IBL season is one of the most anticipated times of the year at Cov Cath. After one year of IBL action in the books, the sophomores hoped to come back strong and top their performances from last year. The sophomores play on Monday nights, and the league opened play on January 9^th.

            The first game of the year was a low-scoring matchup, with Team Day beating Team Trentman by a score of 28-25. Tony Goebel scored 8 points for Team Trentman and Michael Brunot and Brian Menke both put in 6 points for Team Day. In the next matchup, Team Atkinson beat Team Harden 47-23. Atkinson scored 16 points to lead his team, and Pat Connaughton scored 8 for Team Harden. Team Thiel topped Team Kinsella in the third game of the night. Thiel led his squad with 13 points, while Daniel Chal had 6 points for Team Kinsella. In the final game of the opening week, Team Way beat Team Ellison 54-48. Timmy Fritz scored 11 for Team Way and Blake Nelms led Team Ellison with 12 points.

            Week Two of Sophomore IBL took place on January 16^th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Team Atkinson beat Team Ellison 58-50 in the first game of the night. Austin Oberhausen led all scorers with 21 points. The next game saw Team Thiel coming out with a victory against Team Way, 72-64. Thiel once again led his team with 20 points, and Sam Hatter scored 14 points for Team Way. In game three, Team Harden beat Team Trentman 50-38. Luke Bir and Matt Miller both scored 14 to lead their teams. The final matchup of the night was the best the season had seen to that point. Team Kinsella narrowly escapes defeat by beating Team Day 45-43. Michael Brunot gave all he could in the loss, scoring 22 points. Jake Kleier led Team Kinsella with 13.

            The sophomores came back on January 22 for week three. In the first matchup of the night, Team Ellison blew out Team Kinsella 64-31. Oberhausen put in 22 points for Team Ellison, and Kinsella scored 14. The next game saw an even larger blowout. Team Harden scored 65 against Team Day while only giving up 24. Luke Bir scored a season-high 30 points, and Matt Quinn put in 8 for Team Day. Game three was a much better matchup, as Team Atkinson beat Team Thiel by 5 points, 42-37. Grant Schreiver and Joe Walsburger both scored 8 for Team Atkinson, and Sean Nemann led Team Thiel with 11 points. In the final game of the week, Team Way beat Team Trentman 45-37. Jason Meyer scored 16 to lead all scorers, and Trentman and Brandon Beck both scored 8 for Team Trentman.

            At the halfway point for Sophomore IBL, Team Atkinson is the leader of the league with an undefeated record of 3-0. This is still anybody’s league for the taking. Three teams are tied with a 2-1 record, and three more are tied with a 1-2 record. Team Trentman will look to turn things around and make a run for the top. Everyone knows that IBL is not settled in the regular season. The tournament provides a great opportunity for upsets to happen, so no matter how poorly a team finishes the regular season, they can always come back and win it all.