Head Coach Dwight Gingerich

Peyton Thompson

Cameron Gingerich

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This year’s all-Golden Triangle News Service team selected Dwight Gingerich as the small-schools Coach of the Year and Cameron Gingerich and Peyton Thompson were selected to this year’s all-GTNS small-schools basketball team. According to the Washington Evening Journal “Gingerich (Cameron) did a little bit of everything for IMS this season. . . Whatever IMS needed, Gingerich did it.” The Journal’s comments about Peyton included “Thompson, this year’s all-GTNS small-schools captain, was a scoring machine.” For the complete article read the March 15th issue of the Washington Evening Journal.

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IMS’ tremendous season came to a crushing halt Saturday in the Substate final at Benton Community High School where Traer North Tama withstood a furious rally to defeat IMS 55-46. North Tama makes its first-ever state tournament trip in denying IMS its third straight appearance and thirteenth overall.

Both teams came into the game fresh off district championship wins the night before, sixth-ranked North Tama 24-1 and unranked IMS at 22-2. The game was hard-fought from the start as both teams struggled to score early. The score was knotted at 2 after three minutes. North Tama pulled ahead and led 13-8 at the one-minute mark before an IMS hoop made it 13-10 after one period. Dallas Nye picked up his second foul late in the first period and was forced to sit but IMS hung tough, trailing 19-16 with two minutes to play in the half. At that point the RedHawks went on a 7-2 run to lead 25-18 and gain the momentum heading into the locker room.

The momentum continued for North Tama in the third quarter, as IMS struggled to make shots and the much bigger RedHawks took it to the inside against both the man to man and zone defenses employed by IMS. A quarter ending three by Jacob Wrage punctuated a huge third quarter for North Tama, as they led 42-24 heading into the final stanza. IMS was not done, and knowing it was now or never, got it going. A three by Peyton Thompson got things rolling and then a trey and and a three point play by Dallas Nye followed. Justin Boller and Cameron Gingerich also got in on the action and connected on big threes during the run. IMS chipped away and got it to 47-41 with three minutes to play. At that point, North Tama worked the clock and IMS was forced to foul. North Tama  connected on 11-14 fourth quarter free throws as IMS could get no closer.

IMS was led by Nye with 12 points and Thompson had 11. Cameron Gingerich tallied nine points and Reggie Hostetler had six. Boller and Eli Gingerich each added a three-point basket and Joel Shetler had two points to complete the scoring. IMS shot 40 percent from the floor, while North Tama shot 51 percent. The RedHawks were relentless on the offensive glass, which may have proved to be the difference. Nye and Hostetler each had six rebounds to lead IMS, and Thompson, Cameron Gingerich and Hostetler each had two assists. Boller, Thompson, and Nye each had two steals. Nye also had three blocks before fouling out. Coach Dwight Gingerich said “I was proud of the way our guys fought back. It was unfortunate we allowed ourselves to get into that kind of a hole. Our kids played their hearts out and left it on the floor. Of course there are things we wish we could have back, but it doesn’t work that way. North Tama’s size and athleticism hurt us and their defense was outstanding. This group had an outstanding season and really came together. Our seniors were terrific and we will miss each one of them.”

IMS graduates Justin Boller, Cameron Gingerich, Joel Shetler, and Peyton Thompson and ends the season at 22-3.

Peyton Thompson

Cameron Gingerich

Dallas Nye

Justin Boller

Reggie Hostetler

IMS jumped out to a 9-2 lead early, led 26-16 at the half and then weathered a pair of Lynnville-Sully comeback attempts to come away with the 58-53 District Championship win at Mid-Prairie High School Friday. The win propelled IMS into the Sub-State final Saturday at Benton Community High School.

Cameron Gingerich scored twice early, getting behind the Lynnville-Sully defense to put IMS up 4-0. IMS would lead 13-4 after five minutes of play and closed the quarter up 17-7. Lynnville-Sully found its stride and the teams settled in and battled, with each team scoring nine points in the second period. The margin was still at ten at 32-22 with five minutes gone in the second half when the Hawks scored eight straight to close to within 32-30. Peyton Thompson then capped a 5-0 IMS spurt with a three to make it 37-30 entering the final period. IMS led 44-36 with four minutes to play and 51-44 with two minutes to play. It was 52-46 with one minute left when Lynnville-Sully again made it’s move and cut it to 54-53 with 18 seconds remaining. Following a series of time-outs, Cameron Gingerich was fouled going for the lay-in and calmly connected both free throws. The Hawks then missed the attempt to tie and Gingerich knocked down two more at the line with 2.9 seconds to seal the win.

IMS was led by Thompson’s 26 points including three treys and Gingerich finished with 15 points, including 8-8 from the line in the fourth quarter. Reggie Hostetler had nine points and Dallas Nye finished with eight. Nye had team-highs of nine rebounds and six assists and Hostetler had six rebounds and three assists. Gingerich had four rebounds and two assists and Thompson finished with three assists. 

