Tigers fall at Mid-Prairie in overtime

Tipton’s Conner Hermiston, center, grabs a rebound during the first half of the Tigers River Valley Conference battle with Mid-Prairie last Tuesday.  Tipton lost by four points in overtime to the Golden Hawks.  Tipton will be back in action Friday at West Liberty and next Tuesday at Durant.  Photo by Nick Moffitt, Kalona News.

WELLMAN — The Tipton Tiger boys basketball team could not complete the season sweep over Mid-Prairie last Tuesday in Wellman. There, the Golden Hawks pulled out a four-point, 71-67 overtime win over Tipton in RVC South play.

The game featured a matchup of two of the best big men in the River Valley Conference this season. Tipton junior Frank Bierman and Mid-Prairie senior Tom Butters. The two are 1-2 in the RVC South in rebounding and in the top-20 in scoring in the league. Bierman led Tipton in scoring with 21 points to go with 19 rebounds. Butters scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. He also had 5 blocked shots.

Mid-Prairie led 14-11 after the first quarter, but Tipton outscored Mid-Prairie 12-6 in the second quarter to take a halftime lead of 23-20. The Tigers outscored the Golden Hawks 25 to 16 in the third quarter to take a 48-36 lead after three quarters. Tipton struggled, however, in the final quarter as Mid-Prairie outscored Tipton 22-10 in the final quarter to send the game to overtime tied at 58. It was all Mid-Prairie In the overtime period as the Golden Hawks outscored the Tigers 13 to 9 to capture the four-point win.

Tipton had two others reach double figures with Jacob Tischuk and Andrew Stewart each scoring 14 points. Trent Pelzer added 8 points. Tipton struggled from the three-point line in the game, making only 3-of-17 attempts. The Tigers shot 29-for-71 from the floor in the game. Pelzer led in assists with three and Bierman led in steals with 2.

Cale Robertson led Mid-Prairie in scoring with 19 points including a 3-for-5 night from the three-point line. Point guard Brad Tornow had a great game with 18 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Tipton’s game at Cascade last Friday was postponed due to a snowstorm late last weekend. The game will be made up on Monday, January 28. Tipton will be on the road this week with a game at West Liberty on Friday, at Cascade Monday and then at Durant next Tuesday. Tipton will end the regular season with four straight home games, starting next Thursday, January 31 against Calamus-Wheatland.

Mid-Prairie 71, Tipton 67

Tuesday, January 15

At Wellman


TIP 11 12 25 10 9 67

MP 14 6 16 22 13 71

TIPTON (67): Trent Pelzer (g) 4-18 0-0 8, Frank Bierman (f) 9-17 3-6 21, Andrew Stewart (g) 6-9 1-1 14, Luke Becker (g) 1-5 0-0 2, Jacob Tischuk (g) 5-11 2-4 14, Colby Kleppe 3-4 0-0 6, Payten Elijah 1-2 0-0 2, Connor Hermiston 0-1 0-0 0, Blake Wilkins 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 29-71 6-11 67.

MID-PRAIRIE (71): Brad Tornow (g) 6-8 6-7 18, Cale Robertson (g) 5-10 6-6 19, Tom Butters (f) 6-13 4-5 16, Ethan Trimpe (g) 3-10 0-2 6, Dominic Pickard (f) 2-7 1-2 6, Chris Miller 0-2 1-2 1, Grant Boyse 0-8 1-2 1, Chaz Patterson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 24-62 19-26 71.


3-Pt. FG: Tipton 3-17 (Tischuk 2-4, Stewart 1-4, Pelzer 0-5, Becker 0-3, Wilkins 0-1), MP 4-11 (Robertson 3-5, Pickard 1-4, Miller 0-1, Butters 0-1). Rebounds: Tipton 37 (Bierman 19, Kleppe 4, Tischuk 4, Elijah 3, Pelzer 3, Wilkins 2, Stewart 1, Hermiston 1), MP 34 (Butters 17, Trimpe 8). Assists: Tipton 6 (Pelzer 3, Kleppe 1, Stewart 1, Tischuk 1), MP 13 (Tornow 7). Steals: Tipton 8 (Bierman 2, Pelzer 1, Elijah 1, Stewart 1, Becker 1, Tischuk 1, Wilkins 1), MP 10 (Butters 3). Blocked Shots: Tipton none. MP 5 (Butters 5). Total Fouls: Tipton 22, MP 12. Fouled Out: Stewart. MP none.