Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIPTON –West Branch coach Jason Kern had a simple message to his team following a five-point loss to Solon in the regular season finale.

In order to make a postseason run, Kern told his team, you need to play all four quarters.

Shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor helps win postseason games too.

The Bears did both of those things in their postseason opener on Monday.

West Branch made it first 12 field goal attempts and shot 70 percent from the field in the first half in an 83-42 win over Tipton in a Class 2A, District 7 quarterfinal on Monday at Tipton Middle School.

“We played a complete 32 minutes tonight,” Kern said. “I told the guys if you want to make a run you have to play all four quarters and I think we are finally clicking.”

Jayden Harris led three West Branch players in double figures with a game-high 21 points on Monday and Brandon Pedersen had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Bears advanced to the district semifinals.

West Branch (11-12) will play at seventh-ranked Grundy Center (19-2) in the District 7 semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m.

“We just played with more energy today,” Pedersen said. “We had more energy, we were being active on defense and getting easy steals.”

West Branch and Tipton split a pair of two-point regular season games.

The Bears won the most recent meeting 58-56 at Tipton on February 11.

Monday’s rubber match between River Valley Conference South Division rivals was all West Branch from the opening tip.

“In practice we locked in and got ready,” Harris said. “We were all on the same page and we came in here and got it done.”

West Branch jumped to a 13-0 lead less than four minutes into the game and led 24-5 in the opening six minutes.

The Bears made 12-of-13 first-quarte field goal attempts, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range while building a 27-10 lead.

“We were passing the ball more instead of one pass and chucking,” Pedersen said. “We were getting the ball in everyone’s hands and making sure everyone was playing a role.”

Unlike a few other games this season West Branch never took its foot off the pedal on Monday.

The Bears shot 70 percent (21-of-30) from the field in the first half while taking a 46-20 halftime lead.

Pedersen had 14 points in the first half and Harris had 13 of his game-high 21 in the opening half.

“We were moving around, constantly moving not just standing on one spot,” Harris said. “I think that worked for us.”

West Branch shot 59 percent from the field for the game and held a 43-25 rebounding edge that included 11 offensive boards.

Nathan Hills had 14 points while Brennen Dale, Lincoln Naber, Brandon Pickett and Michael Montgomery all had six points for the Bears.

“We are finally making shots,” Kern said. “Brandon Pedersen has been lights out the last 12 games of the season, Nate Hills was really good tonight and Jayden has been Jayden. He’s probably one of the most efficient players in the state.”

West Branch           27  19  22  15  –  83

Tipton                        10  10  17   5   –  42

West Branch (83) – Nathan Hills 6-10 0-0 14, Brandon Pedersen 7-13 2-3 19, Brennen Dale 3-6 0-0 6, Lincoln Naber 3-3 0-0 6, Jayden Harris 9-15 2-2 21, Haydon Haines 1-1 0-0 3, McGavin Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Pickett 3-5 0-0 6, Grayson Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Michael Montgomery 3-6 0-0 6, Totals 36-72 4-5 83.

Tipton (42) – Oakley Kruse 4-9 0-0 10, Wyatt Nebergall 0-1 0-0 0, Clay Bohlmann 1-9 3-4 5, Carter Hermiston 1-3 0-0 2, Jacob Barton 1-4 1-1 3, Jett Kamberling 0-2 0-0 0, Zach Butler 2-12 0-0 5, Jacob Boedeker 5-14 1-2 14, Holden Griebat 1-3 0-0 3, Totals 15-57 5-7 42.

3-point field goals – Tipton 7-25 (Kruse 2-4, Nebergall 0-1, Bohlmann 0-1, Hermiston 0-2, Kamberling 0-2, Butler 1-4, Boedeker 3-8, Griebat 1-3), West Branch 7-20 (Hills 2-5, Harris 1-5, Dale 0-1, Pedersen 3-7, Haines 1-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds – Tipton 25 (Butler 6), West Branch 43 (Pedersen 10). Total fouls – Tipton 8, West Branch 11. Turnovers – Tipton 12, West Branch 7. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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