Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Taylor Wismer (left) and Shelby Vogel conspire to steal the ball from Bayard’s Kaylyn Long.
One question was answered during pre-game warm ups on Saturday.
“I found it, so it’s fine,” Darbi Klinkhammer said of her number 1 jersey. The previous evening in Hershey she took the floor in number 13 after misplacing her usual kit.
Kimball answered the second question—how would they respond to a loss?—within a few ticks after the opening tip off. Klinkhammer secured the ball, lined up from three point range and drained the opening shot. A minute later she fired a kick out pass on a clothesline to Danika Daum, who also converted from beyond the arc.
The Longhorns were on their way to a 61-24 shellacking of Bayard.
“I expected us to start strong,” head coach Ken Smith reported. “Our loss was to an outstanding team.”
The visiting Tigers struggled against Kimball’s trapping defense. The Longhorns recorded 19 steals and held Bayard under 10 points until the third quarter. Meanwhile 11 of Smith’s squad put points on the board during the onslaught.
“We were trying to get more ball movement,” Smith explained.
In the second quarter, Klinkhammer scored from the line. She then whipped a rope to Brooke Hager, cutting into the paint and to the rim. Later in the period, Tabitha Unzicker snagged a rebound and popped it back in off the glass.
“I was just trying to get rebounds,” Unzicker said of her effort.
Finally, Jessica Hanks took a turn from three point land. At the half, Kimball led 25-7.
Klinkhammer put another 5 points on the board in the first two minutes of the third and added an assist—Shelby Vogel doing the honors with a reverse lay up—to extend the Longhorns’ lead.
Taylor Wismer’s hand heated up after that. The little senior guard drained a trio of threes over a four minute span.
The score stood at 43-18 heading into the final frame when Klinkhammer found Vogel on back to back baseball pass breakaways, tacking on 4 more quick points.
“I was cherry picking,” Vogel said with a laugh.
Despite Kimball’s efforts to slow things down, their shots continued to fall. Amber Kilgore followed with two jumpers and a bonus from the line. Emily Poss swished a three and, in the game’s final seconds, Kelly Green banked one off the glass.
“Overall, I was pleased,” Smith said of his team’s work. They head into the break with a 4-1 mark.
The Longhorns play host to Pine Bluffs on January 4.
