Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball's junior high girl's basketball team closed out their 2017 early in December. They young ladies had a great season, according to coaches, and will look forward to playing high school sports in the upcoming school year.
The Kimball Junior High Girls basketball team had a busy final week closing out 2017 early in December with three games to finish out the season. The seventh graders finished their season with a 4-5 record, topping Bayard on Monday, Dec. 4 with a final score of 12-6. Lilly Tabor scored two, as did Jaydin Paxton, Kaitlin Van Pelt, Halsey Clark, Charlotte Hargreaves and Alyssa Paxton. The young team followed up with a loss to Mitchell, 14-20, on Thursday, Dec. 7, with Alyssa Paxton leading on the boards with five points, followed by Halsey Clark with four, Jaydin Paxton, three and Emma Patterson two. Their season ended with another loss, 22-40, the following Saturday, Dec. 9, to Sidney for the young team. Again, Alyssa Paxton led with six points, Van Pelt and Clark four each, and two each for Tabor, Patterson, Jaydin Paxton and Hargreaves. Coach Reader said what she loved about this group of kids was their great attitudes and work ethic. "They just never gave up and it was a fun season," Reader said. The older Kimball junior high team finished their season 3-6 with many close games, so many, that Coach Michele Daum believes they could have easily finished with a winning record. "I was so proud of these girls and how hard they worked for me all season long," Daum said. "I never went to a practice without laughing. These young ladies all have great attitudes and never gave up." The eighth grade team lost 23-25 to Bayard on Monday, Dec. 4, in a heartbreaker overtime. Katie Heeg led the team on the scoreboard with twelve points. Maddison Merryfield followed with three, and Payton Wise, Chantel Malson, Tianna Stierwalt and Sarinda Bateman each added two. The team rebounded by the following Thursday and eeked out a 27-26 win over Mitchell with Wise leading on the board with 13 points, followed by Stierwalt with four and Heeg and Bateman with three each. Merryfield and Malson got in on the scoring action with two each. The eighth grade girls played their final junior high game on Saturday, Dec. 9, against a tough Sidney team, losing 23-34. Wise led on the scoreboard with 11, Stierwalt and Caelyn Long each added four points, and Malson and Riley Hinton scored two each as well. "It was difficult at the end of the week as Katie Heeg suffered a foot injury that prevented her from playing against Sidney. But, all season long she stepped up really well as a court leader and competitor," Daum said. "Payton Wise also finished the season strong and really picked up the scoring when Katie wasn't able to. I'm very proud and feel lucky to have gotten to coach such a great group of kids."