Without much hesitation, Kimball girls’ basketball player Hope Kuechle responded a particular way when asked what she took more pride in: scoring, or setting up her teammates for a good shot?
“I love getting my teammates the ball, because I know what they can do with it. … I know what they’re capable of. They can all score,” Hope said. “We have lots of three-point shooters, and we have really good posts, so I know when I give them the ball, they’re gonna do something good with it.”
This trust in her teammates led Hope to a history-making season on the hardwood: breaking the Cubs’ single-season record for assists in a season. Melanie (Marquardt) Knaus held the previous record with 164 during the 2001-02 season. After the team’s first-round playoff exit, Hope finished her record-breaking season with 189 assists.
When listening to Hope discuss her team and record, her dad and head coach Jeremy Kuechle was proud, getting teary-eyed at times.
“I think she really understands what it means to be a great teammate,” coach Kuechle said, “to be high character.”
It’s those things, he added, that parents and coaches preach to their children, playing their role in helping the team succeed. This leads to a fun atmosphere too.
“When you’re having fun, you’re better, and you’re hungrier, and you stay interested and engaged in what you’re doing, and you just kind of want to compete even more,” coach Kuechle said. “So I think that kind of cultivates and builds on itself, and just promotes more success.”
The start
Hope is the youngest of four sisters, behind Cailyn, Ellie and Brookelyn, who all played -basketball for the Cubs. She has been playing basketball ever since she can remember, back in preschool and kindergarten.
She also “basically” plays volleyball all year-round, including JO volleyball, competes in AAU basketball in the summer, and runs track.
“My life pretty much … revolves around sports,” Hope said.
Being the youngest, Hope has watched all of her siblings compete in not just basketball, but other sports as well, always being taken to practices and having a ball in her hands. She started playing more organized basketball in third grade.
Coach Kuechle described Hope as early on being their “little princess for a bunch of years,” sporting dresses and heeled-princess shoes. He wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a basketball player, something that didn’t bother him at all, wanting his children to do what they want to do.
“Then all of a sudden, one year, she just said, ‘Well, when am I going to get a pair of basketball shoes?’ And I don’t know if she was 4 or 5 or 6, or exactly what age that was. She was really young,” coach Kuechle said. “And then she started kind of gravitating [toward the game] as she spent more time in the gym with her older sisters. She’s always had a ball in her hands, and she’s just gotten better.”
The work and development
Coach Kuechle has enjoyed watching Hope grow in her game and handle the basketball over the years.
He is always trying to get his guards, especially his point guards, to develop good vision and keep their eyes up.
“Basketball is such a game of recognizing what’s in front of you, what’s ahead of you, so you can anticipate what’s going to happen, you know, with angles and -spacing,” Coach Kuechle said. “And Hope, of course, being around a dad coach has probably heard me say, ‘eyes up,’ a million times in her life, and ever since she was little.”
He highlighted how Hope does well keeping her eyes up while handling the ball. She also does well handling the responsibility, he said, of being the leading ball handler on her team and setting up the offense.
“I was really proud of her, what she said earlier. She says [she has] a lot of good teammates … that are good shooters,” coach Kuechle said. “If we can move the ball really well, I’ve always said that the most fun teams to play on are unselfish teams that share the ball. Find the open person and, when you are open, you’re hungry to knock down that shot. And Hope does a good job of orchestrating that.”
She understands that her point guard position is a leadership position.
“You have the ball most [of] the game, and your teammates kind of depend on you sometimes to bring the ball up the court,” Hope said. “And it’s a tough job, but I like doing it.”
She enjoys it for the opportunities it provides her.
“I like being able to have the ball and move it around,” Hope said, “and I can see the floor really well, which helps my team just get open looks.”
The team
Speaking of her team, both Hope and coach Kuechle view this record-breaking moment as a team accomplishment. Right before Hope broke the record, knowing she was close, coach Kuechle told his team that this was a team award.
“We have lots of scorers, and we have a facilitator that’s helping orchestrate that, but it’s really a team working together,” coach Kuechle said. “From my experience, when you have teams that are excelling, that’s sometimes when you see some records fall, and it’s really, it’s obviously great for Hope, but it’s also really great for the whole team.”
This team finished the season 15-12 overall following its 52-49 road playoff loss to Spectrum on Feb. 27. The Cubs also finished 8-6 in the Central Minnesota Conference, placing fourth out of eight teams.
Her team is what Hope enjoys most about the game.
“They make it so fun to be around, and I just love having successes together,” Hope said. “The atmosphere is just really nice in the gym.”
It’s an atmosphere where teammates bring each other up.
“We win with each other,” Hope said, “and it’s not just one person contributing to everything.”
The record
Hope broke the record during the first half of the team’s conference home win over Maple Lake back on Feb. 13, the third-to-the-last game in the team’s regular season.
She didn’t even realize when she broke the record during the game, it’s not something she was focused on.
“I just really focus on getting the win for the team and doing what’s best for our team,” Hope said. “And I guess that record comes with it. So yeah, when I found out [about the record] after the game, I was happy, but I was like, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Coach Kuechle didn’t even know Hope was close to the record until someone mentioned it to him prior to that Maple Lake game. He found out that she was just four assists away at that time. After finding out, and when bringing it up to his team, he highlighted how much of a team achievement this record was.
As for Hope, her coach and dad said, “I’m really proud of her, because she’s done everything I’ve asked her to do, and she’s done it well.”