Edmunds County Tribune -

Ipswich hosted a girls/boys Lake Region Conference showdown with Faulkton Area last Thursday in the Tiger Den, games that could also possibly affect the Region 2B power rankings.

Faulkton gradually pulled away from the Tiger girls for an eventual 48-31 victory, despite a game-ending trey by Ipswich's Kate Geditz. The visitors had led 14-10 after a quarter, but only scored one point in the second quarter, compared to Ipswich's nine-point scoring burst, capped by Halle Heinz with six straight free throws without a miss.

But Faulkton would quickly erase that deficit early in the third quarter with four straight points. Heinz then got two more free throws to fall through the hoop, before Faulkton went on a nine-point run and the hosts were never quite able to find a permanent solution. They trailed 35-23 with a quarter to play and were also outscored by the Trojans 13-8 in the final stanza.

Heinz finished with a game-high 16 points despite a variety of junk defenses employed throughout the game and she also included a pair of treys. But further scoring tapered off from there to four points from Chesney Olivier and three points from Katie Bierman on an accurate trey, as well as that late trey from Geditz for her three points. Next was Hailey Bierman with two points and Lindsey Grabowska, Tessa Kilber and Tarynn Kelffman added a free throw apiece.

Faulkton's balanced attack, meanwhile, was led by Brooke Niederbaumer with 13 points and Morgan Melius with 10 points. Six other players scored. That team was 15-52 from the floor with one lone trey and added a 17-24 free-throw shooting evening. Ipswich responded with a 7-45 floor-shooting evening that included those four treys and the Tiger girls shot 13-19 at the line.

Ipswich faced a 45-33 rebounding deficit, despite Heinz with six. The visitors were led by Niederbaumer with eight. Faulkton had 14 turnovers; Ipswich, 17. Ipswich did have eight steals, though, led by Heinz with four. But Faulkton came away with 14.

The second game of the evening featured a three-ball shooting display from both schools. Ipswich, hanging on for the 54-47 win, launched seven accurate treys, led by Will Kadlec with five three-balls and a game-high 24 points. Josh McQuarie added a trey in his 12-point scoring output. Ethan Gilbert was next with seven points and Taylor Thorson with six. Max Geditz featured Ipswich's remaining trey and Ty Kadlec rounded out the scorebook with his pair of accurate free throws. Altogether Ipswich shot 18-53 from the floor that included the seven treys and was 11-14 at the charity stripe.

Faulkton countered with nine treys, featuring seven alone from Bennett Cassens, who finished with a team-high 21 points. Next was Derek Heitmann with nine points and four other Trojans scored. Their team was 18-50 from the floor with all those nine treys factored in, but only added a 2-8 free throw effort.

Ipswich had led 18-11 after a quarter and enjoyed a 28-22 halftime edge. Lauched by that Geditz three-pointer, Ipswich would get off to a great third-quarter start and its initial double-figure edge would prove to be 33-22 after a Gilbert lay-up. The Tigers would then lead 42-28 with a quarter to play, but their visitors weren't about to concede anything at that point in time.

Helped by more than one fourth-quarter trey, they were able to shave their deficit down to four points - 49-45 and actually had the basketball with an opportunity to reduce it even further. But Ipswich weathered the storm and the game clock and an occasional missed shot or two would then deny the Trojans any further scoring opportunities.

Ipswich was helped by 32 rebounds, led by McQuarie with seven. But the Trojans were able to obtain 43 rebounds, led by Hunter Niederbaumer with nine. Faulkton committed 10 turnovers; Ipswich, 11. But Ipswich had eight steals, paced by Ty Kadlec's four.