Iowa Mennonite team wins, gives to charity

Iowa Mennonite School used its Hall of Pride Challenge game to give to charity.

IMS defeated Holy Trinity 60-49 in the Hall of Pride Challenge in Hillcrest Union Friday night.

IMS jumped to a 13-3 lead after one quarter and then held off a Crusader rally for the victory.

Balanced scoring keyed the win, as Trevor Leyden led with 15 points, Caleb Gingerich scored 12, and Jeremy Niemeyer tallied 11 points to go with nine rebounds. Blake Bontrager followed with eight points and eight rebounds while Eli Ours scored six points.

The game was not an official contest.

'It was really good to see a solid effort on the floor,” IMS coach Dwight Gingerich said. 'We have a ton to work on, but it was good to see us execute in some critical situations.”

The Kalona Food Pantry was the beneficiary of the community service project, as food items were brought for admission to the game.

'We are grateful for the tremendous response we received on behalf of the food pantry,” Gingerich said. 'Norma Wright does a great job with the organization and our senior guys were very helpful in getting the items to the pantry.”

IMS opens the regular season by hosting Lone Tree today. The IMS junior varsity boys will play at the Kalona Y at 4:15 p.m. and the junior varsity girls will play at 4:30 p.m. at IMS, followed by the varsity girls and then the varsity boys.