Edmunds County Tribune -

The Ipswich boys played two basketball games last week on the road and at home with split results.

They started the week by dropping a narrow 70-65 Lake Region Conference outcome on Thursday at Northwestern in Mellette. They trailed by 14 points midway through the second half, but decided they weren’t quite ready to board the bus. So they battled both the Wildcats and the game clock to claw back into contention. Will Kadlec completed an and-one opportunity to narrow his team’s deficit to one possession, 63-60. But the Tigers would need to foul for possession and the hosts netted five of six free throw opportunities in the closing 40 seconds to survive five more Will Kadlec points on a three-ball and later two free throws, but still leaving Ipswich down by three points, 68-65.

Northwestern then converted a press-break opportunity to secure its eventual two-possession five-point win!

Will Kadlec finished with 18 points, including three treys and his brother Ty Kadlec was next with 12 points on four treys. The Tigers added a third double-figure scorer, Max Geditz with 10 points and he included a pair of treys. Jaden Onken was next with nine points with a trey, followed by Jacob Nierman with eight points, featuring a pair of treys. Credit Ben Kulesa with six points and Daniel Braun with two points.

Northwestern, meanwhile, featured four double-figure scorers, led by a game-high 24 points by Jarrett Haven. Zech Clemens added 15 points, Jace Haven 12 and Caleb Schentzel, 11 points. Only two other Wildcats scored.

Ipswich shot 25-47 from the floor and that included those 12 treys. The Tigers were 3-6 in free throw opportunities. Northwestern countered with a 25-58 floor-shot evening with seven treys, and was a warm 13-17 in total free throw opportunities.

The hosts utilized a 30-17 rebounding edge, according to the Tigers’ stats book despite four each from Onken and Reece Moehlenbrink and three from Kulesa in a balanced effort. Each team had 13 turnovers.

Things went much better in the Tiger Den a night later, especially during the first and final quarters against non-conference foe Waubay-Summit. Ipswich jumped ahead 13-4 after a quarter and then led 25-13 at intermission. Each team netted seven points in the third quarter, but Ipswich clinched a 49-29 verdict with an impressive 17-9 fourth-quarter edge.

Will Kadlec again led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points. And Nierman included two of Ipswich’s three treys in his 12-point scoring effort. Next was Geditz with nine points, followed by Ty Kadlec with seven counters. Moehlenbrink added four points and Kulesa and Carson Simes, two points apiece.

It was indeed a solid defensive effort by the Tigers. The visitors obtained seven scorers, led by Justin Zirbel with seven points and Tate Gaikowski with six points.

Ipswich utilized a 19 floor-shot scoring attack including that trio of treys, and was a nearly perfect 8-9 at the free throw line. The visitors countered with 13 floor shots, all from within the trey arc and were a chilly 3-14 at the line.

Ipswich utilized a 43-28 rebounding edge, led by Kulesa’s nine retrieves. Ipswich had 12 turnovers; W-S, 16. The Tigers had seven steals, led by Simes with three.

Ipswich was 6-3 after the split, pending a Tuesday, Jan. 15 homecourt non-conference outcome with Groton. The IHS girls and boys will travel to Faulkton on Thursday, Jan. 17 for a huge LRC twinbill. There will also be a girls/boys doubleheader for Ipswich at James Valley Christian in Huron on January 19 and then a short trip over to Roscoe against Edmunds Central on January 22, also a girls/boys format.