Lone Tree and IMS match ups on the boys basketball court always seem to have something extra. In the latest edition Friday night in Lone Tree, fans were treated to an early season showcase of two top ten teams that are expected to contend for the Southeast Iowa Superconference title. The #6 ranked Lone Tree boys took the opportunity to flex their muscles posting a 72-54 win over #4 IMS. Lone Tree sprinted out to a quick start leading 23-15 after the first, behind 11 first quarter points from Lucas Sieverding and the Lions would take a 36-28 lead into the halftime break. Lone Tree’s early season hallmark has been getting out to good starts, after the game Lone Tree Head Coach Tom Squires talked about what is keyed those early leads.

“I think our team had good intensity, I think our defense got a lot better, we went man-to-man last year, sometimes it take a little bit for our system to get developed and we’ve tweaked some things defensively, and these kids have really bought into the system,” Squires said. “After the first half I think we did a better job on Thompson and Gingerich and stopping them from getting to the basket, and I think our transition game is very good as well, we can get up and down the floor and pass the ball well.”

The third frame played out much like the first with Lone Tree building a lead of more than 20 as they played swarming defense and continued to get offensive contributions up and down the line up. Things again evened out in the 4th quarter but by then the decision was no longer in doubt. Lone Tree was led by Sieverding’s 22 points and also got 21 points and 12 boards from Brian Forbes. Dallas Nye had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead IMS, Cameron Gingerich and Peyton Thompson finished with 11 apiece. IMS Head Coach Dwight Gingerich spoke after the game about his team’s performance against the Lions.

“We struggled tonight, I thought we hung with them for awhile, cut it back to three, the they score five straight to end the first half,” Gingerich said, “The third quarter we had a tough time, they showed what kind of team they are going to be this year, or us it was an opportunitity to play that good of team early and now we have a lot of things exposed that we’re going to have to work on. I think the guys have a good effort, you try to get a lot of things going early, it’s a work in progress, and we’re just going to have to come in Monday in practice and get better.”

With the win #6 Lone Tree is now 2-0 on the season and will be in action Tuesday at Wapello. #4 IMS is now 1-1 on the young season and will next be at WACO Tuesday night.