Turnovers Spook Kimball Girls Against Ranked Hershey

Darbi Klinkhammer may have walked under a ladder or shattered her favorite mirror--that’s conjecture.

We do know, however, that before Friday night’s trip to Hershey, the Longhorns’ senior point guard misplaced her familiar number 1 jersey and was forced to don the unlucky number 13 instead.

The result? Multiple Kimball turnovers and a 47-25 thrashing at the hands of the state’s second ranked squad.

“It’s not the jersey, it’s the player,” Klinkhammer insisted after the team’s first loss of the season.

Perhaps--but the fates also turned on coach Ken Smith. Only minutes into the game, he turned to direct action on the court and in the process knocked a tray of nachos from the hands of a passing boy.

Melted cheese splattered on the playing surface and Smith’s trousers.

He redeemed himself by handing the startled boy more than enough money to place another order, drawing a round of applause from the crowd.

The Longhorns led 2-0 on a Klinkhammer lay up before the nacho incident. When play resumed, Kimball’s point guard drew a foul and hit both free throws.

But Hershey roared to life over the remaining 6:46 of the first period outscored the Longhorns 12-2--the run broken only when Klinkhammer knifed through their defense for a lay up.

“You have to give Hershey a lot of credit,” Smith pointed out. “They’re not ranked second for no reason.”

The home side opened the second quarter with two quick Maegan Hiatt strikes. But the Longhorns began to scramble back behind Shelby Vogel. The junior forward banged one off the glass then answered Taylor Mustion’s points with an on target jumper from a sharp angle to draw Hershey within striking distance, 18-10.

But Kimball lost possession repeatedly as halftime approached, and they again handed the ball back to the Panthers to start the third period.

Hershey capitalized, jumping out to a 27-12 lead just after the break.

“Turnovers--that’s what happened,” said Jessica Hanks, explaining the deficit. “We weren’t having a smart night.”

The Panthers soon stretched their advantage to 33-14.

“We expected them to be good, but we made a lot of stupid mistakes,” Taylor Wismer agreed.

Yet Kimball again began to fight back. Wismer, who found herself covered tightly when she set up outside the arc, stepped into less familiar two point range and drained a jumper to get things rolling. Vogel followed with two quick jumpers and a free throw. Then Klinkhammer drove coast to coast for another 2 points.

As the third quarter drew to a close, the Longhorns were on a 10-2 spurt.

But good fortune proved elusive. Hershey responded and when Kimball tried to regain momentum, a Danika Daum three point attempt rolled in and out of the basket.

The Longhorns lost possession six more times in the final period, leading to the eventual 47-25 final score.

“They got a lot of lay ups off our turnovers,” Klinkhammer observed. But, she added, “they’re a better team than we’ve seen.”

Hanks agreed.

“They worked like a machine--one unit,” she said.