The 2008-09 Kimball High girl’s basketball season will go into the school history ledgers as one of the best. The Lady Longhorns ended up with a 21-6 win/loss record, captured the regular season Western Trails Conference championship as well as the conference tournament championship, won their sub-district tourney and the district championship, sending them back to the Nebraska State Tournament for the first time in 10 years. At the state tourney they won their first round game over Hershey, the same team they defeated in the district playoff, and ended up the fourth best Class C-l team in state tournament play! What a great season! Coach Ken Smith went over the 200 win mark last season and his Lady Horns helped him add to his illustrious win/loss column this season. He had lots of positive words for this year’s team, especially the six seniors who have been with the program all four years. Coach Smith shared some of his thoughts on the past season with us. “The season was a great season for everyone involved in the program. The girls were able to play 27 games on the year and play on the last day possible in the state of Nebraska. We were able to accomplish just about all of our goals this year other than win a state championship. What a way to send our six seniors out with 21 wins, WTC tourney and regular season Championship, C-l Twelve Sub-District Championship, C-l Six District Championship, State Tournament Qualifier with a fourth place finish at state.“Some of the highlights of the season were the first round win at state and the chance for the girls to play at Devany Sports Center, a fifteen game winning streak before losing to the No. 1 team in the state, the District championship game and the great environment, repeating as the WTC Conference and tourney champions, not losing a home game in 2009, and finishing the season ranked in the top ten in the state in both the Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. You could not find a more deserving group of girls to have such a great season. This group of players dedicated themselves to this basketball program not only during the season but also during the summer. Their time commitment hard work and team oriented attitude is what led them to accomplish so much. We say good bye to six very special seniors who were a joy to coach for the past four years. As a coach you could not ask for a better group of girls. The six seniors Kacey Rasgorshek, Julie Novotny, Jenna Provance, Danielle Perry, Jaclyn Christensen, and Heather Dickson were monumental in building Kimball girls basketball to a top team in the state. Before their freshman year the Kimball girls had won only four games in four years. This class graduated with a four year record of 57 wins and 37 losses winning 61 percent of their high school games. Many of these players were three year starters and one seeing starting time as a freshman. We lose a great group of girls but the cupboards are not bare. As a matter of fact we will return a good group of girls that have a lot of varsity playing experience. We will have a good balance of post players and guards; we return great team speed and a winning tradition. The JV team went 15-2 and the freshman finished 8-1 on the season. The girls and coaching staff will put in a lot of time this off season and come back next year looking to win our third straight WTC conference and tournament title, and a return trip to Lincoln. “ Along with the outstanding team honors, there were several individual honors as well. Three Kimball players were selected to the All Conference team including Heather Dickson, Danielle Perry, and Kayli Rageth, and Cierra Pedersen and Jaclyn Christensen were given honorable mention. Kayli Rageth, a junior, was named Most Valuable Player. Several players off this year’s team also wrote their names into the school records books. Kayli Rageth now holds the record for most points in a season with 436, is second in points in a career with 888, 2nd with most points in a game with 37, has the 8th best free throw percentage at 67.1 percent, is seventh on the charts in steals for a season with 78, and sixth all time with career steals with 186. Heather Dickson took over the No. 2 spot for free throws in a season for percentage with her 79.7 percent, is now seventh all time for points in a career with 753, is now third for assists in a career with 183, 6th for most steals in a season with 79, and second all time for steals in a career with 259. Danielle Perry now holds the number one spot for 3 point shots made in a career with 156, and is number one in free throw percentage for a season at 80.4 percent and also holds the No. 3 spot as well. She holds the No. 5, 6, and 7 spots for 3 point field goals made in a season and this season she tied for third place with her sister Amber, at 45.Jaclyn Christensen is now, eleventh for points in a career with 605, is 5th for assists in a season with 65, moving one spot ahead of sister Melissa, and is now third in career rebounds with 495. Jenna Provance moved into eighth on the charts for rebounds in a season with 171 and is now seventh for career rebounds with 418, and is tied for fourth place in blocks for a season with Amanda Colling with 19. Kayli Rageth returns next year, but all of the other girls listed with these outstanding individual honors will graduate The six seniors who will depart are Heather Dickson, Jaclyn Christensen, Jenna Provance, Danielle Perry, Julie Novotny, and Kacey Rasgorshek. It goes without saying that coach Smith will have a huge task ahead in replacing these six ladies, but none the less, he is optimistic as listed in his comments and by virtue of the win/loss records of the JV and freshman teams this past season. As you pore through the season stats listed with this story, make note of the stats compiled by those returning players. With Kayli Rageth coming back for her senior season after a summer of all-star basketball competition with a Nebraska team, and with Cierra Pedersen, also back for her senior season, and also back from a summer of all star Nebraska basketball play, coach Smith can build next year around these two veterans. Jeni Gompert also returns for her senior season and she is an outstanding talent in her own right. This years sophomore class is talented and players who saw quite a bit of varsity action include Kelby Dickerson, Whitney Lockwood, Austyn Pedersen, Hanna Stull, Tori Hager, and look for freshman Tori Reader to fill an inside spot next season. The cupboard is certainly not bare! The Lady Horns will certainly battle once again next year for conference and district honors and maybe a return trip to Lincoln.