KIMBALL – The number one seed for this year’s Western Trails Conference Tournament went to the Lady Bulldogs of Bridgeport, but the top award ended up in the Kimball High Trophy Case as the Lady Longhorns took the long way around to defend their championship of a year ago. With the seedings based on Class C records, the Kimball ladies were seeded No. 4 thanks to losses to state ranked Hershey and Perkins County. As a result, Kimball had to play a first round contest with No. 5 Hemingford and Bridgeport had a first round bye.
When Kimball won over Hemingford 62-41, it set up a battle with the talented Bridgeport ladies in a top bracket semi-final contest, not in the championship game as it should have been. Fans had to be on hand Friday night at Cougar Palace to see the top battle with Kimball edging past Bridgeport 41-38.
This set up a championship game between Kimball and Morrill winner over Mitchell 50-44 and Gordon/Rushville 50-44. Kimball won out 59-37 in the title game with the Lady Lions of Morrill. Bridgeport crushed Gordon/Rushville 48-28 for third place.
Kimball played their first round game on the home court as hosts to the Hemingford girls and quickly jumped out to a 23-8 lead after one quarter of play, highlighted by a pair of record breaking shots by senior Danielle Perry. The long range ace tied the Kimball High school record for career three point field goals with her first trey, and set a new school record a short time later with her second trey of the quarter. Her first three pointer equalled the 134 career treys set by Melissa Christensen and when Miss Perry hit her third of the game in the second period, the new record sat at 136! Public Address announcer Scott Bailey informed the crowd of the happening who responded with an ovation.
By half time, Kimball led 38-18 and after out scoring the Lady Bobcats 15-3 in the third period, Kimball led 53-21 and coach Ken Smith turned the game over to his back up players.
Kimball had ten players in the scoring column with Kayli Rageth high with 16 going 7 for 12 from the field with 1 trey and 1 for 1 at the line. Miss Perry ended up with 11 points including the 3 treys. Cierra Pedersen had 9 points, Jaclyn Christensen 7 with a trey, along with 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Kelby Dickerson had 6, Heather Dickson 4 plus a team high 7 assists, Whitney Lockwood 3 with her trey, Jenna Provance 2, Hannah Stull 2, and Jeni Gompert 2.
Kimball shot 25 for 55 from the field going 6 of 14 on three point tries, 6 for 9 at the foul line, had 36 rebounds, 17 assists, 12 steals. 2 blocks, 20 turnovers, and 9 fouls.
Hemingford was 17 for 64 from the field, 2 for 11 on three pointers, 5 for 7 at the line and had 32 rebounds and 13 fouls. Top scorers for the Bobcats were Shelby Campbell with 12, Ashley Yardley and Brooke Hannaford with 6 each.
Kimball 23 15 15 9--62Hemingford 8 10 3 20--41
Semi-Finals
The semi final battle between Bridgeport and Kimball was the third meeting of the season between the two schools with one win each coming into the third meeting. The Lady Bulldogs had the first contest 45-40 and Kimball won game number two 50-45. Game Number Three had the most meaning with the winner to advance to the championship of the WTC Tournament and the loser to settle for a chance at third place. It played out closer than even the first two contests with Kimball winning 41-38.
Kimball struck first with Jaclyn Christensen netting a 16 footer. Courtney Laux tied the game with her rebound basket but Kimball surged ahead on a three pointer by Heather Dickson, a base line bucket by Kayli Rageth, and another 16 footer by Christensen. Jenna Provance closed out the quarter for Kimball with a shot from the corner and another 15 footer and it was Kimball on top 16-6 at the quarter break. Provance had a busy first period with her 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block and 1 assist.
