IMS Defeats Pekin

by Coach Dwight Gingerich
IMS jumped out to a 26-6 lead three minutes into the second quarter, and went on to defeat the previously unbeaten Pekin Panthers in the season’s home opener by the score of 65-41 on Friday.  Senior Jesse Ney netted a game-high 23 points and nine boards, and junior Truman Shetler added 16 points, going 8-12 from the floor.  IMS shot an even 50 percent from the floor for the game, while holding the Panthers to 16-53 shooting for 30 percent.
Pekin fought back and hung tough as IMS had a tough time putting the game away through the second half.  After a barrage of fourth quarter threes by Pekin’s Brady Lamb, it was a Jesse Ney trey that gave IMS the solid 62-39 lead with three minutes to play.
Sophomore Ethan Gingerich tallied eight points, including two treys, and dished for seven assists, and senior Danny Hershberger pulled down five rebounds to go with five points.  Sophomore Jackson Brokaw had four assists, four rebounds, and two steals in another solid effort.  Junior Aaron Erb and senior Josh Snyder each added a three, while Brant Kapple, and Jacob Yoder chipped in with two points each to complete the scoring. 
This was a big conference win over a team that’s had only success this season.  We shared the ball well, as 10 different players had at least one assist.  Defensively we played very hard early on, but then wore down a bit, so need to work on our conditioning.   It is fun to see our team improve each game, in terms of effort and execution.
IMS goes to 3-0 on the season.