsity basketball doubleheader vs. James Valley Christian last Saturday in the Tiger Den. The girls topped their visitors 45-35 and the boys held on for a hard-fought 58-51 victory.

A highlight of the girls' outcome was that junior sharpshooter Halle Heinz broke her own sister Kamryn's career three-point field goals record and had obtained 154 career treys, as of our newspaper deadline at least.

But talking about treys, teammate Bailey Pitz got Ipswich off to a good start with a trey of her own. And the Lady Tigers would actually never relinquish their lead even though their visitors countered with a basket to trail 3-2. But Heinz's initial trey of the day would put Ipswich up 6-2 and Pitz would follow suit with yet another trey. And Heinz completed the early Tiger run with a drive to the paint for a 11-2 lead.

But the Lady Vikings certainly weren't conceding anything that early in the game. Ipswich would lead 14-9 after a quarter and then carried a 21-12 lead into their locker room thanks to (you guessed it) a buzzer-beating Heinz trey.

The visitors would then hang around for a lot of the second half, but Ipswich would still lead 30-22 with three quarters in the books and was able to stave off their visitors down the stretch.

Heinz would finish with a game-high 24 points and ended up with a trio of treys. Next was Chesney Olivier with seven points, including the Tigers' final basket of the game to make it a 10-point affair. Pitz would finish with those two treys for her six points, while Katie Bierman chipped in with five points and Tessa Kilber with three points.

The visitors only managed four scorers, led by Brenna Held with 16 points and Karilyn Wieting with 13 counters.

Ipswich shot 16-48 from the floor including the five treys and was 8-16 in free throw opportunities. The visitors benefited from 13 total floor shots, including a lone trey and finished a warm 8-9 at the line.

The visitors owned a 39-31 rebounding edge, despite nine by Heinz. But Ipswich committed only five turnovers and the Lady Viking six in a very well played floor game by both schools.

Now to the boys' game! The visitors indeed got off to a 2-0 start until Will Kadlec's layup and Ty Kadlec's trey. But the Vikings would still grab a 12-9 first-quarter edge. Later on in the half, though, was a different story. Ipswich tossed in 18 second-quarter points to lead 27-22 at intermission. A 17-13 third-quarter edge by the Tigers then gained them a 44-35 advantage with a quarter to play.

But the visitors would outscore Ipswich 16-14 in the final quarter highlighted by their basket which would leave them down by only one possession — 51-50. But Ipswich (and the game clock) would stave off any further rally attempts by the Vikings. That's because the hosts responded with 5-6 free throw shooting down the stretch, always a welcome sight in a close outcome.

Will Kadlec finished with a game-high 32 points that featured one three-point field goal. But further IHS scoring tapered off to six points from Josh McQuarie and four points each by Ethan Gilbert, Maxwell Geditz and Eric Severson. Ty Kadlec netted that trey for three points and Jordan Richardt launched another accurate trey for his three points. Taylor Thorson completed the ledger with a basket.

The Vikings' balanced attack was led by Zach Kleinsasser with 20 points. Richard Rink was next with nine points but no other Vikings had reached the double-figure scoring plateau.

Ipswich shot 24-51 from the floor including the three treys and ended up 7-10 at the charity stripe. The visitors were 9-14 there to go with their 18 floor shots that featured six treys.

Ipswich had 35 rebounds; JVC, 31. Ipswich was led by Will Kadlec's nine, almost a double-double. The visitors committed six turnovers; Ipswich, eight, another decent floor game from both teams.

 

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