The Kimball boys wound up 5th in SPVA Conference Tournament play after suffering a 49-29 first round loss at Hershey, and coming back to win 55-43 over Sutherland in Saturday consolation play at Mid Plains Community College in North Platte.
HERSHEY 49,
Kimball 29
The Longhorns had their worst offensive showing of the season in scoring only 29 points in their loss to Hershey. Coach Mo Hanks said "We had a good defensive showing but couldn't shoot the basketball". In an earlier contest with the Hershey club the Kimball boys lost 57-48 with both contests being played at Hershey. The Hershey boys are without a doubt a solid club as they went on to win the championship at this year's Conference Tournament.
Kimball actually got out to an early lead and were up 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. They were outscored in the final 3 periods however. No stats or scoring were available for Hershey, but Kimball was 11/44 from the field for 25% and just 4/20 on 3 point tries for 20%. They shot only 5 free throws making 3 for 60%. They ended with 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 12 steals, 3 blocked shots, 15 fouls and 16 turnovers.
No one in double figure scoring for Kimball with Brendan Walker, Sam Cajero, and Brayden Tyan all with 7 points, Beau Hanks and Jacob Withrow with 4 each. Cajero had 2 treys and Walker and Tyan 1 each. Walker was top rebounder with 5, Cajero and Tyan led in steals with 3 each, and Hanks had 2 blocks.
Kimball 12 5 7 – 29
Hershey 10 14 9 – 49
KIMBALL 55,
SUTHERLAND 43
The Horns had to come from behind to get the win on Saturday as they trailed 15-10 at the 1st quarter break, 24-18 at half time, and tied the game at 35-35 after 3 quarters. The second half belonged to Kimball as they won the scoring battle 37-19 and showed some good team play and composure in securing the win.
Trailing 24-18 to start the 3rd quarter, Kimball used the long range attack to take control with 4 different players hitting trey balls enroute to out scoring the Sailors 17-11. Jacob Withrow started it off with his trey followed by long range swishes by Austin Lulf, Beau Hanks and Thomas Muldoon. Muldoon's trey got the Horns to within 1 point and Brayden Tyan then scored a couple of buckets on inside moves to give Kimball a short lived lead before the Sailors tied it at 35 all to go into 4th quarter play. The Horns took care of business in the final period out scoring Sutherland 20-8.
Kimball shot 42% from the field and were only 9/21 for 42%. They pulled 27 rebounds but only 4 offensive and Sutherland got the best of Kimball in this department with 35 boards. The Horns had 12 assists, 9 blocked shots, 7 steals, 12 fouls and only 7 turnovers.
Tyan led Kimball in scoring with 15 points followed by Hanks with 12 including 2 treys, Withrow 11 with 2 treys, Walker and Cajero with 5 each, Lulf 4 with 1 trey and Muldoon with 3 and 1 trey. A good all around night for Jacob Withrow with 7 rebounds and 4 assists to lead in both of these categories. Lulf, Tyan and Hanks all charted 5 rebounds and Walker had 4. Hanks led in blocks with 6.
Sutherland failed to convert a trey, and were 9/19 at the line along with 16 fouls. They had 4 players score led by Tayton Schuster with 17, Jade Paxton 16, Luke Martinez 8, and Noah Hoim 2.
Kimball improved their season record to 8-5 and has two games on the schedule for this weekend including a home game with this same Sutherland club with JV action to begin at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday night they travel back to North Platte to go up against the St Pats Irish who finished 3rd in the SPVA play with a 55-44 win over Chase County.
KIMBALL 10 8 17 20 – 55
SUTHERLAND 15 9 11 8 – 43