Camels clamp down on Mitchell girls at Hoop City Classic
Dec. 29—MITCHELL — Campbell County High School cranked up the defensive pressure on Wednesday afternoon at the Corn Palace.
And in turn, they made the Kernels look rusty in their first game in nearly three weeks at the Hoop City Classic, a 59-39 win for the Gillette-based Camels that saw the Kernels offense struggle to the tune of 21 turnovers and a 28.9% shooting performance.
It was the first game since Dec. 9 for the Kernels, with four potentia contests wiped out due to blizzards and extreme cold. The offense never was able to fully warm up in the Wednesday matinee, coach Dave Brooks said.
"We weren't handling their pressure very well. We weren't getting into our offense and they were tougher than we were," Brooks said. "It was our second game and it was the toughest defense we've seen, for sure. I don't know that we ever fully adjusted to what they were bringing."
Mitchell fell into a hole in the first quarter, trailing 10-1 and later 16-9 at the end of the quarter that saw Mitchell turn the ball over nine times and only attempt seven shots. The Kernels were down 13 points at halftime and got to within six points twice in the third quarter but fell off the pace from there, finishing at 5-for-25 shooting. Mitchell finished 13-for-45 on field goals and 1-for-10 on 3-pointers.
"We can say there was rust but we're not relying on that as a crutch," Brooks said. "But we're going to get better on Friday, we're going to get better every time out and we need to come ready to play and show what we can do."
One of the Kernel highlights came from junior Sawyer Stoebner, who turned in an impressive rebounding performance. She finished with 12 points and 20 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds and 14 on the defensive end.
It is the most for any player — boys or girls — in the Hoop City Classic's history, which is now in its 12th edition this year. It was three off the MHS girls single-game record, which is 23 held by Stacy Kracht in 1986.
"She really gave us everything she had, she was all over the place," Brooks said. "But it can't just be her and everyone on our team knows that. And she was the first person saying she could be better out there too."
Addie Siemsen had 10 points for the Kernels, while Allison Meyerink had eight points from off the bench for MHS. Four players were in double-figures for Campbell County (5-2), including a game-high 15 points from Kaylie Neary and 10 from Onna Castellanos, each coming off the bench. Raimi Hladky had 11 points and Cami Curtis had 10 points, while Millie Riss had 10 rebounds for the Camels, who are the third-ranked team in Wyoming's largest basketball classification — Class 4A.
Mitchell (1-1) plays Thunder Basin, Wyoming at 7 p.m. on Friday on the final day of the Hoop City Classic at the Corn Palace.
