Tigers stop Pirates at home

The Ipswich varsity girls' basketball team got back into the win column with a 49-45 homecourt win over Highmore-Harrold last Tuesday.

The score was tied three times and the lead changed hands eight times. There could have been one more tie, as H-H would climb to within two points, 41-39, with a trey. And the Pirates did get a stop, giving them possession of the basketball to either tie or go up by one.

But that opportunity didn't materialize, as Ipswich would score eight straight points. That decisive run was started by a Katie Bierman basket and Halle Heinz contributed a steal basket followed by her four straight free throws without a miss.

Ipswich had grabbed an early 5-1 lead and would lengthen that to five points, 12-7 at the first break. Ipswich then carried a 20-17 edge to its locker room at the half and would extend that to 35-29 with three quarters in the books.

The Tiger girls were led by Heinz with 14 points and four assists. She was followed by Katie Bierman's 12 points that featured a pair of treys and Chesney Olivier would also score in double-figures with exactly 10 points that included a trey.

Ipswich also obtained six points from Bailey Pitz with two treys and Hailey Bierman contributed four points. Halie Feldman added a trey for her three points.

The visitors were led by Grace Knox with 14 points and Letha Jessen added 10 points, followed by Reghan Westcott with nine points and four more Pirates would dent their scorebook.

Ipswich utilized 17 accurate baskets that included those six treys and went 9-13 in free throws. The visitors responded with 18 floor shots that included seven treys. They were only 2-4 in free throw attempts, though.

Ipswich was out-rebounded 35-21, despite a balanced effort led by Katie Bierman's five retrieves. Ipswich had only five turnovers in a well-played floor game to say the least. The visitors sustained 11 turnovers. Eight of them were generated by Tiger steals, also paced by Katie Bierman's three.