Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Lady Longhorns, Kailey Dickerson, left, and Arica McCloud, right pressure the opponent to gain control of the ball during their game against the McPherson County Longhorns on Friday, Dec. 4.
Kimball senior Madison Biesecker keeps her eye on the prize as she takes it to the basket during Kimball's game against the McPherson County Lady Longhorns.
The Kimball High girls are off and running, winning their own Kimball Invitational Tournament this past weekend leaving them with a 3-0 record, counting the early exhibition win over Scottsbluff in the Nebraska Hall of Fame game. That win, and the championship win over Dundy County Saturday evening, are two very impressive victories for the Lady Horns.
No problem for the Kimball ladies in Friday night's first round play as they ran past McPherson County 61-14. The win Saturday in the championship game ended up 72-59 as Kimball earned a hard fought battle with the number one ranked D-l Dundy County-Stratton Lady Tigers in the pre-season state ratings!
In Friday night play, Kimball jumped out to a 21-7 first quarter lead, were on top 39-9 at half time, and held the McPherson County Lady Longhorns to just 5 second half points as they finished out the fourth period with a running clock when the point margin became more than 40 points with Justine Heeg's 3 point fielder to start the final quarter. The starting group of seniors were all done at the end of the third period and coach Chauncey Pedersen was able to use his bench throughout the contest.
An impressive night for Kimball freshman Kate Reader who led the Horns with 24 points with an awesome display of shooting going 12 of 14 from the field and connecting on her last 11 shots without missing. She also contributed 9 rebounds and 6 steals!
Danika Daum had 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Arica McCloud 8 points and 8 steals and was 2/4 on three point attempts. Madison Biesecker had 7 points, 7 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Justine Heeg ended with 5 points on perfect 2 for 2 shooting. Alex Reader had 2 points along with 4 steals, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 block. Shauntae Daily had 2 and Hannah Biesecker 1.
In team stats Kimball was 7/13 at the line, 21/51 on 2 point field goals, 4/19 on 3 point attempts, had 18 offensive and 11 defensive rebounds, 30 steals, 12 assists, and 2 blocked shots.
Kimball 21-18-12-10 -- 61
McPherson Co. 7-2-3-2 -- 14
Saturday's title game was a display of top notch high school girl's basketball with a large crowd on hand to enjoy the play. Kimball got out to a 14-11 first quarter lead with Daum netting 7 points and Alex Reader 5. Kimball led 28-24 at half time, scoring 10 unanswered points after falling behind 24-18. Daum already had points by half time, but sat out the start of the second half not feeling the best.
Arica McCloud and Alex Reader had big plays in the third period to keep the Horns rolling and Daum checked back in when needed, and the Horns outscored the Lady Tigers 18-9 to take a 46-33 lead into the start of the fourth period. Both teams put on a scoring show in the fourth quarter with both clubs scoring 26 points!
Four players in double figures for Kimball with Daum high with 28 going 8/11 at the line and 10/20 from the field. She had a double-double with 12 rebounds and handed out 3 assists. Alex Reader poured in 17 points going 4/5 on three pointers and 3/4 at the line, plus 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 5 assists and was brilliant with her court play. Kate Reader had 15 points on 6/8 shooting from the floor and 3/4 at the line, had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. McCloud tallied 10 points on 4/6 from the floor and 2/2 at the line. Madison Biesecker had 2 points on 2/2 free throw shooting, with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Kailey Dickerson didn't score missing the only shot taken, but contributed greatly with her defensive play including 3 steals.
Coach Pedersen was concerned with the free throw shooting of his club from earlier games but they came through big in this win making 18 of 23. They were also 21/39 on 3 point field goals, and 4/11 on 3 pointers, had 9 offensive boards and 26 defense rebounds, 9 steals, 13 assists, and 2 blocked shots.
Dundy County was 13/2 on 2 point field goals, 7/32 on 3 pointers, and 12/20 at the line with 31 rebounds. They had 7 players score with 4 in double figures including Fayelee Sanford with 15, Kaylee Burke 12, Emily Jopnes 11, and Nicole Kent 10.
Kimball 14-14-18-26 -- 72
Dundy Co. 11-13-9-26 -- 59
The Kimball girls are at Perkins County Friday night for games beginning at 4 p.m. with the junior varsity teams followed by the varsity girls and boys, and will host Morrill Saturday with JV games beginning at 2 p.m.
