Kimball Girls Survive Slow Start, Dominate Pine Bluffs

Four different Longhorns scored in the first eight minutes of play coming off the holiday break. A fifth Kimball player—Jessica Hanks—pilfered the ball twice, once feeding Shelby Vogel off the steal for an easy lay up.

The eventual outcome, 42-16 in favor of Kimball over visiting Pine Bluffs on Friday night, suggests a team clicking despite a couple weeks of vacation. But the first quarter ended with only 8 Longhorns’ points on the board, thanks to 4 of 13 shooting from the floor and a couple of errant free throw attempts.

“A typical first game back,” allowed head coach Ken Smith.

Darbi Klinkhammer opened Kimball’s account, although not until almost a minute and a half had elapsed.

“We had two weeks off,” the senior point guard said. “It’s a long time.”

Vogel followed up, then another 2:15 ticked off the clock before Amber Kilgore and Danika Daum teamed for two quick scores.

“It’s fun to work with her,” Daum said of her skyscraping senior teammate. “We work well together.”

Still, it was a sloppy 8-0 affair at the end of one period.

Shots weren’t dropping for the Longhorns, but Smith’s crew managed to choke off every Pine Bluffs possession.

“We picked up where we left off defensively,” the coach said with some relief.

Kimball blanked the Hornets in the first and led 18-4 at halftime. Tabitha Unzicker, in her first start, dominated underneath, grabbing a team high 9 boards. Kilgore hauled down 7 more. And the team painted the court red in the third, outrebounding their guests 12-2.

Meanwhile Klinkhammer began to assert her authority.

Pine Bluffs cut the Longhorns’ lead in half a few minutes into the second quarter on a pair Jesi Zitek charity shots and Andrea Baker’s glass-banging baseline jumper.

But Klinkhammer slammed the door shut with two three pointers. In the third, Hornets’ fouls sent her to the line three times, resulting in another six points.

She ended up with 21 on the evening, more than enough to win the game single-handedly.

Despite woeful 12-63 shooting from the floor (including 3-22 beyond the arc), Kimball showed flashes of midseason form. The Longhorns were accurate from the line, with Klinkhammer dropping 9 of 12 and Kelly Green 3 of 4. During one third quarter spree, they moved the ball fluidly. Hanks nicked the ball from unwary Pine Bluffs, whipped it to Klinkhammer, who delivered it back to Hanks for a classic fast break lay up.

The most in-form shooter, however, was freshman Arica McCloud. With one late game shot and a trip to the line, she finished as the only Longhorn hitting above 50 percent.

“It was exciting,” she said of her marks on the varsity scoreboard.

Reflecting on a victory that advanced Kimball’s record to 5-1, she added, “many more will come.”