Langford Area will be trying to snap a nine-game losing streak when it wraps up regular season play at home against Waverly-South Shore (3-16) on Friday and will open Region 1B play on Monday.
Based on seed points through Monday games (seeds could vary based on results of games this week) the 10th-seeded Lions (2-17) would travel to seven seed Wilmot (8-12) for a play-in contest. LA dropped a 59-40 decision to Wilmot earlier this season. In the other play-in game #8 Tiospa Zina (4-15) would host #9 Waverly-South Shore (3-16).
In quarterfinal matchups set for Tuesday top-seeded Aberdeen Christian (17-2) would host the TZ-W/SS winner, number two Leola-Frederick (14-5) would host the winner of the Wilmot-LA contest, #3 Waubay-Summit (14-6) would host sixth seed Hitchcock-Tulare ((7-12), and #4 Warner (14-6) would host #5 Northwestern (13-6).
The regional semifinals to determine the two SoDak 16 qualifiers will be played next week Friday.
Ipswich 58
Langford Area 49
Langford Area came out red-hot with a 20-point first period and led by 11 after the second and third quarters, but Ipswich rallied with a 26-6 run in the final eight minutes to get the win.
“We played well for three solid quarters, however, couldn’t match their defense in the final quarter,” said LA boss Brian Schuring. “The boys gave a pretty good team all they wanted and earned some respect. We are a scary team to play against and we are going to be very tough to beat in our games ahead of us.”
Kassen Keough led the Lions with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. Case Reints added 11 counters and Eli Samson had three assists.
Aberdeen Roncalli 63
Langford Area 43
Aberdeen Roncalli took advantage of a six-minute scoring drought by Langford Area in the second quarter to forge a 19-point advantage and kept the Lions at bay in the second half.
“We picked up a new opponent this year in Roncalli,” noted Schuring. “We had a tough time with their quickness. They shot the three-ball well, knocking down 12 of them.”
Kassen Keough paced the Lions with 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Graydon Hurley notched nine counters, and Conner Glines grabbed seven boards.
Langford Area 41
Sixth-ranked Aberdeen Christian scored 40 first half points to lead by 19 at intermission and then tacked on 39 more to roll past Langford Area.
“Christian is a very good team that is highly rated in Class B,” said Schuring. “We had a difficult time matching up with their size in the front line. We played well at times and did some nice things, however, it was not easy for us. The boys played hard and that’s a credit to their character.”
Kassen Keough led the Lions with 19 points.
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL.
