Strong Start For Girls Hoops

Despite dropping their first game of the season, the Kimball Lady Longhorns quickly rebounded and took their next two contests to start their season strong.

On Thursday, the Lady Longhorns traveled Bayard to match up with the Lady Tigers, and quickly fell behind as the smothering Bayard defense allowed very few shots by the Lady Longhorns. After falling behind 38-8 at the half, the Kimball squad did their best to fight back in the second half, but only managed 16 points and fell by a final score fo 54-24.

Kimball seniors Chantel Malson and Maddison Merryfield each had seven points in the loss to lead the offense while senior Peyton Wise grabbed five rebounds in the loss.

On Friday night, the Lady Longhorns again traveled, this time up to Leyton, and had a furious battle with the Lady Warriors.

At the end of the first quarter, the teams were close with Leyton leading 13-11, but the Kimball girls hung with the Lady Warriors in the second quarter to keep the game close at 23-20 at the halftime. The Kimball girls played strong defense in the second half, limiting Leyton's opportunities, and were able to slowly chip away and then take the lead.

A series of points in the fourth quarter enabled the Lady Longhorns to pull away and secure a 46-42 road victory. Senior Katie Heeg led Kimball with 12 points and went 6-for-8 at the free throw line. Payton Wise had another great night under the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds in the victory.

On Saturday, the Lady Longhorns hosted Minatare, got off to a good quick start and put the game out of reach by halftime.

The Kimball defense shut down Mianatare in the second half, only allowing three points in the half on their way to a 55-13 win for the Lady Longhorns. Malson scored 20 points, Merryfield scored 16 and senior Amy Birkhofer had 10 points in the win.

The Lady Longhorns next travel to Perkins County on Friday night.