HAZELWOOD, PRIDDY LEAD SMOKY VALLEY
By William
STERLING – Playing in the first round of the Sterling Invitational, the Smoky Valley girls basketball team overcame a first half deficit to score a solid 14-point, 51-37, victory over Kingman on Monday.
The Lady Vikings led by eight, 13-5, at the end of the first quarter only to be out scored by ten in the second quarter and fall behind by three at 24-21 going into the halftime break thanks to Kingman hitting on five-of-nine three-pointers in the first half.
Putting the defensive pressure on their outside shooting while dominating the boards, Smoky Valley bounced back after the break to take a five-point third quarter lead before pushing out to the final 14-point win.
“The Lady Vikings clamped down defensively and limited Kingman to just one three-pointer in the second half,” explained Smoky Valley Head Coach Larry Van Der Wege. “Except for a stretch in the second quarter, we played an exceptionally good defensive game tonight. Kingman has several girls who like to catch and shoot the three, and we gave them just a little too much room in the second quarter and they hit those shots. In the second half, we closed out better defensively and they only had three attempts from beyond the three-point line.”
The Lady Viking defense also forced Kingman into 30 turnovers while they also held command in the paint by out rebounding them 43-32 including four girls collecting more than six rebounds led by Breanna Priddy with eight, Adrian Hazelwood and Claire Broxterman each grabbing seven and McKinley Johnson pulling down six.
Hazelwood had a huge night overall as she led the Lady Vikings with 20 points which included a pair of threes while also dishing out three assists, blocking a pair of shots and stealing four passes. Priddy also reached double digits in the scorebook with 10 points while also blocking a pair of shots and making three steals.
As a team the Lady Vikings had 14 total steals and blocked seven shots in the game.
Coach Van Der Wege concluded his reflections on the game by saying, “We were a little more selective in the second half and hit for a higher shooting percentage. The girls were able to turn our defense into offensive transition buckets. While both Adrian (Hazelwood) and Breanna (Priddy) had very solid nights, this was a team effort across the board. I was especially proud of our rebounding effort on both ends of the court to go along with our defense tonight.”
Now 5-3 for the season, the Lady Vikings will battle Hugoton on Thursday in the second round of the Sterling Invitational.
Kingman vs. SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Kingman 5 19 6 7 37
LADY VIKINGS 13 9 14 15 51
TEAM STATS: Kingman LADY VIKINGS
FGM-FGA 12-41 17-56
3PTM-3PTA 6-12 4-21
FTM-FTA 7-13 13-20
ASSISTS 8 9
REBOUNDS 32 43
TURNOVERS 30 19
STEALS 7 14
BLOCKED SHOTS 3 7
FOULS 16 17
SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STATS:
Adrian Hazelwood = 20 points with 2 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots, 4 steals.
Breanna Priddy = 10 points with 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 3 steals.
Ellie Brumbaugh = 7 points with 1 3-pointer, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals.
McKinley Johnson = 5 points with 1 3-pointer, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.
Keira Mullen = 3 points with 2 rebounds, 2 steals.
Abby Rose = 2 points with 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot.
Kerington Haxton = 2 points with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
Claire Broxterman = 2 points with 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots.
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