Kee basketball girls' losses this week include senior captain to injury

by B.J. Tomlinson

The Kee High girls basketball team suffered through a week of three losses on the scoreboard this past week, but coupled with the first game loss of the week was the loss of senior captain Heidi Reburn to an apparent knee injury, the extent of which is still being determined. On the scoreboard, the Lady Hawks fell at Mabel-Canton, MN, 76-65, Monday, January 26, at Postville, 45-35, Tuesday, January 27, and at home against Central Elkader Friday, January 30 by a count of 38-30.

at Mabel-Canton, MN ...

The Kee High girls basketball team played hard but suffered losses this past week, not the least of which was their captain and top scorer, senior Heidi Reburn. Reburn sustained a knee injury in the Monday, January 26 game against Mabel-Canton and will likely miss the remainder of the basketball season.

Kee High varsity girls basketball coach Ben Wagner said Reburn was driving down the middle of the lane with about four minutes remaining in the game and apparently just turned wrong, injuring her knee. The diagnosis remains uncertain pending results of an MRI. "Could be a sprain or an ACL tear - we just aren't sure yet," said Wagner. "Naturally, the loss of Heidi has created some challenges offensively, but we will adjust and win some more games."

Despite Reburn's 29 points in the contest - 23 in the second half - Mabel-Canton defeated Kee High, 76-65. In a fast-paced game, Kee found themselves down by a 20-7 count after just one period, but played their hosts a bit more evenly in the second frame to trail by 16 points at the half, 39-23.

The Hawks continued to keep pace with Mabel-Canton in the third quarter, not gaining any ground, but not giving any, either. Kee did manage to gain the upperhand in fourth-quarter scoring, but that first-quarter hole proved to be too much to overcome, as the Lady Hawks fell by a final count of 76-65.

In addition to her prolific scoring, Reburn snagged four rebounds and two steals, was seven of eight from the free throw line and swished four three-pointers.  Junior Kate Hogan hit the boards hard, pulling down an amazing 16 rebounds, and added three points and five assists. Senior Brandy Fitzpatrick scored nine points, including two three-pointers, and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Taylor Otto grabbed four rebounds, with junior Allison Brennan retrieving seven boards and swiping two steals. Junior Kelsey Walleser contributed ten points and seven rebounds.

KEE HIGH FG FT PF TP

Fitzpatrick, B. 2 3-4 0 9

Hogan, K. 1 1-2 2 3

Reburn, H. 9 7-8 1 29

Walleser, K. 4 2-4 3 10

Kruse, M. 1 3-4 2 5

Brennan, A. 0 2-4 1 2

Scholtes, S. 0 0-1 3 0

Bottorff, C. 1 2-4 1 4

Otto, T. 1 1-2 4 3

TOTAL 19 21-33 17 65

3-Point FG: Reburn 4, Fitzpatrick 2

Mabel-Canton FG FT PF TP

Hanson, R. 3 0-0 2 8

Kuhn, S. 0 0-0 0 0

Geving, M. 9 1-2 2 24

Johnson, K. 0 0-0 1 0

Bieglo, K. 2 0-0 2 6

Gjere, M. 0 0-0 1 0

Hirsch, M. 4 4-5 5 12

Allar, D. 1 0-0 2 2

Whalen, C. 4 0-0 4 8

Horihan, K. 6 3-4 5 15

Richardson, J. 0 0-0 2 0

Anderson, L. 0 1-4 1 1

TOTAL 29 9-15 27 76

3-Point FG: Geving 5, Hanson 2, Bieglo 2

at Postville ...

The Kee girls took on Postville the following night, Tuesday, January 27, but lost 45-35. "We tried to slow things down, trying to see what would work without Heidi," Kee coach Ben Wagner commented. "We played well, technically, but were just kind of out of sync. And Postville is always a tough place to play. I'm still confident; we have talent and I know everyone will play hard."

The Hawks started out slow and were down, 17-12, after a low-scoring first half, and trailed by 13 points with five minutes left in the contest. Never giving up, the Lady Hawks pulled to within five points late in the contest, but couldn't quite finish off the rally, falling by the 45-35 end result.

Junior Marie Kruse was player of the game, as she dropped in 12 points and gathered eight rebounds. Junior Kate Hogan added eight points, six rebounds and a steal, and senior Taylor Otto also grabbed seven rebounds.

KEE HIGH FG FT PF TP

Fitzpatrick, B. 2 0-0 0 4

Brennan, A. 0 1-2 1 1

Hogan, K. 4 0-1 0 8

Bottorff, C. 0 2-4 1 2

Walleser, K. 2 0-0 2 4

Otto, T. 2 0-0 0 4

Kruse, M. 6 0-0 1 12

TOTAL 16 3-7 5 35

Postville FG FT PF TP

Heins, K. 7 2-3 2 16

Schutte, S. 6 0-1 2 12

Brincks, J. 2 0-0 3 5

Althouse, B. 2 0-0 0 4

Deering, W. 2 0-0 1 4

Converse, C. 2 0-0 1 4

Eberling, A. 0 0-0 2 0

Johnson, K. 0 0-0 2 0

TOTAL 21 2-4 13 45

3-Point FG: Brincks 1

vs. Central ...

Central Elkader came to town Friday night, January 30. Junior Allison Brennan sparked the Kee Hawks with 13 points, but the girls suffered a cold shooting night all the way around, hitting just ten of 59 shots and falling to Central, 30-38. The Lady Hawks put forth a decent first-half effort, posting 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the first two frames to keep pace with Central. That production fell off considerably, however, in the second half, as Kee scored just five points in the third quarter and only three more in the final frame.

In addition to fine baseline shooting, Brennan collected four rebounds, three steals and an assist on the night. Juniors Kate Hogan and Marie Kruse both added six points, and junior Kelsey Walleser had four points and a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Taylor Otto, always tough on the boards, came away with seven rebounds and two steals, while Kruse also had seven rebounds, and recorded a steal and a blocked shot.

KEE HIGH FG FT PF TP

Fitzpatrick, B. 0 0-0 1 0

Brennan, A. 5 2-2 1 13

Hogan, K. 1 4-5 4 6

Scholtes, S. 0 0-0 0 0

Bottorff, C. 0 1-2 3 1

Walleser, K. 1 2-3 5 4

Otto, T. 0 0-3 1 0

Kruse, M. 3 0-2 1 6

TOTAL 10 9-17 16 30

3-Point FG: Brennan 1

Central Elkader box score

information not available.

Another busy week will see the Kee Hawks play in Houston, MN Monday, February 2, in Sumner Tuesday, February 3 and at home against Valley Thursday, February 5. A make-up game against Turkey Valley will be played in Lansing Saturday, February 7 starting at 5 p.m., with postseason tournament play commencing against Central Elkader at Elkader February 12 at 7 p.m.

Coach Wagner anticipates making a good showing in the tournaments. "Lots of our games were lost by just a few points, so with some determination and a little luck, we should do well," he said.