Ipswich had started a busy week of boys' high school basketball with a 46-26 league win over North Central last Tuesday in Eureka.

The Tigers led 9-6 after a quarter, thanks to a Matthew Hettich rebound putback. And they gradually extended their margin to 28-16 at halftime. (Their very first double-figure lead had arrived courtesy of a Trevor Heinz trey for a 26-14 edge.)

The second half turned out to be quite a defensive battle with Ipswich owning a 38-18 edge with a quarter to play. And that 20-point margin would remain at the final buzzer, as each team would manage just eight points down the stretch.

Ipswich utilized a balanced scoring effort with Eric Severson leading the way with 10 points. Trevor Heinz was next with nine points on a trio of treys. Taylor Thorson also scored nine points. Next was Ty Kadlec with eight points and he included a trey. Matthew Hettich added six points, followed by Josh McQuarie with four counters.

The hosts landed only four players in their scorebook, led by Ian Beyers and Bryce Beitelspacher with seven points apiece and Alec Maier and Trevor Beyers with six points each.

Ipswich made 19 baskets and included those four treys. The Tigers finished 4-7 in free throw tries. The Thunder were 10-39 from the floor, featuring three treys and were 3-5 at the line.

Ipswich committed 14 turnovers; NC, 23. The Tigers came away with 11 steals led by McQuarie, Tyler Hettich and Kadlec with two each. The visiting Tigers won the rebounding war 33-26, paced by Severson and Matthew Hettich with five each.

Ipswich vs Langford area

Two nights later Ipswich hosted Langford Area in yet another LRC showdown. The visiting Lions prevailed in a hard-fought 35-24 defensive struggle.

Ipswich's lone lead and that was early in the contest, occurred courtesy of a Heinz trey for a brief 7-6 Tiger edge. But the score was tied twice in the early going.

Ipswich eventually trailed 10-7 after a quarter and each team managed only four points in the second stanza for the same Langford three-point edge, 14-11 at halftime. The visitors gradually extended that narrow lead throughout the final half, despite Ipswich's opening basket that drew the Tigers to within a point 14-13. But Langford would eventually outscore Ipswich 12-5 in that quarter and would then stave off the Tigers 9-8 down the stretch.

Ipswich finished with a nine-point scoring effort from Severson and next was McQuarie with eight points that featured two treys. Matthew Hettich scored four points and Heinz a trey for his three points. (These were the only players that were able to break into Ipswich's scoring column.) Langford, meanwhile, obtained five scorers, led by Colin Frey with a game-high 17 points.

The Tigers had a rather cold shooting night, which didn't help. They were only 9 of 37 in total field goal attempts and that included those three treys. The Tigers added three free throws in seven trips to the line. Langford wasn't a whole lot more productive either with a 14-41 shooting night, all from inside the trey arc. The Lions were a warmer 7-9 at the line, though.

Ipswich claimed 28 rebounds; Langford, 29. Ipswich was led by Severson's nine and McQuarie was next with eight.

The Tigers were charted for 18 turnovers; the Lions, 15. McQuarie led Ipswich with three steals.