Scrappy Horns' Season Ends With OT Loss

The Kimball High boys saw their basketball season come to an end in an exciting, and well played, subdistrict championship overtime loss to Bridgeport.

The fans were treated to high school basketball like they come out to see it, and if you were a neutral fan the outcome was OK. The Bridgeport fans were quite pleased and the Kimball fans disappointed to see their team lose after giving such a great effort.

The Bulldogs from Bridgeport prevailed, 45-43, and for the season, won two of the three meetings between the teams.

With the loss, Kimball closed out the season with 11 wins and 12 losses.

KIMBALL 57, MORRILL 41

To get to the subdistrict finals, Kimball defeated Morrill 57-41 in the semifinals, a big victory in itself as Morrill was the No. 2 seed and Kimball the No. 3 seed. The Morrill Lions had won over Kimball twice in previous games so this victory was sweet for Coach Mo Hanks and his club.

The Horns got out to a good start, leading 13-6 after one quarter of play and were up 28-17 at halftime.

It was a good night of shooting for the Horns as they were 46% overall from the field, connecting on 23 of 50 shots including 9/24 from 3 point range for 38% and 2/4 at the foul line. The Horns were strong on the boards, out rebounding Morrill 37 to 18, registered 11 blocked shots, had 2 steals, only 8 fouls and 15 turnovers.

Brendan Walker led all scores with 22 points and was 4/7 on 3 point attempts. Beau Hanks hit double figures with 13 and was 3/7 on treys. He got his double-double on the night with 13 rebounds and also led the team in assists with 6, and blocks with 5 in all around outstanding performance. Sam Cajero had 8 points, Jacob Withrow 7 with 1 trey, Austin Lulf 5 with 1 trey, and Brayden Tyan 2. Walker and Tyan both charted 8 rebounds and 3 blocks and Tyan had 5 assists.

Kolten McMackin led Morrill with 20 points and nailed 6 treys. Blake Lofink and Tanner Whetham had 9 points each, and Isaiah Uerue 3.

Kimball played a complete game and was praised by both coaches. Coach Hanks was pleased with the defensive play of his team and the stats show why with the rebounds and blocks recorded. The shooting percentage show the offense got the job done too.

KIMBALL 13 15 15 14 – 57

MORRILL 6 11 15 9 – 41

BRIDGEPORT 45, Kimball 43

Kimball had an even better start against Bridgeport than they had in the Morrill game busting out to a 13-4 margin and leading 18-8 at the quarter break. Brendan Walker got it started with a layin off the opening tip from Beau Hanks. No less than 6 Kimball players got into the scoring act in the opening quarter and the Horns poured in 3 treys!

The 2nd period started and it was Bridgeport's turn to go on a scoring spree as they tallied 11 unanswered points to go up 19-18 on Kimball before Walker stopped the onslaught at the foul line converting a pair of free throws to regain the lead at 20-19. Jacob Withrow scored on a drive and hit a free throw and Kimball led 23-19, but the Bulldogs nailed a trey as time expired to leave Kimball on top 23-22 at intermission.

Brayden Tyan went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury with 3:39 left in the first half and was helped from the floor to the locker room, but it was good to see him come out with the rest of the team for second half play, and declared ready to go again.

The 3rd quarter started with Bayler Sterkel hitting a trey to pt Bridgeport back on top 25-23, but Beau Hanks matched him seconds later with a long trey to give Kimball back the lead 26-25. This was the way the entire second half would play out with the two clubs exchanging the lead. Brendan Walker picked up his third foul early in the 3rd quarter and then was assessed his 4th foul on a technical foul call for his reaction. Coach Hanks was forced to sit him for an extended time and then lost him to his 5th foul with 4:46 left in the game.

Kimball's last lead in regulation came on a basket by Beau Hanks on a strong inside move to give the Horns the lead at 39-38. Bridgeport took the lead at 41-39 with :19 seconds remaining in regulation and things were not looking good for the Horns, but sophomore Thomas Muldoon came through in fine fashion as the young player stepped to the foul line with :12 seconds showing and calmly swished both free throws in a one and one situation to tie the game once again and send it into overtime.

In the 4 minute overtime period, Kimball scored first on a slick move by Sam Cajero, but Luis Garza would score the next 2 baskets for Bridgeport as the 6'3" junior made a pair of strong inside moves to get the winning baskets. With 2.6 seconds on the clock Kimball called a time out and got one final long throw at the basket that was off target.

Just like the game itself, the stats were also close. Kimball shot 28% from the field overall and Bridgeport 31%. Kimball was a bit better on 3 point attempts going 5/20 to the Dog's 3/20. The Horns were great at the foul line making 12/15 for 80% compared to Bridgeport's 6/11 for 54%. Both teams pulled 28 rebounds, but Kimball had 10 blocked shots to 5 for the winners. Bridgeport won in assists 11 to 5, and in turnovers 11 to 17. Kimball had 14 fouls and Bridgeport 16.

Another strong night for Beau Hanks leading Kimball scoring with 12 points with 1 trey. He also was top rebounder with 8 and had 6 blocked shots. Walker and Cajero both had 7 points and 1 trey each. Tyan had 5 with a trey, Withrow 5, Muldoon 4, and Lulf 3 with 1 trey. Muldoon, Walker, Cajero, and Tyan were all 2 for 2 at the foul line, while Hanks was 3/5 and Withrow 1/2 in an exceptional night of free throw shooting. Cajero also charted 6 rebounds and Withrow was high in assists with 2.

Garza led Bridgeport scoring with 16 followed by Braxten Swires with 9, Braeden Stull 6, Brady Newkirk 4, Cole Faessler and Bayler Sterkel 3 each, and Jake Wallesen and Mason Nichols 2 each.

BRIDGEPORT 8 14 6 13 4 – 45

Kimball 18 5 10 8 2 – 43