Ark Valley News - Hornets lose Kinniburgh, two games

Kenisa Meyer chases the ball against Andover Feb. 12. The Hornets fell to the Trojans 40-32.

Hornets lose Kinniburgh, two games
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: February 14, 2019

A torn ACL has sidelined Kassie Kinniburgh for the rest of the season. That means the Valley Center High School girls basketball team really has its work cut out for it now.

The Hornets lost 40-28 Feb. 8 at Hutchinson and 40-32 Feb. 12 at Andover. They are now 2-15 overall and 1-8 in Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II.

"It was rough," coach Trent Preheim said of the loss at Hutchinson. "We're trying to learn to play without Kass, and there are going to be some growing pains. We struggled a little bit, but I thought as the game went on we got better. We started moving better, we started passing better and, as a result, we started shooting better."

Hutch led from the get-go, building an 11-0 lead before Kenna Meyer got Valley's first points of the game with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.

Both teams slowed it down in the second quarter, especially the Hornets who ran a lot of clock trying to get the best shot possible. Their only points were two free throws from Aysia Arrowood and a 3-pointer from Riley Ranzau. That kept Valley within shouting distance, down 17-7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Alyssa Turner hit a pair of 3-pointers that pulled Valley to within 18-13. The Hornets could get no closer the rest of the game and trailed 30-19 at quarter's end.

With Hutch up 35-22 in the fourth quarter, Hallie Brittain provided a brief spark off the bench. She drained a step-back 3 from the wing and hit one of two from the line to make it 35-26.

"That was one of the reasons we moved her up," Preheim said. "She has the ability to get us some offense and make some shots."

But the Salthawks had too much firepower and pulled away to the 40-28 win. Jayla Bynum led all scorers with 16 points, hitting 6 of 10 down low.

Turner led the Hornets with nine points.

Valley Center shot 29 percent from the field (9 of 31) and hit 22 percent (5 of 22) from 3-point range.

By contrast, Preheim called Valley's loss at Andover a step forward.

"It took until the second half to get there," he said. "I thought we did some things at times in the first half; again, they just have shooters. When you have shooters, they can make up for a lot of mistakes. We left them open and they hurt us."

In the first quarter, Arrowood and Turner each hit a 3-pointer for Valley's only leads of the game at 3-0 and 6-2. The Trojans were up 7-6 at the end of the quarter.

Andover outscored the Hornets 10-2 in the second quarter and led 17-8 at halftime.

A free throw and a 3-pointer from Turner pulled Valley to within 25-14 in the third quarter. After an Andover basket, Arrowood scored twice in the final minute. Andover carried a 29-18 lead into the fourth quarter.

Turner got hot in the fourth quarter with three treys, as Valley Center outscored Andover 14-11.

Kylee Dawson provided some excitement on the defensive side. Dawson snagged an errant Andover pass that was headed into backcourt and drove in for a layup. Then she stole the ball in Andover's frontcourt and again drove in for a layup. That flurry enabled Valley to creep to 38-25.

After the Trojans scored to make it a 15-point advantage, 40-25, Turner sandwiched a pair of treys around a Dawson free throw for the final points of the game.

"What I'm happy with … is the energy we continue to play with," Preheim said. "It's been the theme all year. This team has never given up. They come to practice with a good attitude. I feel like they're listening to me in timeouts. I feel like they're trying to go out and get better and improve. That's all we're trying to do. I'm proud of their effort. We'd like to see it for four quarters now."

Turner scored 16 to lead everyone. Arrowood finished with 11 points.

JV splits — The Salthawks used a 16-2 second quarter as a springboard to a 47-23 win over Valley Center. Cheyenne Blackwood and Anna Oliverson each scored six for the Hornets.

Valley used an 18-3 first-quarter advantage as a spark to a 54-40 win over Andover. Kenisa Meyer led a trio of Hornets in double figures with 14 points, Halle Brittain had 11 and Blackwood 10.

C team splits — An 11-2 quarter gave Hutchinson the cushion it needed in downing Valley Center 23-12. Oliverson had seven points for the Hornets.

The Hornets outscored Andover 22-13 in the second half to preserve a 31-20 victory. Alexis Seal scored 10 for Valley.

Andover 40,

Valley Center 32

VC 6 2 10 14 — 32

AND 7 10 12 11 — 40

Valley Center

Ranzau 0-1 0-0 0, Turner 5-10 1-2 16, Arrowood 5-15 0-0 11, Dawson 3-5 1-2 5, Kenna Meyer 0-4 0-2 0, Breault 0-3 0-0 0, Lisle 0-1 0-0 0, Brittain 0-0 0-0 0, Blackwood 0-0 0-0 0, Niedens 0-1 0-0 0, Kenisa Meyer 0-0 0-0 0. 3-pt. goals (6-22): Turner 5-10, Arrowood 1-7, Ranzau 0-1, Lisle 0-1, Dawson 0-1, Breault 0-2. Totals 12-40 2-6 32.

Andover

Henry 2-6 1-2 7, Phelps 1-2 0-0 2, Wekamp 1-2 0-0 2, Gaddis 2-5 0-1 5, Cunningham 3-9 0-0 6, Cornelsen 0-0 0-0 0, Middleton 0-0 0-0 0, Day 0-0 0-0 0, Woolston 4-9 2-6 14, Lenz 2-5 0-1 4. 3-pt. goals (7-19): Woolston 4-8, Henry 2-6, Gaddis 1-4, Wekamp 0-1. Totals 15-38 3-10 40.

Hutchinson 40,

Valley Center 28

VC 2 5 12 9 — 28

HUT 11 6 13 10 — 40

Valley Center

Ranzau 1-6 0-0 3, Breault 1-4 1-2 3, Turner 3-8 0-0 9, Arrowood 2-10 2-4 7, Dawson 0-0 0-0 0, Lisle 0-1 0-0 0, Brittain 1-1 1-2 4, Niedens 0-0 0-0 0, Kenna Meyer 1-1 0-0 2, Blackwood 0-0 0-0 0. 3-pt. goals (5-22): Turner 3-8, Brittain 1-1, Ranzau 1-4, Breault 0-1, Arrowood 0-7. Totals 9-31 4-8 28.

Hutchinson

Krol 0-2 1-2 1, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 1-7 2-2 5, Posch 4-10 4-6 15, Bynum 6-10 4-11 16, Armbrust 1-14 0-0 2, Elmore 0-0 0-0 0, Seidl 0-3 1-2 1, Hefley 0-0 0-0 0. 3-pt. goals (4-15): Posch 3-9, Robertson 1-5, Seidl 0-1. Totals 12-33 12-23 40.

Junior varsity

Valley Center 54,

Andover 40

VC scoring — Kenisa Meyer 14, Brittain 11, Blackwood 10, Niedens 8, Hayden 7, Oliverson 4.

Hutchinson 47,

Valley Center 23

VC scoring — Blackwood 6, Oliverson 6, Niedens 4, Seal 4, Brittain 3.

C team

Valley Center 31,

Andover 20

VC scoring — Seal 10, Rice 8, Wiechman 5, Oliverson 4, Hayden 2, Taylor 2.

Hutchinson 23,

Valley Center 12

VC scoring — Oliverson 7, Seal 4, Lerma 1.