JOHNSON, HAZELWOOD, HASXTON, PRIDDY LEAD SMOKY VALLEY

By William

LINDSBORG – In a rescheduled game from Tuesday due to the weather, the Smoky Valley girls used a huge third quarter to propel them to a 49-37 home court win over Hoisington on Thursday.

Hoisington had the upper hand by six at 13-7 at the end of the first quarter and still led the Lady Vikings by four, 22-18, heading into halftime before Smoky Valley put 18 points on the scoreboard in the third quarter while holding the visitors to just four to propel them to taking a 10-point advantage, 36-26, heading into the final eight minutes of play where they held on for the final 12 point victory.

“The Lady Vikings were down four at half but came out with a blitz in the third quarter to take a 10-point lead into the final quarter,” explained Smoky Valley head coach Larry Van Der Wege. “Hoisington mounted a comeback attempt, but the girls were able to hit 9-of-13 free throws down the stretch to seal the win on Senior Night. We came out sluggish and part of that was due to Hoisington switching defenses with enough frequency to create some confusion at times for us. At halftime, the players were frustrated about their performance, but we knew we were only down four and had not played very well. We made a few offensive suggestions on how to be more aggressive and reinforced how to defend the on-ball screens and the girls came out firing on all cylinders in the third.”

For the game, the Lady Vikings connected on 15-23 free throws while Hoisington only made 6-of-12, this included 5-of-6 by Elli Brumbaugh.

McKinley Johnson closed out her home court career as a Lady Viking by leading the team with 12 points while Adrian Hazelwood finished with 10 and just missed a double-double by pulling down nine rebounds. Hazelwood also recorded six steals and blocked a shot.

Breanna Priddy came close to a double-double as well with nine points and seven rebounds while Kerington Haxton did not score on her senior night, she tied for the team lead in rebounds with nine.

Coach Van Der Wege continued his post-game reflections by saying, “That was really one of the best halves of basketball that we have played all season. We had really good balance in the second half.”

With it being Senior Night, Coach Van Der Wege concluded his reflections by noting, “We recognized our senior players – Claire Broxterman, Ellie Brumbaugh, Kerington Haxton, McKinley Johnson and Lois Laros along with manager Bri Franklin following our win. Claire, Ellis, Kerington and McKinley are a senior class that has played a lot of ball and are a competitive group. Lois has joined our program as an exchange student from the Netherlands and was experiencing basketball for the first time. This group has helped lead us to the best record we have had since 2008 and we are not finished. Every win is valuable, but it was a great way to recognize our seniors.”

 Now 11-7 for the season, the Lady Vikings will be on the road Friday at Haven.

Hoisington at SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS

SCORING:                 Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4      FINAL

Hoisington                13       9          4          11       37

LADY VIKINGS          7          11       18       13       49

Hoisington Team Stats: FG 14-45; 3PT 3-14; FT 6-12; RBS 14.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS TEAM STATS:            FG 15-38; 3PT 4-18; FT 15-23; AST 10; RBS 40; TO 19; STL 10; BLK 2; FLS 14.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (49 total): McKinley Johnson – 12; Adrian Hazelwood – 10; Breanna Priddy – 9; Claire Broxterman – 6; Ellie Brumbaugh – 5; Abby Rose – 5; Keira Mullen – 2.

3-Pointers Made (4 total): Johnson – 2; Hazelwood, Rose – 1.

Assists (10 total): Johnson – 3; Hazelwood, Brumbaugh, Kerington Haxton – 2; Avery Van Der Wege – 1.

Rebounds (40 total): Hazelwood, Haxton – 9; Priddy – 7; Broxterman – 6; Rose – 4; Johnson, Van Der Wege – 2; Mullen – 1.

Steals (10 total): Hazelwood – 6; Johnson – 2; Priddy, Haxton – 1.

Blocked Shots (2 total): Hazelwood, Priddy – 1.

{Smoky Valley Viking Postings are SPONSORED by CrossDove Creations}

A NOTE from the SPONSOR:

An 11 oz. Mug – GARFIELD HELLO

Just to give yourself or a friend a BIG HELLO in the morning with this cute coffee mug in the morning….

Perfect for coffee, tea and hot chocolate, this classic shape white, durable ceramic mug in the most popular size. High quality sublimation printing makes it an appreciated gift to every true hot beverage lover. A Big Garfield Hello in the Morning Mug 11oz | Etsy