Kimball Girls Humbled By Sidney

Players, coaches and fans came to the same conclusion after Friday night’s 51-34 home loss to Sidney.

“They’re a good team,” said Darbi Klinkhammer, “but we just didn’t show up to play.”

The Longhorns turned the ball over four times in the first three minutes, staking Sidney to an 8-0 lead. They were shunned by the rim on their end of the court, hitting just one of eight from the field in the first period. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, tacked on 6 more points, upping the ante to 14-2 before Klinkhammer weighed in with a lay up and a couple for free throws to close out the quarter.

“We never matched their intensity,” head coach Ken Smith pointed out. “I would never have guessed it.”

Kimball found momentary redemption in the second period, when Amber Kilgore zipped a pass to Danika Daum on the low post for two plus a bonus, followed by a Shelby Vogel charity shot.

The 4-0 outburst cut Sidney’s advantage to 19-10 with 4:24 remaining until halftime.

But Karissa Segelke responded with a personal 7-2 run. The Longhorns lost control on three more possessions--part of a 28 turnover night--and Raiders Jeni Heeren and Sarah Mahr found the net before Kimball again raked at the mounting lead.

“We didn’t play like we know how to play,” Jessica Hanks acknowledged. “It was horrendous.”

In addition to the turnovers, Kimball shot just 25 percent from the floor.

“Our effort was poor on both ends,” Smith said. “But Brooke Hager really stepped up for us.”

Hager drained a three toward the end of the first half, converting a kick out from Kilgore. She hit two more from beyond the arc before things were over, with assists from Klinkhammer and Laura Flores.

She ended up with a team high 11 points on the night.

Daum caused a flare up as the second half got underway, taking a Vogel pass and banging it off the glass less than a minute in then hitting a driving jumper. She scored 9 points.

The visitors held Kimball at arm’s length the rest of the way. Mahr answered Daum’s effort with two jumpers of her own. Madi Malzahn responded to Hager’s final long shot with a three from the wing.

“We didn’t show up to play,” Smith said, echoing Klinkhammer’s conclusion. “No excuses.”