The Tiger girls' varsity basketball team was defeated 44-33 in a non-conference homecourt appearance facing Highmore-Harrold last Tuesday.

The IHS girls were able to hang around within striking distance, despite the fact that they were never able to grab the lead. They had trailed 19-8 after a quarter and 25-14 at intermission. At one juncture of the third stanza the Tigers closed to within five points (28-23) thanks to a Gabby Wald basket. But they would then trail 38-25 with a quarter to play.

Free throws were a big factor in the eventual outcome! The visiting Pirates finished 18-27 at the line. Ipswich, meanwhile, was only 6-12 in its own free throw effort and added 12 accurate floor shots including three treys. The Pirates, meanwhile, netted six treys among their 10 total field goals.

They obtained 18 points from Brooke Palmer who included nine of those beneficial free throws and Kendall Cermak was next with her 10 points. April Fallis added eight points and three additional H-H girls would share their remaining eight points.

Gabby Wald led Ipswich with 12 points, including two treys. Katie Bierman was also just into double-figure scoring that evening with her 10 points and also had five of Ipswich's 13 assists. Next would be Ashlyn Weig with four points including one trey. And Kaylin Onken, Anna Nierman and Brianna Geditz each added two points. Marley Guthmiller rounded out their scoring effort with one accurate free throw.

Highmore-Harrold collected 39 rebounds, led by Cermak with seven of them. Ipswich got 29 rebounds, paced by Bierman, Onken and Guthmiller with four rebounds apiece. Ipswich sustained only 10 turnovers; H-H 16. And the Tigers directly caused seven of those miscues with steals. (Wald had four of their thefts!)