Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Hunter Thompson, left, led the Pine Bluffs Hornets in a win against the Longhorns and brought the visiting team's record to 18-0 this season, though the Kimball boys fought hard. Shown here, Kimball's Edward Barnes attempts to block Thompson's shot at the basket.
Hunter Thompson and the Pine Bluffs boys put on a show to behold in winning over Kimball this past week 86-41. The defending state champs, ran their undefeated season record to 18-0 with the win and Thompson, the 6'10" super-star, who is headed to the University of Wyoming after he finishes out his senior year at Pine, gave the fans a look at what a Division One recruit can do.
Thompson was 6 for 6 on 3 point attempts in the first quarter alone and made the crowd roar with approval on a couple of slam dunks as he tallied 25 1st period points in leading the Hornets to a 40-1 first quarter lead. By half time, he had 32 points, got 9 more in the 3rd period, and retired for the night early in the 4th quarter with his final basket to settle for 43 points for the night. The entire second half was played with a running clock, a rule that goes into effect in second half play when one team has a 40-point lead over their opponent.
After outscoring Kimball by 39 points in the 1st period, the Hornets only outscored the Longhorns by 6 the remaining 3 periods.
With Thompson scoring 43 including 6 treys and 5/8 foul shooting, be assured that this is not a one-man show as coach Will Gray has a lot of talent in this club and a lot of unselfish team work. A total of 6 players scored with 4 in double figures, including Haize Fornstrom with 19, Alex Graves with 10 and Kyle Steger with 10. Tucker Norman had 4 and Hesston Fornstrom 1. The Hornets had 9 three pointers.
Kimball was led by Colton Mielke with 13 points including 3 treys, Brandon Barker with 11 and 2 treys, Corey Travis off the bench with a solid game and 7 points, Kyle Spicer with 2 treys and 6 points, Izaac Reuter and Ed Barnes with 2 each. Zane Anthony led the rebounding with 5 while Barnes and Reuter both had 4.
In team stats, Kimball shot 15/42 from the field, 7/23 on 3 pointers, 4/9 at the line, had 18 rebounds, 7 steals, 4 assists, 18 turnovers, and 17 fouls.
Kimball 1 17 14 9---41
Pine Bluffs 40 20 16 10-86
Pine Bluffs also ran away with the JV game winning 98-56 with 11 players scoring for the winners. The young Hornets had 5 players in double figures led by Justus Golding with 22, Wyatt Fornstrom 15, Andrew Fornstrom 12, Brian Steger 12, and Hunter Jeffres 10.
Colton Mielke led Kimball with 12 on his 4 treys, Beau Hanks had 11, Kole Bush 11 with a trey, Brendan Walker 9, Zane Anthony 4, Brayden Tyan 3, Jaren Winstrom 2, Sam Cajero 2, and Corey Travis 2.