Kimball boys win over Morrill

The Kimball High boys played Perkins County close on the road Friday night, losing 64-59, but came back strong Saturday on the home court to defeat Morrill 78-31. It was a good weekend for coach Luke Dea's Longhorns as they are showing improvement each time out as they adapt to the style of play the Kimball coaches are stressing this season.

"We want to play an aggressive, fast pace style of basketball, on both offense and defense. With our lack of height, we need to really push the ball on offense and we need to really pressure our opponents on defense," said coach Dea.

The Horns got off to a good start at Grant leading 20-14 after the first quarter of play, but got outscored 18-2 in the second period to trail 32-22 at half time. The Plainsmen scored the first 3 baskets of the second half to increase their lead to 38-22 and were on top 46-35 after three periods of play. To their credit, the Horns didn't fold and battled hard to the final buzzer. With a little over two minutes left in the contest, Tyler Magninie hit a 3 point fielder and Jordan Greenwood followed with a steal and layin to close to 55-54. Brandon Barker hit a pair of free throws and nailed a trey in the closing seconds to close to 63-59 but the Kimball crew could not quite gain control, despite a great come back effort. Kimball's cause was not helped by a numerous amount of offensive calls against them, but again, to their credit, the Kimball players kept their composure despite frustration with those questionable calls.

Kimball lost starters Trent Rutledge and Jaden Withrow by fouls late in the game which also hurt their cause. A total of 25 fouls called on Kimball and the host team shot 19/22 at the foul line! Kimball was 4 of 11!

Three players in double figures for Kimball with Jordan Greenwood and Tyler Magninie both with 13 and Jaden Withrow with 12. Greenwood knocked down a pair of treys, had 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Magninie nailed 3 treys. Withrow had 1 trey and 5 rebounds. Brandon Barker connected on 2 of 3 trey shots and had 8 points. Trent Rutledge had 6 points and 2 blocks. Angel Flores had 5 points with 1 trey and 4 assists. Creg Barker had 2 points.

In team stats, Kimball had 25 fouls, a very good 8 turnovers, 12 assists, 9 steals, 2 blocks, 4 offensive and 17 defensive rebounds for 21 total, shot 4/11 at the line, 23/61 from the field going 14/33 on 2 point fielders and 9/28 on 3 pointers.

Perkins County had 30 rebounds, 16 fouls, were 19/22 at the line and 21/46 from the field including 3/11 on treys. They were led in scoring by Josh Johnson with 20 and Charles Johnson with 18.

Kimball 20-2-13-24 -- 59

Perkins Co. 14-18-14-18 -- 64

The loss at Grant was painful but the Horns got their chins up and gathered themselves for their best performance of the young season against the Morrill Lions. They battled even the first period taking a meager 1 point lead (17-16) after the opening quarter. Brandon Barker came off the bench to spark a fire in the Horns offense. Kimball got rolling in the second period to outscore the Lions 21-9 with Jaden Withrow leading the way with 17 first half points. Kimball took what roar the Lions had left completely away with a 28 point third period while holding the visitors to just 4.

Withrow ended up high with 21 points on 7/12 shooting from the field going 2/3 on treys and 5/6 at the line. Tyler Magninie tallied 14 points and was 3/6 from behind the arc. His team high 12 rebounds gave him a double-double on the night. Jordan Greenwood had 10 points with 2 treys, along with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Brandon Barker had 9 points with 1 trey, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. Angel Flores 8 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. A lot of rebounds for the 5'7" senior point guard! Trent Rutledge had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Creg Barker 4 points and 5 rebounds. Izaak Reuter 3 with his trey, and Ryan Soper 2.

The Kimball stat sheet shows Kimball with 19 fouls, 13 turnovers, 17 steals, 14 assists, 1 blocked shot, 47 rebounds with 18 offensive and 29 defensive, 17/22 at the line, 26/76 from the field with 17/50 on 2 pointers and 9/26 on 3 pointers.

Morrill had 31 rebounds, 13 fouls, 5/14 at the line, 12/53 from the field going 10/39 on 2 pointers and 2/14 on 3 point field goals. No one in double figures for Morrill with Ryan Aratani high with 8, Josh Harvey 7, Tyler Gibson 5, Ryan McMackin 5, Andrew Avila 4, and Keaton Robb 2.

Commenting on the weekend play, coach Dea said, "I am happy with the guys. We are trying to play fast and the kids are buying into this. We have really been having hard practices and the guys are getting into shape. We need to get into even better shape, and we will. For a smaller team we get some good rebounding. We shot the ball well both nights. Our turnovers are a lot better."

Coach Dea went on to say that he is proud of the way the team is keeping their composure. "I tell the kids that you can't concentrate on playing well if you are playing angry. We have been showing composure and keeping our cool. This shows good character. Win or lose, it is hard to criticize our guys as hard as they are playing".

A tough weekend ahead with both games on the road. Hershey Friday night has a team of big, sturdy type players. Bayard has some height too but have been having some health problems. Kimball should match up well with the Tigers. JV game times at Hershey are 3:30 p.m. and an early 2 p.m. start time at Bayard. Following the Bayard game the Horns will take a Christmas break.

Kimball 17-21-28-12 -- 78

Morrill 16-9-4-2 -- 31