Bearcats move record to 10-1 with wins over Freeze, Rams

By Editor | February 1, 2025 |

By Coach Mark Johnson
KCC 77 – NF 49
The Bearcats continued their road warrior journey and traveled to Newfolden Monday, Jan. 6 to tangle with the Northern Freeze. KCC was looking to continue their winning ways, while the Freeze were searching for the key to slowing down the Bearcat offense.
KCC got off to a good start by utilizing their full-court pressure to generate quality scoring opportunities. The Bearcats took the lead early in the game and never let the Freeze get into enough of a rhythm to mount a substantial comeback. The Bearcats slowly built their lead in the opening half and posted a 37-16 lead at the break.
The Bearcats continued to control the game in the second half, but were never really able to deliver the knockout blow. The Freeze hung around and started to get some long range shots to fall in the final minutes of the game to cut the KCC lead to under 30 points and keep the game out of a running clock situation. The Bearcats coasted to a 77-49 win and remained undefeated in conference play.
We never really created a rhythm or flow to the game. The Freeze played very physical and kept us off balance by taking contested shots in the paint. We started to settle for 3-point shots but struggled to get those to fall as we only made 1 of 17 shots from beyond the arc. We did stay active on the boards and kept extending our possessions and creating second chance points.
Scoring leaders: Greta Kuznia 18, Kaydence White 18, Morgan Turn 15, Berlyn Strege 6, Aliyah Vig 5, Lily Peterson 5, McKinley Folland 4, Hanna Warnke 3, Afton Lingren 2
Rebound leaders: Kaydence White 8, Afton Lindgren 7, Aliyah Vig 6
Assist leaders: Hanna Warnke 4, Afton Lindgren 3

KCC 80 – Roseau 41
The Bearcats finally returned home to play a game for the first time since Dec. 13. The Roseau Rams rolled into town Thursday, Jan. 9 to take their shot at slowing down the Bearcat offense, but KCC had different plans for the evening.
The Bearcat offense rolled up 50 first-half points against the Ram defense. KCC overwhelmed the Rams on defense and created fast-break points as well as consistently knocked down perimeter shots. It was all Bearcats in the opening half of play.
The KCC offense dumped in an additional 30 points in the second half and continued to make it difficult for the Rams to find points on their end of the floor. The Bearcats cruised to an 80-41 win and moved their season record to 10-1.
We shot the ball better tonight than we did earlier in the week. We did a better job of recognizing where the open shooters were and got them the ball in better scoring positions. We were efficient on both ends of the floor.
Scoring leaders: Kaydence White 19, Greta Kuznia 18, Morgan Turn 15, Berlyn Strege 14, Lily Peterson 4, Hanna Warnke 2, Aliyah Vig 2, Afton Lindgren 2, Kasey Waling 2, McKinley Folland 2
Rebound leaders: McKinley Folland 12, Greta Kuznia 6, Aliyah Vig 6 Assist leaders: Morgan Turn 5, Lily Peterson 4, McKinley Folland 4

KCC BEARCATS TEAMMATES enthusiastically congratulate #5 MORGAN TURN on breaking the school/program points record for basketball. (KC Media Arts photo)

BEARCATS # 2 ALIYAH VIG tries to steal the ball during the game against Roseau on Thursday, Jan. 9. Vig had 2 points and 6 rebounds in the game. (KC Media Arts photo)

BEARCATS #1 HANNA WARNKE, left, and #22 GRETA KUZNIA fight to get the ball from a Freeze player. Kuznia contributed 18 points in the game while Warnke contributed 3 points and 4 assists. (KC Media Arts photo)

BEARCATS #13 KAYDENCE WHITE goes for a layup against Roseau on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Kittson Central. White had 19 points in the game. (KC Media Arts photo)