Osakis game
Kimball faced Osakis in an important section matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Lay-ups by Olivia Mortenson and Brookelyn Kuechle put Kimball on the board first, but the Silverstreaks scored the next seven points, to take a 7-4 early lead. A three-pointer by Ellie Kuechle tied it at 7-7, and Osakis took back the lead at 12-9 moments later. Kristen Hilbert and Brookelyn Kuechle took turns scoring, as the Cubs ran off 10 straight points to take a 19-12 lead half-way through the first half. Ellie Kuechle nailed a -couple more lay-ups, and Hilbert scored the final first-half bucket to give Kimball a 25-19 half-time lead.
Allie Leither ignited the offense to start frame two by scoring consecutive buckets and pushing the lead to 10 points at 29-19. Kimball’s next run began with Hallie Arnold and Hilbert scoring. That was followed by three-pointers from Brookelyn Kuechle and Olivia Mortenson. Another trey by Ellie Kuechle, and another Hilbert field goal, pushed Kimball’s lead to 45-28 with five minutes to play. The Cubs coasted down the stretch and finished with a 49-40 victory. Kimball committed only nine turnovers in the contest. The win pushes Kimball’s season record to 14-6.
Kimball stats: Brookelyn Kuechle, 11 pts, 2 steals; Olivia Mortenson, 6 pts, 4 assists, 3 rebounds; Allie Leither, 4 pts, 6 rebounds; Ellie Kuechle, 12 pts, 9 steals, 5 assists; Hallie Arnold, 2 pts, 2 assists; Ava Molitor, 3 rebounds; Emily Krohn, 1 block; Lexi Myers, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Kristen Hilbert, 14 pts, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; Sami Winter, 1 rebound.
“It was a very physical game, and we knew that coming in, so the girls did really well taking care of the ball and working for good shots. Our defense did a great job as well, playing tough and forcing a lot of turnovers,” said Coach Jeremy Kuechle.
Holdingford game
Kimball traveled to Holdingford on Thursday, Feb. 9, to take on the Huskers who remain undefeated in conference play. The Huskers started with some hot shooting, and jumped out to a 15-3 lead six minutes into the contest. Kimball composed themselves the rest of the first half, found some weaknesses in Holdingford’s zone defense, and chipped away at the lead. Kristen Hilbert led the first-half charge inside by scoring 9 first-half points, and Brookelyn Kuechle connected on (two) three–pointers, along with one trey each by Hallie Arnold and Ellie Kuechle as Kimball climbed back, trailing only 28-23 at half-time.
In the second half, Hilbert scored first to cut the lead to 28-25, but the Huskers pushed their lead back to 10 points, at 38-28, with 12 minutes to play. The lead varied from 7-10 points in Holdingford’s favor until Kimball cut it to 45-38 with just under a minute to play. The Cubs came up short, however, and lost by a final score of 48-38.
Defensively, the Cubs held the Huskers’ three leading scorers all under their scoring averages, keeping the game within reach, but poor shooting doomed the Cubs’ fate as they shot 6 of 17 from the free-throw line, 7 of 20 on two-point field goals, and 6 of 27 on three-pointers. The loss drops the Cubs’ season record to 14-7 on the season.
Kimball stats: Brookelyn Kuechle, 6 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 steals; Olivia Mortenson, 6 rebounds, 1 steal; Allie Leither, 3 pts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists; Ellie Kuechle, 11 pts, 4 steals, 3 assists; Hallie Arnold, 3 pts, 1 rebound; Ava Molitor, 2 pts, 1 rebound, 1 steal; Lexi Myers, 1 steal, 1 rebound; Kristen Hilbert, 13 pts, 6 rebounds, 2 assists;
“We had great effort and -hustle, and showed poise, fighting to the end. We really executed our game plan well, but we just couldn’t catch our groove offensively. I thought we worked hard to get quality shots, but they just didn’t drop for us tonight,” explained Coach Kuechle.