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

CONCORDIA – It only took a few extra points, five to be exact, that Concordia needed on Friday to nip the visiting Smoky Valley boys, 49-44, to gain a victory.

Smoky Valley came out on a good pace and held a slim two-point, 16-14, lead at the end of the first quarter before Concordia switched the scores around and both teams ended up with 30 heading into the halftime break.

The Vikings allowed Concordia to get a four-point advantage by the end of the third quarter, 43-39, and they did not let it go as Smoky Valley ended up coming up short on the scoreboard with the five-point loss.

While the Vikings shot 32% from the field, Concordia connected on 54% of their shots. All other team stats showed how even the game was as Concordia held a four-ball edge in rebounds, 29-25, but Smoky Valley only turned the ball over 10 compared to 16 miscues by Concordia.

One major advantage to Concordia was the personal fouls as the Vikings committed 22, including playing three of their key players (Lukas Apel, Trayton Miller, and Kade Blanchat) with four fouls in the final quarter, while the home team had just 14.

Lukas Apel was the lone Viking to reach double digits in the scorebook as he had 12 while Trayton Miller and Haven Lysell-Stewart just missed double figures with nine.

Both Apel and Miller led the team in rebounds with five each while Miller had the team high in steals with three.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR VIKINGS?

The loss means the Vikings are still looking for their first win of the season and will now take an 0-3 record into their matchup on Tuesday at home against undefeated Hesston.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS at Concordia

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

VIKINGS           16        14        9          5          44       

Concordia        14        16        13        6          49       

TEAM STATS:              VIKINGS           Concordia      

Shooting                     16/50 (32%)    19/35 (54%)

3-Pointers                   6/18 (33%)      2/7 (28%)

Free Throws                6/12 (50%)      11/20 (55%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    25 (9/16)         29 (7/22)

Assists                         3                      2

Turnovers                   10                    16

Steals                          6                      3

Blocked Shots             1                      1

Personal Fouls            22                    14

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (44 Total Points): Lukas Apel – 12; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 9; Trayton Miller – 9; Karson Pihl – 5; Kade Blanchat – 4; Vincent Pickering – 3; Trystan Stambaugh – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (6): Trayton Miller – 3; Lukas Apel, Karson Pihl, Vincent Pickering – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Lukas Apel, Trayton Miller -5; Vincent Pickering – 4; Karson Pihl, Kade Blanchat – 3.

Assist Leader: Karson Pihl, Kade Blanchat, Haven Lysell-Stewart – 1.

Leader in Steals: Trayton Miller – 3; Karson Pihl – 2; Kade Blanchat – 1.

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