With the holiday break behind the Lady Cubs, Kimball looked to remain undefeated on the season in the CMC conference. However, Kimball would face the toughest part of their schedule the past week. They played Eden Valley-Watkins on Tuesday, Jan. 7 in Eden Valley, and then came back home to face the defending CMC champs, the Rockford Rockets, on Friday, Jan. 10. Both teams were playing well. EV-W with a record of 8-3, their three losses coming at the hands of state-ranked Albany twice and perennial power NLS. Rockford 9-1 with their lone defeat to Wayzata a state ranked team in 4A. First up for the Lady Cubs was EV-W at Eden Valley. having not played in almost three weeks, I was concerned as to how well we would be able to handle the relentless defensive pressure, a trademark of the EV-W team. At the beginning of the game it looked like the pressure may be too much. Kimball turned the ball over on their first four possessions without even getting a shot off. Kimball returned the favor and buckled down on defense and held EV-W to one field goal in the first quarter and led 7-4 after the first. The second quarter remained the same with defense winning over offense; open shots were a rare commodity. EV-W and Kimball went to halftime with neither team able to knock the other out with the score tied 15-15. The third quarter was a complete turn-around of the first half. Both teams seemed to find their offensive rhythm. Jenny Kunkel went on a personal seven-point run, hitting a three and two two-pointers in consecutive trips down the floor. Carla Henneman had six of her nine points in the third quarter and the Lady Cubs led 35-31 after three quarters. The fourth quarter and the game were still up for grabs as both teams wanted to remain undefeated in conference. The emotions of the rivalry and the game were hinging on every hall. As the quarter was coming to an end, Kimball needed a big play and they got it. Down by three with under a minute to go, EV-W had the ball when Tammy Kuechle intercepted a pass at mid-court, drove to the basket, made the lay-up and was fouled. She made the free-throw and the game was tied. Kimball’s pressure on the ball forced EV-W into an unwarranted shot. Amelia Hentges came up with the rebound passed to Melanie Marquardt who was fouled. Marquardt made both free throws to take a two-point lead with 40 seconds left on the clock. After both teams traded free throws, EV-W rushed the ball to half-court and called a time-out. EV-W was down by two with six point seven seconds left to set up a play. As the play developed, Kuechle read the play and was able to get out on the three-point attempt and blocked it. As luck would have it, the ball landed in EV-W hands, the player threw up a shot and she missed, but as the buzzer sounded a foul was called. EV-W now had two free-throw attempts to tie and send the game into overtime. When the first shot rebounded out, the Kimball bench and fans erupted and the Lady Cubs escaped with a 52-50 conference win. I am extremely proud of these girls. Breaks were not going our way during the game, but they knew they had what it took to still win the game. They didn’t get rattled with the pressure of the EV-W defense and were able to pick up their defense and keep EV-W from pulling away. As a team, Kimball was 21/43 (49 percent) from the field and 9/18 (50 percent) from the free-throw line. Individual leaders were Kuechle with 20 points, 15 rebounds and four steals; Marquardt with nine points; Henneman with nine points; Kunkel with nine points; Hentges with three points; and Montonye with two points.
