Camryn Krogman and Macy Kempf combined to score as many points as Campbell County (Wyo.) on Tuesday at the Corn Palace. It was that kind of night for the Mitchell High School girls basketball team.
The Kernels swarmed Campbell County’s backcourt, became the more physical team in the paint and grew their lead to as many as 27 points. Led by the senior duo scoring 41 points on an efficient 16-for-22 shooting, Mitchell won its third straight game, 62-41.
“After coming off a five-day break, you don’t expect to look that sharp off of one practice in five days,” Mitchell coach Cole Knippling said. “I was happy with the focus and the way we played as a team. … I thought Cam and Macy did a great job setting the tone.”
Mitchell starter Avia Haley didn’t play due to illness, inserting Sarah Sebert into the starting lineup right before tipoff. The Kernels (3-1) didn’t miss a beat.
Krogman, who made a trio of 3-pointers, was able to drive past defenders for open layups or pull up from 3-point range. Inside, Kempf drew foul after foul that led to her shooting 6-for-7 at the free-throw line.
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By halftime, a 40-20 Mitchell lead, Krogman (19) nearly had as many points as the Camels (2-3). Krogman and Kempf scored every point of Mitchell’s 14-2 run to open the second quarter.
“We came out strong,” Krogman said. “We were confident the whole game. I think winning the first half boosted our confidence even more and pushed us to win the game.”
In a 21-point win, it was more than solely Krogman and Kempf, though. Mitchell’s set plays led to open looks all game, helping it shoot 73.9 percent from the field in the first half and 57.1 percent in the game. Sebert and Sawyer Stoebner also had eight and six points, respectively.
It was team defense that led to 20 takeaways and only Maddie Jacobson (14) scoring in double figures for the Camels, though she scored six points late in the fourth quarter to push her over that threshold. Campbell County shot 44.1 percent from the field and 5-for-12 from 3-point range, which kept it within single digits after the first quarter.
However, the constant ball pressure by Adaya Plastow and Lizzie Tyler wore on the Camels, leading to poor passes that were intercepted, deflected or became 50/50 balls that Mitchell won more than half the time. Krogman had three of Mitchell’s 10 steals, including back-to-back breakaway layups to open the second quarter.
“Our big thing coming in was: Can we make a few hustle plays in the first half and get a lot of transition buckets?” Kempf said. “I thought we did a great job of that. We got some nice deflections and steals. We played team defense.”
Mitchell hosts Thunder Basin (Wyo.) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Corn Palace.
Mitchell 62, Campbell County 41
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Campbell County (2-3): Liv Casellanus 2-7 1-2 7, Shaela Milliron 1-2 3-4 5, Sydnee Streitz 1-3 0-0 2. Remington Gusick 1-2 0-1 2, Maddie Jacobson 6-8 2-4 14, Halle Hladky 0-1 0-0 0, Raiml Hladky 0-0 0-0 0, Millie Riss 0-3 0-0 0, Zoey Zimmerman 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Robertson 3-5 0-0 9, Julia Darvey 1-1 0-0 2, Onna Castellaos 0-0 0-0 0. Team totals: 15-34 6-11 41.
Mitchell (3-1): Adaya Plastow 1-5 0-2 3, Camryn Krogman 10-15 0-0 23, Sawyer Stoebner 3-5 0-0 6, Macy Kempf 6-7 6-7 18, Lizzie Tyler 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Giblin 1-2 0-0 2, Ella Flippin 0-1 0-0 0, Aliyah Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Sebert 2-3 2-2 8, Kaitlyn Christensen 0-0 0-0 0, Gabby Sonne 1-1 0-0 2, Mariyah Turner 0-1 0-2 0. Team totals: 24-42 8-13 62.
CC 10 20 30 41
MHS 18 40 52 62
3-pointers: CC 5-12 (Robertson 3-4, Casellanus 2-3, Milliron 0-1, H. Hladky 0-1, Riss 0-2, Zimmerman 0-1); MHS 6-12 (Krogman 3-5, Sebert 2-2, Plastow 1-3, Giblin 0-1, Flippin 0-1). Rebounds: CC 20 (Gusick 4); MHS 21 (Kempf 4). Assists: CC 7; MHS 14 (Kempf 3). Steals: CC 6; MHS 10 (Krogman 3). Turnovers: CC 20; MHS 19. Total fouls: CC 12; MHS 1..
