JV boys split final two games, finish season 12-9

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

  TIPTON — The Tipton JV boys basketball team finished their season on a winning note as they defeated the Calamus-Wheatland Warriors 40-31 on February 10. The win moved their record to 12-9 on the season.
  The young Tigers never lost more than two games in a row and enjoyed a four-game winning streak right before the holiday break.
  Against Calamus-Wheatland, Tipton was without their leading scorer Luke Becker due to an ankle injury. However, Trent Pelzer 13 points, Quinten Mesick 11 points and Blake Wilkins 10 points, all picked up the slack scoring in double figures.
  The Tigers also had their best free throw night of the season going 15-for-18 from the line led by Mesick’s 5-for-5 and Pelzer’s 4-for-4 shooting.
  Bryce Deerberg led the defensive effort that held the Warriors to 31 points by collecting four steals in the contest. Wilkins led the rebounding with 10, Conner Hermiston collected 8, while Pelzer led the assist category with 3.
  On Tuesday February 7 the Regina Regals handed the Tigers their worst loss of the season by the score of 65-40. Regina raced out to a 38-14 halftime lead and Tipton could not mount a serious comeback in the second half, despite only being outscored 27-26 in the final two quarters.
Blake Wilkins was the lone player in double figures with 10 points, all in the second half. Conner Hermiston added 8 points while Bryce Deerberg and Trent Pelzer each had 7. Wilkins also led the team with 6 rebounds while Deerberg had 4 assists and Quinten Mesick had 3 steals.
  “Overall I was very pleased with how this group competed this year,” said Tipton JV coach Gene Schroeder.
  “Obviously we weren’t the highest scoring team around, but our defense and rebounding
kept us in virtually every game. We were playing with 3 to 4 freshman at many times this season, and at the JV level that is tough to do. Winning 12 games is a testament to the hard work and effort these boys put in the entire season,” said Schroeder.

Tipton 40, Calamus-Wheatland 31
February 10
At Calamus-Wheatland
1 2 3 4 Final
Tipton 13 9 9 9 40
C-W 5 8 8 10 31
TIPTON (40): Trent Pelzer 4-10 4-4 13, Conner Hermiston 0-5 2-2 2, Jared Hightower 0-2 0-1 0, Bryce Deerberg 2-5 0-0 4, Colby Kleppe 0-2 0-0 0, Blake Wilkins 3-9 4-6 10, Quinten Mesick 3-9 5-5 11, Andrew Comstock 0-1 0-0 0, Kael Jauron 0-0 0-0 0, Elliot Cummins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-43 15-18 40.
3-Pt. FG: 1-8 (Pelzer 1-5, Hermiston
0-1, Hightower 0-1, Kleppe 0-1). Rebounds: 38 (Wilkins 10, Hermiston
8, Pelzer 5, Mesick 5, Jauron 3, Comstock 2, Deerberg 2, Hightower 1, Kleppe 1, Cummins 1). Assists: 8 (Pelzer 3, Hermiston 2, Hightower 1, Deerberg 1, Wilkins 1, Mesick 1). Steals: 11 (Deerberg 4, Hightower 2, Hermiston 1, Pelzer 1, Kleppe 1, Wilkins 1, Cummins 1).

Iowa City Regina 65, Tipton 40
February 7
At Iowa City Regina
1 2 3 4 Final
Tipton 4 10 12 14 40
IC Regina 14 24 10 17 65
TIPTON (40): Trent Pelzer 3-9 1-1 7, Conner Hermiston 3-7 2-2 8, Jared Hightower 1-5 0-0 2, Bryce Deerberg 3-6 1-2 7, Luke Becker 1-5 0-2 2, Blake Wilkins 5-11 0-0 10, Quinten Mesick 2-2 0-0 4, Andrew
Comstock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-45 4-7 4-7 40.
3-Pt. FG: 0-10 (Becker 0-3, Hermiston
0-3, Hightower 0-2, Pelzer 0-2). Rebounds: 18 (Wilkins 5, Mesick 4, Becker 2, Hermiston 2, Hightower 2, Deerberg 2, Comstock 1). Assists: 13 (Deerberg 4, Mesick 3, Pelzer 2, Hermiston 2, Becker 1, Wilkins 1). Steals: 7 (Mesick 3, Wilkins 1, Deerberg 1, Hightower 1, Pelzer 1).