By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

ABILENE – The Smoky Valley girls basketball team was looking for a good start to their basketball season as a follow up to an outstanding volleyball session and got exactly that on Friday as they went on the road and scored a 21-point, 55-34, win over Abilene.

“The girls did an outstanding job of playing team basketball,” explained Lady Viking head coach Jason Drouillard. “From the starting five to the first five off the bench, they all contributed in some fashion. When Breanna (Priddy) went out early due to foul trouble, Katja (Blanchat) stepped up off the bench as just a freshman.”

Blanchat did step up as she finished the game with a near double-double when she scored nine points and pulled down a team leading eight rebounds in her first ever varsity action.

Smoky Valley’s offense was led by a pair of youngsters as sophomores Adrian Hazelwood and Keira Mullen put 14 and 11 points in the scorebook while senior Abby Rose also hit for double digits with 10.

All three of these girls had huge games overall as Hazelwood also grabbed five rebounds, dished out six assists and made six steals while Rose recorded five rebounds and a pair of steals and Mullen had three rebounds and one steal.

Talking about his team, Coach Drouillard continued by saying, “Our conditioning was good, and it was nice that we could keep a steady rotation off the bench to keep fresh leges on the court. I thought we did a better job in the second half of being ‘score redady’ and it led to a more potent offense. Defensively we did some really nice things For the most part, we took away easy driving lanes and scoring opportunities from Abilene.”

Drouillard concluded his post-game reflections by noting, “Overall, it was a great start to the season and the coaching staff loved what we saw from the girls. They played hard, played fast, and played together. We will certainly look to continue that type of play on Tuesday when we host Southeast of Saline.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS?

The Lady Vikings will have their 2021-22 season home opener on Tuesday when they play host to Southeast of Saline.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS at Abilene

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

LADY VIKINGS –           –           –           –           55       

Abilene           –           –           –           –           34       

TEAM STATS:              LADY VIKINGS Abilene

Shooting                     33%                 26%    

3-Pointers                   N/A                 N/A    

Free Throws                N/A                 N/A    

Rebounds                   39                    32       

Assists                         N/A                 N/A

Turnovers                   12                    21       

Steals                          11                    7         

Blocked Shots             N/A                 N/A

Personal Fouls            N/A                 N/A

Points off Turnovers   20                    2

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (55 Total Points): Adrian Hazelwood – 14; Keira Mullen – 11; Abby Rose – 10; Katja Blanchat – 9.

Three-Pointers Made (N/A): No Report Available.

Rebound Leaders: Katja Blanchat – 8; Adrian Hazelwood, Abby Rose – 5; Keira Mullen – 3.

Assist Leader: Adrian Hazelwood – 6.

Leader in Steals: Adrian Hazelwood – 6; Abby Rose – 2; Keira Mullen, Katja Blanchat – 1.

Leader in Blocked Shots: No Report Available.

{www.mcpherson-county-ks.com is looking for Smoky Valley Viking SPONSORS to help cover costs – to help keep continue your school’s activity postings – inquiry by email to William at crossdovewriter@gmail.com}