Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – For the second time in as many nights West Branch struggled shooting the ball on Tuesday against Tipton.

Unlike in a loss to Monticello on Monday the Bears didn’t have any problems on defense.

Class 2A sixth-ranked West Branch held forced 36 turnovers and held Tipton to 19 percent shooting in a 50-13 win over the Tigers on Tuesday in a River Valley Conference South Division contest in West Branch.

“We had a tough night at Monticello last night, especially offensively,” West Branch coach Jarod Tylee said. “We haven’t shot the well for over a week now so we have to create offense from our defense and I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight.”

West Branch (14-3, 13-2 RVC) shot 29 percent in a 10-point loss to Monticello on Monday that snapped a nine-game winning streak.

The Bears were better offensively on Tuesday, shooting 37 percent and going 6-of-17 from 3-point range but it was the defensive effort that got West Branch back on track.

West Branch held Tipton (5-11, 4-11) scoreless in the opening quarter while building an 18-0 lead and didn’t allow the Tigers to make a field goal until the 3:24 mark of the second quarter.

By that time West Branch had built an insurmountable 25-4 cushion.

“We have really been working on defense its whether it’s pressing or man defense,” West Branch senior Taylor Thein said. “Coach always says shots are going to fall if they are going to fall but defense is what wins games.”

Monday was a rare outlier defensively for West Branch as Monticello shot 56 percent and put up 55 points, the most against the Bears since top-ranked Cascade scored 61 last month.

Against Tipton on Tuesday it was more a typical West Branch defensive effort.

Using its three-quarter court pressure the Bears forced 21 first-half turnovers, turning many into easy transition opportunities while taking a 30-8 halftime lead.

“From my standpoint offense is all secondary,” Tylee said. “If you do your job on the defensive end we are going to score enough to be in the basketball game or win the basketball game. For us it starts on the defensive end.”

A night after struggling to hit shots West Branch went 7-of-13 from the field in the first quarter including 4-of-4 from 3-point range.

Rylan Druecker had two triples in the first quarter and Thein and Taya Young each had one.

“That’s the thing for us if we get off to a good start in the first quarter we make a few shots and get some stops defensively we always feel good about ourselves,” Tylee said. “You can tell our team is different and our kids have a lot more confidence when you get off to that start so it’s big for us to come out and make shots there in the first quarter.”

Thein finished with a game-high 14 points and eight steals as West Branch held a team under 29 points for the fifth time in six games.

“Everyone has a role and everyone needs to be a part of our defense,” Thein said. “Whether its turning your girl or tipping the ball out of a trap, just always being active and aggressive as we can.”

Sasha Koenig had nine points while Young added eight for the Bears

Tipton was limited to just 27 field goal attempts and had three players score led by Alex Hoffman with seven points.

“We don’t want to teams to get comfortable,” Tylee said. “We want them to take contested shots and only give them one shot and our kids did a pretty good job of that tonight.”

West Branch             18  12  15  5  –  50

Tipton                         0    8    3   2  –  13

West Branch (50) – Mackenzie Heise 2-2 1-2 5, Lexi Peak 1-2 1-2 3, Taylor Boelk 0-3 0-0 0, Delaynie Luneckas 1-4 3-4 5, Sasha Koenig 3-11 3-4 9, Rylan Druecker 2-4 0-0 6, Kaiya Luneckas 0-1 0-2 0, Taylor Thein 5-11 1-2 14, Taya Young 2-4 3-4 8, Abbie Waterman 0-1 0-0 0, Team 16-43 12-20 50.

Tipton (13) – Alex Hoffman 3-6 1-1 7, Hailey Stewart 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Conrad 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Hatland 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Bierman 0-5 1-2 1, Breanna Wilkins 0-0 0-1 0, Kamryn Chapman 2-9 1-2 5, Keeli Claussen 0-4 0-0 0, Team 5-27 3-6 13.

3-point field goals – WB 6-17 (Peak 0-1, Boelk 0-1, Koenig 0-3, Druecker 2-3, Thein 3-7, Young 1-2), TIP 0-6 (Stewart 0-1, Conrad 0-1, Hatland 0-1, Bierman 0-1, Claussen 0-2). Rebounds – WB 19 (Heise 5), TIP 37 (Bierman 10). Turnovers – WB 8, TIP 36. Total fouls – WB 12, TIP 16. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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