Girls Win, Boys Lose In Openers For Horns

Kimball's Longhorn basketball teams started their 2020-21 campaigns Friday night against the visiting Leyton Warriors in non-conference action at Kimball High School.

Girls Game

Kimball 59, Leyton 34

The girls teams played first with Kimball notching a comfortable 59-34 victory over a Lady Warriors squad that dressed just five players. It was new coach Jaclyn Burks' first game at the helm of the Longhorns.

Senior standout Megan Spicer led the Longhorns in scoring with 21 points and had five steals on defense. Senior Sydney Biesecker contributed 12 points and two blocked shots, while junior Chantel Malson scored 11. Also scoring for Kimball were junior Payton Wise with 7 points and junior Maddison Merryfield and Katie Heeg with 4 each.

Kimball pulled ahead early, working inside for points and it was apparent that Leyton had a tall task ahead. But led by senior Ella Draper, the Lady Warriors battled back to narrow the Kimball lead to 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Kimball continued to score, while Leyton struggled for scoring opportunities. Only a scoring burst by Draper kept Leyton within reach, 29-20, at halftime.

Kimball extended its lead in the third quarter, but the Lady Warriors found ways to keep in the game. But by the fourth quarter, the Leyton squad couldn't keep up with the pace and the Longhorns pulled away.

Boys Game

Leyton 73, Kimball 19

The boys game was a different story.

The Warriors started hot and continued to score while shutting down the Longhorn offense, pulling away to a big 33-3 lead after the first period.

Leyton junior Kole Bush scored 16 points and had seven steals and Leyton had four players score in double digits in the 73-19 victory. Statistics for Kimball were not immediately available.

The Longhorns had a short run of offense in the second quarter but were shut down by the aggressive Leyton defense for the entire game.

The Warriors scored inside and outside, sinking seven three pointers in the victory.

The Longhorns are back in action on Friday as they host the Perkins County Plainsmen.