Kimball v. Hancock On Tuesday, March 4, the Lady Cubs were set for the rematch of last year’s thrilling last-second shot loss to Hancock in the south sub-section title game. Hancock – a team with only two losses, a 2,000-point scorer, and two 1,000-point scorers – were set and ready for the rematch. Last year’s game featured two great individual performances, one by the Owls’ Thielke and the other by our Tammy Kuechle. Thielke finished last year’s game with 36 points while Kuechle managed 34 points. The Lady Cubs came out ready to play and held the high-scoring Owls to only one point in the first quarter; the Cubs led 11-1. Hancock, a veteran team, came out in the second quarter and cut the lead to 12-8, forcing a time-out by the Cubs bench. The pace of the game slowed as both teams were playing cautiously, feeling each other out and waiting for mistakes like two prize-fighters. When the half ended, Kimball held a slight lead 19-13. The second half remained the same as neither team was able to take complete control of the other, the third quarter ended with Kimball hanging on to a 31-25 lead. Things would only get more exciting in the fourth as both teams played their hearts out for the win in order to continue the season. A big turning point came in the middle of the fourth quarter when Thielke – one of Hancock’s best players – picked up her fifth and final foul. This seemed to fire up the Hancock players and they were able to cut Kimball’s slight lead to one point at 38-37. The Lady Cubs were not going to be denied as Hancock was forced to foul in the final minutes. Kimball was able to convert on their last seven freethrows to salvage the win 45-41 and earn a trip to the Section 5A title game and a possible trip to the state tournament. As a team Kimball shot 14-32 (43.7 percent) from the field, 14-22 (63.6 percent) free throws, had 11 assists, 25 rebounds, 11 steals and 15 turn overs. Individually Kimball was led by Melanie Marquardt 22 points including going 6-6 ft in the fourth quarter, Tammy Kuechle 12 points, 10 rebounds, Jenny Kunkel 6 points, Carla Henneman 3 points and Amelia Hentges 2 points. Kimball v. Underwood The stage was set for the showdown between the Underwood Rockets and the Kimball Cubs on Friday, March 7, with the winner making the Minnesota State Girls’ Tourney. Underwood was riding a 10-game winning streak thanks in large part to their 6’1″ sophomore guard Ashley Samulason. The Lady Cubs were riding a 12-game winning streak of their own, and had a huge fan support across the court from them. In the first quarter Kimball came out on fire, Tammy Kuechle hitting three three-pointers and Melanie Marquardt two three-pointers, all in a short span. It looked like Kimball might be able to run away with the game, but Underwood answered with Samulason who kept them close, scoring 10 of their 14 first-quarter points, but Kimball led 23-14 after one quarter. The Lady Cubs’ momentum stalled as Jenny Kunkel picked up three quick fouls; Kimball needed to resort to more of a half-court game. The Lady Cubs hung on to a 35-27 half-time lead. Samulason hit 11-12 free-throws in the half, leading Underwood with 21 of their 27 points. It was pretty obvious what the Lady Cubs needed to do in the second half stop Samulason. Both teams seemed tired in the second half and play became sloppy. Kunkel picked up a quick fourth foul and Underwood took advantage. They switched to a half-court trap which caught Kimball by surprise and forced some turnovers resulting in some easy baskets. The Lady Cubs seemed to answer every run by the Rockets and pushed each lead back to 8-12 points. Early in the fourth quarter, Underwood made another run and it looked like Kimball was not going to answer, but luck was on the Lady Cubs’ side that night after Underwood cut Kimball’s lead to 48-44 with just under five minutes left. Samulason picked up her fifth foul and the Rockets lost all composure. First the Rockets’ head coach picked up a technical, then a few seconds later the assistant coach picked up a technical. This gave Kimball four freethrows and the ball back. Tammy Kuechle went to the line and made 3/4 and then on the inbound pass she hit a 12-foot jump shot to put Kimball up 53-44. Underwood inbounded the ball and the Rockets’ coach, still not happy, picked up his second technical (automatic ejection from the game); Kuechle converted on both foul shots to extend Kimball’s lead to 55-44. In a matter of 30 seconds Kuechle and the Cubs went on a 7-0 run and pretty much put the game out of reach. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Cubs had won 68-50 and secured Kimball girls’ basketball first-ever state basketball appearance. As a team Kimball was 19-41 (46.3 percent) from the field including 8 three-pointers, 22-34 (64.7 percent) freethrows, had 16 assists, 33 rebounds, 15 turnovers and 6 steals.
Girls go to state!
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