Longhorns suffer first loss at Sidney

The Kimball High boys' basketball team suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of a very strong class B Sidney team this past Thursday night on the latter's home court with a final score of 63-45. It was a simple case of Kimball not being able to match up with the overall depth and talent of the Raider Team, that followed up their win over Kimball, with a win over #5 ranked Class B Gering the next night.

Kimball jumped out to an early lead with Mike Daum hitting a hook shot and Jake Reader scoring inside to go up 4-0, but Sidney made the next 5 baskets before Daum and Reader scored again to give Kimball an 11-10 lead at the quarter break. Reader picked up his second foul early in the second period and coach Bruce Tjosvold chose to sit him out and not risk another foul this early in the contest. Without Reader, Sidney went on a tear, outscoring the Horns 22-9 in the second period to take a 32-20 lead by half time.

Henry Heeg gave Kimball some spark in the third quarter and Reader returned, allowing Kimball to play even with their hosts but leaving them down 48-35 entering the fourth quarter of play. The Raiders were able to turn the game over to their bench in the closing minutes as they coasted to the win over the State Number One ranked C-2 school in the most recent Omaha World Herald rankings.

The winners were 26/63 from the field going 4/13 on three point fielders, 7/13 at the line, had 10 fouls, and 31 rebounds. They were led in scoring by Tyler Wintholz with 18, Paxton Ehler 13, Lucas Rosenbaum 9, Cutter O'Connell 9, Logan Lewis 8, Lane Harvey 2, and Jake Sager 2.

Kimball was 4/8 from the foul line, had 9 fouls, were 20/53 from the field going 1/11 from 3 point land, had 29 rebounds including 9 offensive boards, 4 steals, 7 assists, 5 blocked shots, and 19 turnovers.

Mike Daum led all scorers with 22 points, had 14 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist. Reader finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 assist. Heeg had 5 points with 1 trey and 4 rebounds, and Colton Stull 3 points. Michael Ferguson failed to score but had 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

The Horns bounced back the following night at Pine Bluffs winning out 61-37 over a young club that was sporting a winning record. Kimball exploded for 22 points in the opening period and were up 22-10 at the quarter break as Daum hit 3 treys and tallied 13 first period points. At the half Daum had 18 and Kimball led 38-16. Daum drilled a couple more treys in the third period before the starters were retired in the fourth quarter and finished the night with 27 points.

For the game, the big 6'10" senior nailed 6 treys on 12 attempts from beyond the arc, was 3/6 on 2 point fielders, and 3/3 at the line, had 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 assist. Jake Reader had 11 points, a team high 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. Colton Stull with a solid night scoring 7 with 1 trey, along with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Jonathon Withrow with 7 points and a trey, Michael Ferguson 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists, Ethan Land 2, and Johnathon Kurth 2 plus 4 rebounds.

As a team, Kimball shot 24/46 from the field going 8/20 on 3 pointers, 5/10 at the line, had 29 rebounds including 7 offensive, 15 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, 10 fouls, and 16 turn overs.

The Hornets shot 13/56 from the field going 5/17 on three point attempts, 6/12 at the line, had 32 rebounds, and 9 fouls. They had 8 in the scoring columns led by Marquice Rivers with 9, Scott Gross 7, Trent Werner 6, Hunter Thompson 4, Preston Thurin 4, Kyle Jeffres 3, Nick Bymer 3, and Harvey De La Cruz 2.

The win at Pine leaves the Kimball boys at 7-1 entering this weekend of play. Once again they will face one of their toughest opponents of the season with Bridgeport coming to town with a 9-1 record and a lone 3 point overtime loss to Class B Alliance. Kimball and Bridgeport are in the same sub-district this year and will face each other twice in regular season play, plus possibly yet again in WTC tournament play and sub-district play. JV game times are at 4 p.m. with the girl's varsity set for 5:30 and the boy's varsity at 7 p.m. Saturday Gordon-Rushville is at Kimball with game times at 2 p.m. for JV, 3:30 girls' varsity, and 5 p.m. boys' varsity.