IMS boys basketball team falls to Lisbon

WELLMAN ? The Iowa Mennonite boys basketball team played in the Class 1A district 9 finals Thursday, Feb. 23, hoping to move one step closer to the state tournament. Those chances would be taken away as Lisbon would pull ahead in the final minutes of the game to give IMS a 59-64 loss and claim the district title.

It was a close game from the beginning as the two teams would go back and forth on the court matching each other in scoring and IMS would have a 14-13 lead after the first quarter.

Lisbon went on a 5-0 run at the start of the second to take the lead, but that would be short-lived as IMS would respond by scoring 10 points straight to regain control of the lead and keep it through the rest of the half. They would remain up 35-31 going into the break.

After returning to the court after the break, IMS and Lisbon would continue their struggle to score, but IMS would add to their lead going up 49-44 entering in the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, both Lisbon and IMS fans would get into the excitement of the action as Lisbon would slowly eat away at their deficit and would take over the lead late in the game to get the win.

Coach Dwight Gingerich said of the outcome, ?We played so well through the first three quarters in stretches, and unfortunately we didn?t quite finish the way we?d like.

?Lisbon had a couple big 3s the really changed the complexion of the game in the fourth quarter. We were having a tough time stopping them regardless of the defense we were playing. We weren?t quite executing in whatever scheme we were wanting.

?They tied the game, go up by one or two and it changes the game. I thought defensively they got a little more physical with us. We missed a couple layups and some open shots. It really came down to that.

?Giving up two open 3s isn?t something we talked about, we just didn?t execute it.  I feel bad for the guys because I know they feel bad in those situations. It?s been a great year with these guys; they?ve done a lot.?

Nick Yutzy was the lead scorer for IMS in the game with 21 points; 15 of those points came from having five 3s. Those types of shots is something he really works on.

?I practice that a lot, especially in the offseason,? he says. ?I try to get in as many shots as I can. But I have to give credit to my teammates. They found me when I was hitting. They deserve all the credit, really. They moved the ball well and I?m proud of the guys for everything they?ve done this season.?

Coach Gingerich says he does encourage the extra time in practices. ?We shoot a lot and Nick has been great. He?s gone through a lot of injuries in high school and even in the last two weeks.

Last Thursday against Cedar Valley, he didn?t get to play because he pulled a hamstring in the first three minutes. He?s just coming back and hasn?t hardly practiced so given that, he really came through both Tuesday against Springville and tonight.?

Others scoring in the game were Reggie Borntrager with nine points, both Finny Lackender and Cole Yoder scored eight points, Cole Ours had five points, Mitchell Schmieder had four and having two points apiece were Trevor Leyden and Caleb Gingerich.

Near the end of the game, Yutzy ended up leaving due to fouling out. Why did he make that choice?

?I have to give Lisbon credit for turning up their defense in the fourth quarter. We had tried to get the ball in a couple of times and we had burned all of our timeouts.

?We just couldn?t get a play that we wanted and I didn?t want time to tick off the clock, so I thought I would just get the foul and go out with a bang.?

That play wasn?t something taught. ?It was just an instinct play,? Yutzy says. ?I had to foul them before the clock expired. I said let?s give my guys a shot because I had confidence in them.?

Now that the season is over, how will Gingerich and the team look back?

?This always happens after the last loss. You replay things and go through that grief time where you wish you would have done this or done that. Once the dust settles, we will look back and feel like this is a good season and then come back next year ready to go.

?They was a great group of seniors along with underclassmen who got some really valuable experience this year, just like the seniors did a year ago. This kind of a loss can sting and you hope that the younger guys enjoyed the process enough that they want to come back hungrier and keep building.?

The same is true for Gingerich as a coach. ?I come back every year ready to go. The hunger is still there.?

IMS ends the year with a 17-7 record. Lisbon faces New London in substate action Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Washington High School gym. The winner moves on to play at state.