Lady Tigers victory in SoDak 16 leads to trip to State B in Huron

 

A Heinz sandwich. Lady Tiger Kamryn Heinz was closely guarded by the Huskies.

Avenging last year's statewide final 16 girls' high school basketball loss, the IHS Lady Tigers indeed clawed their way to a 51-40 SoDak 16 win over Bridgewater-Emery last Thursday in the James Valley Christian Gym at Huron, as part of a SoDak 16 twin bill that also saw Warner knocking off Faulkton Area for a return trip to the State B in Huron later this week.

Defense wins big games in any sport and the Ipswich Lady Tigers' defense rose to the challenge, especially surviving a late run by the B-E Huskies.

But as much offense as you can generate didn't hurt anything either and the Heinz sisters combined for 46 of their team's points, led by Halle Heinz with 30 points, including three treys. Kamryn Heinz added 16 points, featuring a pair of treys. Only two other Lady Tigers got in the scorebook, Abby Grabowska with three points and Chesney Olivier with a basket.

Meanwhile, that Lady Tiger defense held Julia Weber to 10 points, tops for B-E, followed by Abigal Arend with seven points and Tessa Burnham with six counters. (Three other Huskies got into their scorebook.)

A day after the historic win, Coach Brian Hogie commented: "The girls played great last night. They were really focused in on defense on what we had to do to stop them. We are excited about playing in the state tourney."

The Huskies did manage a 11-10 first-quarter lead, but Ipswich responded with a 15-12 second-quarter scoring effort, capped by two late Kamryn Heinz free throws to take a narrow 25-23 halftime edge to their locker room. (And that actually had proved to be the beginning a 15-point run for a 36-23 IHS lead, capped by one of those Halle Heinz treys. Bridgewater-Emery then finally got on the second-half scoreboard with a free throw. But a Kamryn Heinz three-ball gave Ipswich what would be its largest lead, 39-24.

Halle Heinz (4) goes up for two points.

The Lady Tigers still led 40-28 at the third-quarter break, but B-E closed to within six points, two possessions, at 44-38. But Halle Heinz personally outscored the Huskies 7-2 the rest of the way with a 7-8 free throw effort to throttle any further B-E comeback attempts.

Those free throws loomed big and for the game Ipswich shot 10-14 at the charity stripe; B-E, only 5-8. Ipswich added a 18-47 overall floor-shooting effort, including those five treys. The Huskies only managed a lone trey.

Credit Ipswich with a 36-30 rebounding edge, led by Kamryn Heinz with 11 for a double-double. Ipswich committed 12 turnovers; B-E, 13. Nine of them were created by Lady Tiger steals with a balanced effort.

The win improved Ipswich to 18-3 and the Huskies concluded their season at 18-4.

 

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