Kimball boys notch two more wins

The Kimball High boys' basketball team picked up two more wins this past weekend to run their season record to 18-3 with one more regular season contest remaining on the schedule. The Horns will close out the regular season tomorrow night (Friday) on their home court hosting Mitchell. It will be the final home appearance for five seniors who will be honored along with their parents prior to the start of the varsity game.

This past Friday evening, Kimball hosted Hemingford, a team they defeated in semi final play of the WTC tournament by a mere 3 points winning out 44-41. The home town guys took care of business in game two 63-52. It was a physical showing by the visiting Bobcats that brought about a pair of technical fouls and a total of 20 personals. Hemingford's game plan, as it was in game one, was to shut down Kimball's Mike Daum but the 6'9" senior got his 22 points on 6/11 shooting from the field going 2/5 on three pointers and shot 8/10 at the foul line. He stayed busy on the boards as well charting 14, along with 4 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 assists.

Daum was scoreless after one quarter but his team mates took care of the scoring as Michael Ferguson opened it with a drive to the basket. Jake Reader had 6 first period points and Colton Stull hit a long trey to beat the buzzer giving the Horns a 13-5 lead after one quarter of play. To start the second period, Ferguson was slammed to the floor on an attempted inside shot that drew a technical foul. Fergie hit his 2 shots and Daum hit the 2 technical shots. Kimball exploded then with Stull hitting a 16 footer, Jonathon Withrow scoring on a drive, Daum nailing a trey and Stull hitting another mid range jumper. Suddenly the Horns were up 26-5! Stull had a great first half scoring 10 points, Ferguson had made some major contributions, and Daum had started to get his game going as the Horns went to the half time locker room up 34-17.

Hemingford out scored Kimball 18-15 in the third quarter causing coach Bruce Tjosvold to say "We let up a bit in the third quarter, but overall I thought our 1-3-1 defense was working pretty good and our kids played hard on defense."

The Bobcats closed the gap even more in the fourth period but Stull and Henry Heeg really stepped up and the local club notched another win.

Jake Reader hit double figure scoring with 14 going 7/9 from the field and pulled 5 rebounds, had a block and a steal. Stull finished with 12 points, a team high 4 assists, 3 rebounds and provided the spark that got the Horns going. Ferguson tallied 6 points before sitting out after suffering the head bang that left him with a head ache and a possible slight concussion. Heeg had 5 points plus 5 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a blocked shot, and Withrow had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists.

As a team, Kimball shot 51% from the field going 20/32 from 2 point range and 4/15 on 3 pointers. They were 11/19 at the line for 58%, had 31 rebounds with 8 offensive, 8 steals, 9 assists, and 6 blocked shots. A blocked shot is a deflected opponent shot but does not include deflected pass attempts.

Kimball had 18 turnovers and held their fouls to just 9. Hemingford was 19/63 from the field going 8/17 on 3 point attempts, were 6/9 at the line, had 27 rebounds and 20 fouls. They were led in scoring by Matthew Wood with 24 and Kye Kaman with 11.

Kimball 13 21 15 14 -- 63

Hemingford 05 12 18 17 -- 52

Coach Tjosvold said the win over Hemingford was a good win against a good team in a game that was physical with a lot of banging around. Now they had to re-group and make the long road trip to Sutherland Saturday night, and they did just that.

Kimball won 47-31 for their 18th win of the season. Ferguson was given the green light to play so the Horns were in full force. Daum opened the game with a trey and ended up with 5 of 9 treys on the night and 25 points going 4/4 at the line and 8/16 from the field. He charted 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, a steal and an assist. Reader had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Stull 6 points on 2/4 shooting with a trey, and led the team in assists with 7 and steals with 3. Ferguson chipped in with 5 points.

The host school stayed close the first half trailing 19-13 at intermission. "After the half we went to a press on defense and that worked well. Our defense has been good and everyone played well. I think our offense is getting better all the time," said coach Tjosvold.

Final team stats show Kimball going 6/9 at the foul line, 17/42 from the field for 40% and 7/15 on 3 point tries for 46%, 20 rebounds with 4 offensive, 13 assists, 7 steals, and 3 blocked shots. They held their turnovers to 9 and fouls to 7. Sutherland had 24 rebounds, were 1/3 at the line, 14/43 from the field including 2/9 on 3 pointers. only one player in double figures as Tyler Fear scored 10.

The Kimball boys close out the regular season this Friday night hosting Mitchell with JV game time at 5 p.m. and varsity at 6:30. The five seniors and parents being honored are Henry Heeg, Johnathon Kurth, Mitchell Shields, Mike Daum, and Jake Reader. Kimball moves into sub-district tournament play Tuesday at Sidney as the #1 seed. They will play the 5:30 game Tuesday evening against the winner of the Monday night game between Bayard and Perkins County. A win Tuesday will send them into the championship on Thursday.