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “this was a great win over a very good team. They have excellent athletes who shoot the ball well and I thought we did a nice job defensively for the most part throughout the game of stopping their penetration and closing out on their shooters. Their athleticism gave us trouble on the offensive glass and we broke down just enough in our on-ball defense and they took full advantage in those moments. Peyton came through with some big buckets and Cameron was tremendous at the line. Dallas gave us a great game, Reggie had some tremendous hustle plays and Justin Boller was outstanding on defense. Eli Gingerich and Joel Shetler gave us valuable minutes off the bench and it was a great team win.”

The win takes IMS to 22-2 on the season.

Eli Gingerich, Justin Boller

IMS jumped out to a 24-13 first quarter lead and went on to defeat Brooklyn BGM 72-55 Tuesday in Hillcrest Union.  IMS advances to the district final Thursday against Lynnville-Sully at Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman.
 
IMS stretched the margin to 46-29 at the half.  The third quarter saw IMS

Dallas Nye

push the lead to 54-31 after four minutes, but the Bears clawed their way back to 63-46 after three.  After building the lead back to 70-48 IMS kept BGM at bay to advance with the win.
 
IMS was led by Peyton Thompson with 26 points, including five treys, along with four rebounds and three assists.  Cameron Gingerich and Dallas Nye each scored 13 points.  Gingerich had a team-high eight assists and Nye had seven assists and six boards.  Reggie Hostetler pulled down 12 rebounds to go with nine points and Eli Gingerich drilled two treys for six points to go with two assists and two steals.  Justin Boller added a three and had four rebounds and three assists and Joel Shetler completed the scoring with two points.
 

Reggie Hostetler

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “our ball movement allowed us to get good shots as our assist numbers attest to, and I thought we played hard defensively for the most part, though we gave up too many easy baskets.  We’ve got to do much better in that area.  Give BGM credit, they did not quit and they hit shots at key times to stay in it and fight back.”
 
IMS goes to 21-2 on the season and BGM drops out at 17-7.

Cameron Gingerich

Peyton Thompson

Justin Boller

Justin Boller, Cameron Gingerich

IMS opened post-season play with a decisive 85-48 win over HLV in Hillcrest Union and advances to play BGM in

Reggie Hostetler

the Class 1A District semifinal next Tuesday at home.  Both teams were hot early, as IMS led 26-18 after one period.  Peyton Thompson led the charge, connecting on four treys on his way to 16 first-quarter points.  HLV cashed in on three triples in the first quarter to spread out the IMS defense.

Peyton Thompson

 
IMS buckled down at the defensive end and held the Warriors to four points in the second period while scoring 17, and led 43-22 at the half.  The third quarter saw more separation as IMS led 70-38 going into the final period.
 
Thompson finished with 25 points, including seven three-point goals, seven assists, and three steals, and classmate Cameron Gingerich had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Joel Shetler tallied 10 points and seven rebounds, and Eli Gingerich knocked down three triples for nine points.  Reggie Hostetler recorded eight points and six assists.  Justin Boller hit two treys for six points and had four assists.  Dallas Nye scored six points and had five rebounds and three assists.  Zach Hill and Kirby Shetler had two points each to complete the scoring.  Hill also pulled down five boards.
 

Dallas Nye

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “it’s always good to get the first tournament game under your belt.  I thought we settled in after the first quarter and played well at both ends.  Our ball movement was very good and we were able to find good shots as a result.”

IMS goes to 20-2 on the season, while HLV’s season ends at 6-17.

Cameron Gingerich

Tanner Leyden

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Eli Gingerich

Kirby Shetler

Justin Boller

IMS and Burlington Notre Dame players pray together after money was collected for the Coaches vs. Cancer night,

Some of our student section wearing pink in support of Coaches vs. Cancer night

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IMS hosted Burlington Notre Dame Friday in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shoot-out, defeating the Nikes 60-54 in a match-up of teams finishing second in their respective divisions. Following the game, over $1100 was raised as part of the Coaches vs Cancer fundraiser.

IMS jumped out to an 18-9 lead after one quarter and led 31-18 at the half. The third quarter was even as IMS led 45-31 going into the final frame. IMS increased the margin to 56-35 with three minutes to play before the Nikes knocked down shots late. IMS was led by Peyton Thompson’s 17 points, while Cameron Gingerich and Dallas Nye had 15 points apiece. Nye had 13 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists. Reggie Hostetler and Joel Shetler scored three points each, Eli Gingerich scored a triple and Zach Hill completed the scoring with two points.

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “this was a quality win to end our regular season over a team that’s obviously had a very good year. Our defensive intensity was very good at times and I thought we played aggressively at both ends. Also, we really appreciate the way folks responded to the Coaches vs Cancer event, and a big thank you to all who contributed.”

IMS finishes the regular season at 19-2 and opens post-season play Thursday at home at 7:00 pm against the winner of Monday’s HLV – English Valleys game. No IMS passes will gain you admission for this district game. The cost for everyone is $6.

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Dallas Nye

Cameron Gingerich

Justin Boller