The Kimball High boys swept past McPherson County 68-20 in first round play of the Kimball Invitational Tournament this past weekend but fell to a scrappy Dundy County-Stratton team 67-48 in the championship game. The Dundy County-Stratton team had defeated Morrill 58-37 in their first round pairing.
Coach Luke Dea was able to use everyone he suited giving his bench plenty of court time in the win over McPherson County. He got scoring out of ten players led by Jordan Greenwood with 16 as the junior hit 7/15 from the field including a pair of treys. Greenwood also charted 4 rebounds, 6 steals and an assist. Tyler Magninie was in double figures with 12 points on 4/9 field goal shooting with 2 treys and was 2/2 at the line. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Also in double figures was Brandon Barker with 10 on 5/10 shooting, plus 4 rebounds and 5 steals.
Other scoring for the Horns saw Jaden Withrow with 8 including 2 treys, Creg Barker 6 points along with a team high 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Trent Rutledge had 5 points with 1 trey,S rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists plus 1 block. Freshman Izaac Reuter tallied 4 points with 1 trey, Kole Bush had 3, Angel Flores 2, and Preston Booty 2.
In team stats Kimball had 15 fouls, was 3/4 at the foul line, 28/65 from the field including 9/25 on 3 point attempts, had 10 offensive and 25 defensive rebounds, 25 steals, 12 assists, and 1 blocked shot.
McPherson County was led in scoring by Peyton Barner with 10 points. In team stats they had only 6 fouls, were 8/17 at the line, 6/29 on 2 point fielders and 0/14 on 3 point tries, and charted 27 rebounds.
Kimball 12-20-18-18 -- 68
McPherson Co. 5-6-4-5 -- 20
The Horns held their own the first half of play with the Tigers of Dundy County taking a 16-12 lead after one quarter of play and trailing 30-22 at half time, but the Tigers took control the second half and cruised to the win.
It was a battle of two similar type ball clubs with both liking to run with a fast paced offense and shooting the ball at will, along with both using pressing type defense. It led to a number of turnovers, especially for the Horns, and also a total of 39 fouls.
After the Tigers jumped out to a 10-5 lead early, Angel Flores provided a spark with a 3 point fielder and then 3 points at the foul line after being fouled on another 3 point attempt, Jaden Withrow scored on a lay-in and Brandon Barker nailed a trey to put Kimball on top 16-12 at the quarter break. The last lead in the contest was 20-18 when Jordan Greenwood scored in the lane. The Horns got outscored 18-6 in the second period.
A good night for Flores as the senior point guard ended up with 11 points going 3/6 from the field with 2 treys and 3/3 at the line. Creg Barker shared scoring honors for the Horns with his 11 points coming on a pair of field goals and 7/8 free throw shooting. He also pulled 9 rebounds. Jaden Withrow had 9 points and was 3/4 at the line. Jordan Greenwood had 7 points, Brandon Barker 7, Tyler Magninie 2 along with 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Trent Rutledge had 1 point, a team high 12 rebounds and an assist.
Kimball had 21 fouls, were 15/23 at the foul line, 15/61 from the field including 3/26 on 3 point attempts, had 11 offensive and 29 defensive rebounds, 6 steals, and 7 assists.
The Tigers had 3 players in double figures with Noah Kerchal and Phalen Sanford sharing scoring honors with 17 points each, and Paul Calvert with 12. Dundy County had 18 fouls, were 18/28 at the line, 24/66 from the field including 1/10 on 3 point tries, and pulled 40 rebounds.
Next action for the Horns is a trip to Perkins County Friday night for JV games beginning at 4 p.m. followed by the girls and boys varsity games. Kimball will host Morrill Saturday night with early game times starting at 2 p.m. for the junior varsity contests.
Kimball 16-6-14-12 -- 48
Dundy Co. 12-18-23-14 -- 67