Lady Cubs earn split for new year openers

EV-W game

The Kimball girls played at Eden Valley-Watkins on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but senior Ava Molitor was fouled on a three-point attempt and made 2-of-3 to get both teams going offensively. Freshman Hope Kuechle gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead on a three-pointer, and the Eagles took the lead back, 6-5, when freshman Mazie Jurek connected inside to put Kimball back up, 7-6. The lead exchanged hands again when Molitor gave Kimball a 10-9 lead half-way through the first half. After EV-W took the lead, Jurek scored an “and one” putting Kimball up, 13-12. Two free-throws by Hope Kuechle tied the game at 15-15, and junior Lily VonWahlde nailed back-to-back treys, to put Kimball up, 21-19. A late Eagles’ run gave the home team a 25-21 half-time advantage.

In the second half, the Cubs cut the EV-W lead to 3 points on an H. Kuechle shot from distance, coupled with two Molitor free-throws, but the Eagles pulled away and finished off the Cubs, 56-41.

Kimball stats

Brookelyn Kuechle, 7 points, 2 assists; Hope Kuechle, 12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals; Allie Leither, 2 rebounds; Sami Winter, 7 rebounds; Lily VonWahlde, 6 points; Ava Molitor, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists; Isabelle Schmitz, 0 points; Jordyn Theis, 1 steal; Mazie Jurek, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals. Team Notes: Turnovers were 21-18 in favor of Kimball. Steals were 10-9 in favor of EV-W. Kimball shot an abysmal 6 of 38 from the three-point line.

“It was a little tough for us, attacking their zone defense inside. We got a lot of good looks from the perimeter, but we didn’t convert enough of them to be successful, so we have to find some other ways to score. We’ll work on that moving forward, but hats off to our opponents as I thought they worked hard and out-played us tonight,” said Coach Jeremy Kuechle.

Maple Lake game

The Lady Cubs visited Maple Lake on Friday, Jan. 5. Kimball raced out to a 12-2 lead in the game’s first four minutes, initiated by a Mazie Jurek field goal, an “and one” three-point play by -Brookleyn Kuechle, followed by an Ava Molitor field goal and two more Jurek field goals. Jurek scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the first 10 minutes, as Kimball continued to rack up points and led 25-6 at the half-way point of the first half. Allie Leither and Sami Winter took turns scoring next and, when Isabelle Schmitz knocked down a trey, the Cubs led 35-7 with 3:35 to play in the first half. Hope Kuechle finished first-half scoring, draining a three-pointer, and the Cubs owned a 42-10 half-time bulge.

Stanza number two saw the sophomores joining the action, when Brooklyn Molitor connected from three-point land, Kiley Schindele scored in the post, and Claire Hemmesch picked up two rebounds and an assist managing the point guard position. Lily VonWahlde also scored three-point and two-point field goals, while Jordyn Theis dished out two assists. Also, Holly Truenow returned to action for the first time in five weeks, healed up from a fractured wrist. The Cubs defeated the Irish by a final score of 68-23.

Kimball stats

Brookelyn Kuechle, 8 points, 2 steals; Hope Kuechle, 3 points, 4 assists; Claire Hemmesch, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Allie Leither, 11 points, 5 rebounds; Sami Winter, 9 points, 9 rebounds; Holly Truenow, 2 assists, 3 steals; Lily VonWahlde, 5 points, 2 rebounds; Ava Molitor, 5 points, 2 rebounds; Isabelle Schmitz, 5 points, 6 rebounds; Jordyn Theis, 2 assists, 1 rebound; Mazie Jurek, 17 points, 5 rebounds; Brooklyn Molitor, 3 points, 3 rebounds. Team Notes: Kimball shot 49% on two-point field goals and 50% on three-point field goals; also making 8/12 free-throws, a season high for team shooting percentage.

“We got off to a fast start and never looked back. It was fun to see all the girls get in on the action, in what turned out to be a great night to be a Kimball Cub,” Coach Kuechle added.