Tiger boys dominate Northwestern

Ipswich dominated a Lake Region Conference boys' basketball showdown vs. Northwestern last Tuesday, Jan. 5 in Mellette.

The Tigers swept their respective host teams, starting with C-game and B-game wins followed by a hard-earned 45-31 varsity victory that evening.

In that one, Ipswich got off to a 16-4 first-quarter lead, making a huge defensive statement. Ipswich would then lead 26-16 at intermission, still holding on to a double-figure scoring edge. And the third-quarter scoring battle would then result in a 7-7 defensive stand off. But the Tigers would then out-score the Wildcats by four points down the stretch to give themselves a little more breathing room at the final buzzer.

Ipswich received a game-high 16 points from Josh McQuarie, followed by Ty Kadlec with nine points, including one trey. Next was Eric Severson with eight points, while Taylor Thorson and Matt Hettich each featured a trey in their five-points' scoring efforts. Carter Geditz added one basket inside the arc to complete the Tigers' scorebook.

The Wildcats were led by Chase Neiber with nine points and Jace Haven and Quintin Fischbach added six points each. Hunter Schipke and Sam Groft had three points each and Chris Toennies and Jude Ortmeier tallied two points apiece. So no Wildcat managed to dent their double-figure scoring column.

Ipswich finished 15-49 in total field goals that featured their trio of treys. The Tigers were 12-14 in free throw tries. The hosts included six treys among their 11 accurate floor shots and were 3-4 at the charity stripe.

The Tigers grabbed 41 rebounds; the Wildcats, 32. Ipswich was paced by Thorson with nine in a balanced team effort. Ipswich sustained 21 turnovers, but had eight steals, led by Severson with three.

A scheduled girls/boys twin bill versus Warner in Ipswich on the 7th of January was postponed due to COVID issues, but the Tiger boys were scheduled to play Sully Buttes on Tuesday Jan. 12 in Ipswich. The IHS girls and boys are then supposed to host Groton Area here on January 19. (The girls are to play host to Northwestern on January 14 in the Tiger Den.)