Lower Brule stops Tigers

Ipswich dropped a non-conference but inter-regional boys' high school basketball encounter to the Lower Brule Sioux by a final 54-43 verdict last Thursday in the Tiger Den. The boys' victory would indeed cap a sweep of the girls/boys twinbill by the visiting Sioux.

Josh McQuarie got Ipswich on the scoreboard first, but the Sioux countered with a trey. McQuarie would total 12 first-quarter points on the way to an 18-point scoring evening. His last basket of the quarter produced a 15-15 deadlock, but LB rattled off five quick points to go up 20-15 after a quarter. Ipswich answered that challenge with a seven-point run that opened second-quarter scoring. Guess who, yes, McQuarie started it with a basket, followed by Taylor Thorson's lay-up and Ty Kadlec's trey. That put Ipswich up 22-20.

But the visiting team would end the half with eight straight points of its own, capped by a buzzer-beating trey to go ahead 32-27 at intermission, as both teams would end up scoring 12 points in that quarter.

The visitors would then out-score their hosts 9-3 in the third quarter to grab a 41-30 lead and the final quarter would also conclude with a 13-13 scoring deadlock, leaving the Sioux with that eventual 11-point win.

They were led by Brian LaRoche Jr. with 19 points, followed by Keshaume Thigh with 11 points. Gavin Thigh was next with eight points and four more Sioux would dent their scorebook that night. Their scoring efforts equated into a 17-40 floor-shot evening that would feature nine treys. They were 11-15 in free throw tries, which also helped their cause.

Meanwhile, Ipswich's second leading scorer behind McQuarie would prove to be Eric Severson with seven points in the paint. Kadlec added six points on a pair of treys and Matt Hettich also totaled six points, including one trey. Next was Thorson with four points and six assists and Dylan Owens contributed a basket.

Ipswich would finish with 17 accurate floor-shots in 61 tries, featuring its trio of treys. The Tigers were only 6-13 in free throw opportunities.

Ipswich was out-boarded 40-32, despite five rebounds apiece from Thorson and Kadlec. The Tigers sustained 12 turnovers, LB 19. Ipswich created 10 of those with steals, led by Kadlec's four thefts.

The Tiger boys were scheduled to go on the road facing Hitchcock-Tulare on February 16. They also travel to Potter County in a girls/boys DH on February 18 in Gettysburg. The boys will then play in the Warner Classic on February 20.