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

LINDSBORG – It was a rough night for the Smoky Valley boys and girls basketball teams on Tuesday as they hosted Hesston and not only lost both games, but it was the first loss of the season for the Lady Vikings.

The Lady Vikings struggled for the first time this season from the field, and it cost them a 47-36 loss to the Lady Swathers while the Viking boys continue to look for their first win of the season after losing to Hesston as well, 59-40.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE VIKING BOYS & GIRLS?

While the Viking boys are now 0-4 and the Lady Vikings sitting at 3-1, both teams will be looking for the win column on Friday when they take a road trip south to battle with Halstead.

Here is a summary of both games with Hesston:

LADY VIKINGS SUFFER FIRST LOSS OF SEASON

The Hesston girls jumped out to a five point, 10-5 lead by the end of the first quarter before the Lady Vikings seemed to right the offensive ship for eight minutes as they bounced back to pull within one, 19-18, heading into the intermission.

Coming out of the break the Lady Vikings had trouble getting the lid off the basket and the Lady Swathers took advantage to move their lead out to 11 at 37-26 by the end of the third quarter before cruising in for the final 11-point win.

Smoky Valley only hit 26% of their shots from the field while Hesston made 38%. The Lady Swathers also held an edge, 35-30, in rebounding while Smoky Valley turned the ball over 13 times.

“We had a tough night shooting the ball,” explained Lady Viking head coach Jason Drouillard. “It seemed like there was a lid on the basket at times. Give Hesston credit because they were fired up from the start and were ready to play. We knew it would be like a boxing match with them and they never stopped swinging. While we know it is tough to lose, we know that his is a great learning opportunity for the team.”

While no Lady Viking reached double digits in scoring, Breanna Priddy had a near double double by leading the team in scoring with eight and rebounding with an even dozen. Sophomore Adrian Hazelwood chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds to go with her team leading five assists.

Coach Drouillard finished his reflections on the game by saying, “We saw some things we’ll need to fix that will only make us better overall. I thought Maliyah (Koster) did an excellent job stepping into the starting lineup while Tinley (Scott) came off the bench and hit two big three-pointers which helped spark some offense we desperately needed. The girls played hard, and I love that I never have to ask them to give it their all as they always will and that is a characteristic of a good team. All in all, it was just one of those tough shooting nights and we were up against an opponent that played some of their best ball of the young season.”

Hesston at SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

Hesston          10        9          18        10        47       

LADY VIKINGS 5          13        8          10        36       

TEAM STATS:              Hesston          LADY VIKINGS

Shooting                     18/47 (38%)    11/42 (26%)

3-Pointers                   3/13 (23%)      4/16 (25%)

Free Throws                11/13 (85%)    12/22 (55%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    35 (12/23)       30 (12/18)

Assists                         14                    5

Turnovers                   11                    13

Steals                          5                      5

Blocked Shots             0                      0

Personal Fouls            20                    13

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (36 Total Points): Breanna Priddy – 8; Adrian Hazelwood – 7; Tinley Scott – 6; Maliyah Koster – 6; Keira Mullen – 5; Gracie Lambert – 3; Katja Blanchat – 3.

Three-Pointers Made (4): Tinley Scott – 2; Gracie Lambert, Keira Mullen – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Breanna Priddy – 12; Adrian Hazelwood – 7.

Assist Leader: Adrian Hazelwood – 5.

Leader in Steals: Maliyah Koster, Gracie Lambert, Keira Mullen, Adrian Hazelwood, Katja Blanchat – 1.

Leader in Blocked Shots: None

VIKING BOYS STILL LOOKING FOR FIRST WIN

After playing Hesston even up, 11-11, in the first quarter, the Swathers outscored the Vikings by 12 in the second quarter and took a commanding 28-16 lead into the halftime break before coming out and pulling away for the final 19-point, 59-40 victory over Smoky Valley.

While the Vikings shot 35% from the field, the Swathers hit 48% and took advantage of Smoky Valley turning the ball over 17 times.

The loss overshadowed a huge game by Haven Lysell-Stewart as he just missed a double double with 19 points and nine rebounds that went along with a pair of blocked shots.

Hesston at SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

Hesston           11        17        13        18        59       

VIKINGS           11        5          12        12        40       

TEAM STATS:              Hesston          VIKINGS

Shooting                     22/45 (48%)    14/40 (35%)

3-Pointers                   5/11 (45%)      4/15 (26%)

Free Throws                10/16 (62%)    8/15 (53%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    25                    24

Assists                         5                      1

Turnovers                   8                      17

Steals                          13                    4

Blocked Shots             0                      5

Personal Fouls            13                    12

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (40 Total Points): Haven Lysell-Stewart – 19; Trayton Miller – 6; Karson Pihl – 5; Lukas Apel – 4; Vincent Pickering – 3; Gus Griffith – 2; Kade Blanchat – 1.

Three-Pointers Made (4): Karson Pihl, Trayton Miller, Vincent Pickering, Haven Lysell-Stewart – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Haven Lysell-Stewart – 9; Lukas Apel – 5; Gus Griffith – 3.

Assist Leader: Gus Griffith – 1.

Leader in Steals: Trayton Miller – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Haven Lysell-Stewart – 2.