Kimball girls win, 61-60, at Hall of Fame Game

The Kimball High girls opened the season with an exciting 61-60 win over Scottsbluff in the exhibition Nebraska Schools Hall of Fame pre-season game played at Scottsbluff High Monday evening. Although the game does not count in the regular season standings, it gave Kimball fans a preview of what they might expect this year and it was a pleasant night out for certain!

The Kimball girls showed composure and the ability to carry out the game plan of coach Chauncey Pedersen. They shot free throws well hitting 29 of 42 for 69%, made key runs when they fell behind, and showed improvement over last year despite losing five key seniors to graduation. Pedersen suited 10 and played 7 in this first outing.

The game stayed close through out with the Lady Bearcats leading at every quarter break and Kimball took its first lead in the game with :28 seconds to play when freshman Alex Reader came up with a steal and drove the length of the court for a layin that put the Lady Longhorns on top 61-60. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Danika Daum had a steal, and in the final clicks of the clock, Reader had yet another steal to secure the win.

In the opening period the Bluffs team was shooting well from outside and Kimball got their scoring all inside with the Bluffs crew leading 16-10 at the break. In the 2nd quarter, Daum and Arica McCloud both tallied 7 points and Kimball went 9/14 at the line as they outscored the hosts 22 to 18 to trail 34-32 at half time. In the third period Kimball had 12 turnovers and Jessica Hanks scored 5 points as Scottsbluff increased their lead to 45-41. Another big quarter for Kimball in the 4th, out scoring the Bluffs 20-15, coming back from an 11 point deficit after the Bluffs squad scored the first 7 points of the final period to go up 52-41.

Big night for Danika Daum who led all scorers with 22 going 8/13 at the line, and hitting a pair of treys. She had a double-double with 12 rebounds, plus 3 steals and 1 assist. Jessica Hanks ended with 13 points and was 11/14 at the foul line, pulled 9 rebounds, and had 2 assists. Madison Biesecker had 8 points going 6/7 at the line, had 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Arica McCloud had 7 points with 3/4 foul shooting, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Myriah Tyan 5 points, Kailey Dickerson 4. and Alex Reader 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals.

As a team, Kimball shot 29/42 at the line, 13/37 on 2 point field goals, 2/7 on 3 pointers, had 9 offensive and 28 defensive rebounds, 10 steals, and 9 assists. They were out rebounded 49 to 37, had 22 fouls to 33 for Scottsbluff, and way too many turnovers with 35!

Coach Pedersen was happy with the win and summed it up by saying, "Remember all of those close games we lost last year. We made it our goal this year to finish out, and tonight we did just that. We worked hard during the off season and I thought it showed tonight."

Score by quarter

Scottsbluff 16 18 11 15 - 60

Kimball 10 22 9 20 - 61