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

ABILENE = Giving up too many points in the opening quarter and issues with turnovers spelled doom for the Smoky Valley boys basketball team as they suffered a 16-point, 68-52 loss on Friday in the season opener on the road at Abilene.

The Cowboys put a whopping 29 points on the board in the first quarter and even though the Vikings answered with 16 of their own, they were already down by 13 points.

After trailing 38-23 at the halftime break, Smoky Valley fell behind by three more by the end of the third quarter before giving Abilene a bit of a push in the fourth quarter before losing.

Beyond the overabundance of points, they gave up in the first quarter, the Vikings also had issues throughout the game controlling the ball on offense and made 26 turnovers by games end.

Thanks to connecting on five three-pointers, Karson Pihl led the Vikings in scoring with 19 points while Lukas Apel and Haven Lysell-Stewart each reached double digits as well with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Lysell-Stewart nearly had a double-double as he topped Smoky Valley on the boards by grabbing nine rebounds with Kade Blanchat pulling down eight. Pihl led the team in steals with three.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR “AREA TEAM”?

The first week of games for the 2021-22 season lays ahead for the Vikings as they will play host to Southeast of Saline on Tuesday before going up the road to the north on Friday for a battle at Concordia.

SMOKY VALLEY at Abilene

SCORING:     1          2          3          4          FINAL

VIKINGS        16       7          12       17       52      

Abilene          29       9          15       14       68      

TEAM STATS:                       VIKINGS                    Abilene

Shooting                               18/42 (42%)             22/46 (47%)

3-Pointers                             6/14 (42%)               7/20 (35%)  

Free Throws                         10/18 (55%)             17/30 (56%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)           39 (12/27)                19 (4/15)

Assists                                    9                                  18

Turnovers                             25                               6

Steals                                     5                                  21

Blocked Shots                      1                                  3

Personal Fouls                     18                               19

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (52 Total Points): Karson Pihl – 19; Lukas Apel – 13; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 10; Trayton Miller – 6; Kade Blanchat – 3; Vincent Pickering – 1.

Three-Pointers Made (6): Karson Pihl – 5; Kade Blanchat – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Haven Lysell-Stewart – 9; Kade Blanchat – 8; Lukas Apel – 5.

Assist Leader: Trayton Miller – 3; Lukas Apel, Vincent Pickering – 2.

Leader in Steals: Karson Pihl – 3.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Haven Lysell-Stewart – 1.

{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}