The two teams battled even in the second period with both clubs scoring 9 points leaving Kimball with a 22-15 lead at half time. Bridgeport took control in the third period outscoring Kimball 12-4 and had a 27-26 lead going into the fourth period. The Lady Bulldogs would hold the lead until Cierra Pedersen scored on a driving layin with 3:30 left in the game to regain a 34-33 lead. With :29 seconds to play, Bridgeport was on top 38-36 after Manda Steer hit the front end of a two shot free throw, but when she missed the second shot, Jaclyn Christensen grabbed the rebound and Cierra Pedersen drove hard once again the full length of the court to score, and then convert the free throw after being fouled. Kimball had regained the lead at 39-38 with :23 seconds showing on the clock. Bridgeport missed on their next shot and Danielle Perry pulled down the rebound and was fouled. Kimball’s top free throw shooter calmly hit both shots with :05 left to play and that sealed the win. A huge win by the No. 10 ranked Class C-l Kimball team over the No. 5 ranked Bridgeport Club in the C-2 state rankings. The championship game was played a night early!
Kayli Rageth led Kimball with 12 points going 6 for 6 at the foul line. Jaclyn Christensen had 9 points with 1 trey and pulled 6 rebounds. Jenna Provance had 6 points on 3 for 5 shooting and led the team in rebounds with 10 along with 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Heather Dickson had 5, Cierra Pedersen 5, and Jeni Gompert and Danielle Perry 2 each. Perry also , had 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Play of the Game Award has to go to Cierra Pedersen with her driving basket and free throw late in the game as she scored all 5 of her points in the fourth period.
Kimball shot a perfect 9 for 9 at the foul line, were 15 of 40 from the field going 2 for 12 on three point attempts, had 22 rebounds, 9 steals, 8 assists, and 2 blocked shots. They had 15 fouls and 14 turnovers.
Bridgeport was 16 for 45 from the field and 0 for 2 on treys, 6 for 11 at the line, had 23 rebounds and 12 fouls. Courtney Laux, Charlee Wallesen, and Marissa Steer all had 8 points, Ashley Stevens 7, Molly Steer 4, Simonne Spurgeion 2, and Manda Steer 1. With the win, Kimball improved their record to 14-4, and Bridgeport fell to 14-3.
Coach Ken Smith said, “It was a great high school basketball game. Cierra made a huge play for us that ultimately led to us winning and we shot free throws very well.”
Kimball 13 9 4 14--41Bridgeport 6 9 12 12--38
Championship Game
The championship game pitted a favored Kimball club against a vastly improved Morrill team that is young with only 2 seniors, but coach Scott Axt had his girls ready to play.
Danielle Perry opened the game with a 3 pointer as the first shot of the contest and hit another trey later in the opening quarter but they were needed, as was Kayli Rageth’s 5 points, as Kimball held a 13-10 lead at the quarter. Morrill stayed close in the second period as well and trailed 27-20 at half time.
Kimball came out strong to start the third period and out scored Morrill 19-6. A big quarter for Jenna Provance as coach Ken Smith set plays to lob pass the ball over the inside defender and Provance took it to the basket to convert 4 straight baskets plus a free throw for a 9 point quarter. Morrill played hard to the finish with Kimball out scoring Morrill 13-11 in the final quarter for the win.
Kayli Rageth topped all scorers with her 21 points with 1 trey and 8 for 10 free throw shooting. Provance had 13 points, Heather Dickson had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists, and 1 block. Perry had 6 points with her 2 treys, plus 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Jaclyn Christensen had 3 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Cierra Pedersen 3 points along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and Julie Novotny closed out Kimball’s scoring with a free throw for 1 point.
In team stats, Kimball was 21 of 56 from the field going 3 for 18 on three pointers, 14 for 20 at the line, had 15 fouls, 30 rebounds, 14 steals, 18 assists and 1 blocked shot. They also had 16 turnovers.
Morrill was 14 for 44 from the field going 1 for 6 on three point-shots, 8 for 11 at the line, had 24 rebounds and 17 fouls. The Lady Lions got an outstanding game from sophomore Jessica Aratani with 21 points. Jessica Flippin had 6, Amber Stull 3, Michelle Jacobsen 3, Kassandra Gomez 2, and Amber Cole 2.
