The Kimball High boys went out winners in a losing effort at the finals of the Cl-12 sub-district basketball tournament held in Alliance this past week. After winning their semi final game 71-34 over Mitchell on a Tuesday evening, they battled No. 1 seed and No. 1 state ranked Chadron on Thursday evening and had the Cardinals on the rope before losing 54-44 to end their season. Coach Bruce Tjosvold had a game plan to shut down the Cardinals sharp shooters from long range, and it worked, thanks in large part to the outstanding defensive efforts of senior Colton Daum and Brad Weisbrook who went one on one with Alec Holmquist and Zac Bargen. Holmquist had scored 24 points against the Horns in an earlier encounter and in the sub-district semi final game with Chase County he exploded for 30. With Daum shadowing his every move he was held to 2 points, a pair of free throws late in the game. Bargen was held to 13 points and he got 7 at the foul line where he was 7 for 8. Coach Tjosvold used what he called a Diamond and two defense where he could double team Chadron’s 6-foot-11 center, Elliott Eliason, and with the Ferguson brothers double teaming him inside he was held to 12 points. Jake Daum was given the job of chasing to the corners and he worked his tail off in getting the job done, and the Horns almost got the job done.  At the end of the opening period Chadron had the lead but it was by a mere point, 16-15, and the Horns were not only playing great defense, they were also taking care of the basketball with only 1 turnover. Both clubs scored 9 in the second period and the Cards had that 1 point margin at half time leading 25-24. Dusty Huddleston had checked into the Kimball lineup just prior to the end of the half and promptly hit a three pointer that tied the game at 22-22. To start the second half, Kendall Ferguson made a rebound put-back basket to give Kimball a 26-25 lead, but the Cards out scored the Horns 11-8 in the third period to take a 36-32 lead into the final quarter of play. Kimball stayed close in the fourth period until late when they had to foul sending the winners to the foul line where they put the game away. Charles Ferguson hit a trey and Kendall Ferguson followed with a trey of his to keep Kimball within 3 points (43-40), but Chadron  scored the next 10 points and then shot themselves to victory at the free throw line. The game was closer than the final score might indicate. Chadron was 12 for 23 from the field on two point field goals and 5 for 16 from three point range. They shot 15 for 22 at the line, compared to 2 for 4 for Kimball, the difference in the ball game. Kimball also out rebounded Chadron 22 to 13. Chadron had 9 fouls and Kimball 15. Travis Reeves led Chadron scoring with 16 including a pair of treys, Zac Bargen had 13 going 7 for 8 at the line, Elliott Eliason had 12, Jonnathan McLain 11 with 3 treys, and Alec Homquist 2. Kimball shot 19 for 44 from the field going 4 for 11 from three point land, was 2 for 4 at the line, had 22 rebounds, 7 steals, 13 assists, and 3 blocked shots. Kendall Ferguson had a big night against his much taller opponent scoring 17 points on 8 for 13 shooting with 1 trey. He also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Charles Ferguson scored 13 with 1 trey and was 2 for 2 at the line. He also charted 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block and a team high 6 assists. Brad Weisbrook closed out his season and career with an outstanding effort, not only defensive wise, but also on offense scoring 7 points and pulled 4 rebounds. Coach Tjosvold said, “Colton’s offense always suffers when we ask him to give a full force defensive effort but he never complains and is always happy to go up against whom ever we assign him to. He is very unselfish and will take on any role we give him.” Colton scored 4 points but only took three shots all night. Dusty Huddleston hit his only attempt, the three pointer right before half time. Jake Daum failed to score but played big with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists, and like his team mates, had a big night on defense. The Horns had taken Chadron to the ropes but couldn’t quite deliver the knock out punch. They ended a great season at 17-5. Chadron 16 9 11 18---54 Kimball 15 9 8 12---44 MITCHELLKimball had no trouble in winning 71-34 in their semi final game with Mitchell that advanced them into the finals against Chadron. Colton Daum showed his offensive abilities agaisnt Mitchell leading Kimball scoring with 23 points on 11 for 21 shooting with 1 trey. Kendall Ferguson had 18 points on 8 for 13 shooting from the field and 2 for 3 at the line. He also pulled 7 rebounds. Charles Ferguson tallied 16 points and was 3 for 7 on three point fielders and 5 for 5 at the line. He had a double-double with 11 rebounds, and almost pulled a triple~ double finishing with 8 assists plus 5 steals and 1 blocked shot, a busy set of stats for the game. Jake Daum had 4 points, Brad Weisbrook 3 along with 5 rebounds, Dusty Huddleston 3 with his trey, Tyler Weisbrook 2 points and 5 rebounds, and Brady Baker 2. As a team, Kimball was 23 for 48 on two point field goals, 5 for 18 on three pointers, 10 for 16 at the line, had 37 rebounds, 10 steals, 13 assists and 2 blocked shots. They held their turnovers to 12, and had 15 fouls. Mitchell was 12 for 54 from the field going 3 for 14 on three pointers, 7 for 12 at the line, had 22 rebounds. Top scorer for Mitchell was Edgar Rodriguez with 7, and Kaden Hubbard with 6. Kimball 18 14 20 19---71 Mitchell 12 5 10 7---34