Ipswich split a Lake Region Conference girls/boys high school basketball confrontation with Aberdeen Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 7 in Aberdeen.

The Tiger girls indeed defeated their hosts 43-27, but the IHS boys were defeated 65-45.

Girls first as they actually were first that evening!

Defense decides a lot of LRC battles and this was true in the girls' encounter. Ipswich indeed overcame a 5-4 first-quarter deficit to out-score the Knights 21-0 in the second quarter for a 25-5 halftime lead. And the hosts would never really quite be able to sustain a large enough second-half rally. That's because the Tigers would still out-score the Knights 13-9 in the third stanza for a comfortable edge with a quarter to play.

The Tigers obtained three double-figure scorers, led by Ashlyn Weig and Gabby Wald with 11 points apiece and Katie Bierman with 10. (Weig included one trey, Wald featured three treys and Bierman a pair of three-balls.)

Next for the Tigers would be Baylee Kulessa with six points and Rylee Kleffman scored a trey for her three points followed by Brianna Geditz with two points. The Tigers were warmer in shooting and totaled 17 accurate baskets that included those seven treys. Ipswich was 2-5 in free throws that night.

The hosts were only 11-44 from the floor that included four treys and finished 1-10 in their trips to the free throw line. They were held to nine points from Chloe Holt and Sophia Fogerty was next with seven points. Chloe Bosma added six points and Payton Skarin five points.

Unofficially Ipswich collected 32 rebounds and the Knights, 34. The Tigers were paced by five boards from Bierman with a team effort. The Tigers sustained 10 turnovers and the Knights, 14 in a well-played floor game by both schools.

Ipswich also utilized 11 steals, also led by Bierman with five thefts.

BOYS

Meanwhile in the boys' game the powerful hosts would gradually pull away from their visitors. (Ipswich had actually led 14-13 after a quarter.) The Knights would then lead 34-24 at intermission and 48-32 with a quarter to play.

They obtained seven scorers, led by Malek Wieker with 20 points followed by Ethan Russell with 14 points and Jackson Isakson with 11 points. They were followed by Kaden Clark with 10 counters.

Ipswich ended up being led by Trevor Heinz with 16 points that included two treys. Chet Peterson was next with eight points that featured a trey and Ian Beyers scored six points along with three steals. Blake Rich and Jace Konsor each added five points and Tyler Hettich four points. Carter Geditz completed things with a free throw.

The hosts were able to net 25 accurate floor shots that included nine treys. They went 6-9 in free throw tries. Ipswich connected on 17 baskets that included those three treys and was 8-17 in free throws.

Ipswich had 18 rebounds led by Peterson with five of them and the hosts grabbed 31 rebounds led by Russell with seven. The Tigers had only eight turnovers; the Knights, 12.