Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Lady Longhorns suffer tough loss to Raiders

Season ended with a loss to Hemingford in sub-districts

The Lady Longhorns fell in three close sets to the Sidney Lady Raiders leaving Kimball with a 10-20 record entering Sub-Districts. The challenging battle was held on home court, Tuesday, Oct. 25 but was possibly the best game of the year for the Longhorns as their teamwork was obvious.

Seniors Raelynn Hinton, Jannel Fiehtner and Shauntae Daily led in points earning 7, 5 and 2 respectively. Juniors Justine Heeg took 4 points followed by Hannah Biesecker with 3 points. Sophomore Kate Reader secured 2 points for the Longhorns.

The Lady Raiders were on top of their game that night allowing very few aces through their lines. On the Kimball team, Fiehtner was the only one to earn herself 2 aces, followed with singles by Hinton, Biesecker and Daily.

Biesecker collected another 13 kills. Hinton took another 8 kills, Fiehtner 4, Reader 2 and Kaitlyn Wurdeman 1.

Heeg continues to excel in her ideal position with a total of 18 assists for the night followed by Fiehtner with 2.

Defensively, Biesecker led with 5 digs and 1 block. Hinton successfully returned the ball with 3 digs while Reader went in for 1 dig and 1 block. Wurdeman did well with her single block of the night.

Final scores for the non-league game was:

Kimball 21 22 19

Sidney 25 25 25

On Monday, Oct. 31, Kimball’s Lady Longhorns hosted the first rounds of Subdistrict play taking on the Perkins County Plainswomen and Hemingford Lady Bobcats.

Although the Longhorns struggled to work together throughout the first set of the night against the Plainswomen, they did manage to pull themselves together the last three of the four sets to win the game.

Kimball 13 25 25 25

Perkins Co 25 18 17 23

Key players for the Perkins Co. game were Biesecker who led with 14 overall points, 17 kills, 15 digs, 6 aces, one assist and one block earning herself a triple-double for the game. Hinton wasn’t far behind with her double-double, earning 11 points, 16 kills, 3 digs, a single ace and one block.

Coach Jeri Ferguson said, “Raelynn Hinton played very consistent and enabled us to pull out the win.”

Heeg’s remarkable 28 assists and 6 points helped to propel the team towards their win despite early struggles.

Even though Reader is still young, she continues to show great promise for the Longhorns with her additional 5 points, 4 kills, 1 assist and solo block.

Fiehtner was solid throughout the game both offensively and defensively with her 3 points and 3 kills along with her 4 digs and 3 blocks.

Seniors Daily and Wurdeman were sound backers for the Longhorns with Daily earning 3 points and getting 2 digs while Wurdeman landed one kill and took a single block.

After the win against the Perkins Co. Plainswomen, the Lady Longhorns faced the Hemingford Lady Bobcats in the second round of Subdistrict play. Despite their ability to remain a cohesive unit on the court, the Longhorns lost to the Bobcats with their solid 27-4 record.

Kimball 20 17 17

Hemingford 25 25 25

Offensively, the Horns struggled to keep up with the higher ranked Bobcats.

Heeg led in overall scoring for the game earning 8 points followed by Hinton with 6, Reader with 3, Seniors Hanna Klosterman and Biesecker with 2 each and Daily with one point.

Biesecker again took overall kills for the Longhorns against the Bobcats, taking 12. Hinton, Fiehtner, Reader and Wurdeman followed in kills with 7, 5, 3 and one respectively.

Serving aces were a bit harder to come by against the Bobcats and yet Heeg earned 2 followed by Reader with one.

The Longhorns fought back with a hard defensive game with every girl on the team getting several defensive credits each.

Biesecker went in for 10 digs earning herself a double-double for the game in addition to her 12 kills. Hinton and Fiehtener each took two digs apiece and Daily, Reader and Heeg each going for solo digs.

Biesecker led in blocking with her two followed with Wurdeman and Fiehtner each earning one.

Heeg was spot on with her 24 assists followed by Biesecker, Reader and Hinton.

The loss to the Hemingford Lady Bobcats marked the end of the 2016 season for the Lady Longhorns. Look for a season round up in next weeks’ paper.