Ipswich girls stop Faulkton and Groton in last week's action

The Ipswich girls utilized outstanding final-quarter performances to capture two high school basketball girls/boys twin-bills during the school week last week, one at home in Ipswich and the other on the road to Faulkton.

In the latter instance Ipswich carved out a 40-37 lead when Halle Heinz netted the second of her two free throw tries with 12 ticks on the scoreboard clock. But that still left the hosts with ample time to send the game into overtime. "They did have a shot to tie it up," said Tiger coach Brian Hogie. Fortunately for the Tigers that attempt did not find its mark and the IHS girls were indeed able to escape with a hard-fought LRC league win.

Games with Faulkton can and quite often are extremely competitive and this game would definitely fall into that category. The Tigers emerged with a 9-4 first-quarter lead, but as you might guess, Faulkton would trim that deficit down to 18 to 14 at intermission. And the Trojans weren't through just yet. They won the third-quarter scoring battle 12-7 to grab a 26-25 edge entering the final quarter and briefly extended that to 27-25. What would prove to be the Trojans' last lead would be a razor-thin 33-32 edge, but Ipswich doubled its hosts 8-4 the rest of the way to seal the verdict.

In a game this close, the score was tied five different times and the lead changed hands six times.

Fortunately, Heinz would finish with 11 of her game-high 18 points in the decisive final quarter. She included one trey. Katie Bierman also climbed the double-figure scoring plateau with 10 points in a relief role. Bailey Pitz was next with six points on a pair of treys. Chesney Olivier scored four points and Ashton Loken a basket.

Faulkton, meanwhile, was led by Peyton Melius with 12 points, followed by Shayna Heitmann also in double figures with 11 points. Isabel Aesoph almost got there with nine points. Three other players combined for their other five points.

Ipswich shot 12-48 from the floor including its three treys and was 13-25 in free throws. The hosts were 14-57 from the floor that included a trio of treys. They added a 6-15 free throw evening.

The hosts were able to obtain a 56-36 rebounding advantage, including more than one offensive put-back. But Heinz collected eight rebounds for the Tigers, followed closely by Olivier with seven retrieves. Ipswich committed 12 turnovers; Faulkton, 13. The Trojans claimed seven steals; Ipswich, eight. Heinz came away with six of those.

Meanwhile, Ipswich's come-from-behind victory over Groton could almost be called a tale of two halves, with Ipswich fortunately dominating the second half for its eventual 41-38 win. Groton made a harmless three-point basket at the very end of the game to make it a one-possession game with the game clock winding down.

The IHS Tigers had definitely looked a little rusty in the early going, coming back from their long lay-off. But the second half was definitely a different story! (They had trailed 6-5 after a quarter and 18-10 at the half.) Their biggest deficit was 11 points, 24-13, early in the third quarter. But they climbed back into contention with an over-all 11-8 win of that quarter and then won the final quarter 20-12, capping their rally. There were a total of four tied scores and three lead changes in what turned out to be a very disputed battle.

Heinz fueled her team's outcome vs. Groton with 16 fourth-quarter points enroute to a game-high 28-points night. She featured three treys. Halie Feldman added six points and Katie Bierman, five points with a trey. Lindsey Grabowska scored two points.

The Groton girls only managed five scorers themselves, led by Gracie Traphagen and Alyssa Thaler with 14 points each.

Ipswich shot 13-48 from the floor that night which included those four treys. The IHS Tigers added a 11-19 free throw night. Groton responded with 14 accurate floor shots including only one trey. The GHS Tigers were 9-14 at the charity stripe.

Ipswich edged Groton 39-38 in their rebounding war, led by Grabowska with six boards and Heinz with five. The IHS Tigers ended up with 16 turnovers; their Groton counterparts, 12. Ipswich obtained four steals, led by Heinz with three thefts and Katie Bierman, one.