By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
LINDSBORG – The Smoky Valley boys took an early lead then never looked back on Tuesday when they hosted Halstead at home and scored a 28-point, 66-38 victory.
After putting 19 points in the scorebook in the first eight minutes of the game while holding the visitors to just five, the Vikings then held off a strong second quarter by Halstead to take a 16-point, 37-21 lead into the halftime break.
Coming out of the intermission Smoky Valley exploded for another 20 points and had a 28-point, 57-29 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
While both teams shot 40% or better from the field, the Vikings made 15-of-17 free throws and had a 28-16 advantage in rebounding to help secure the commanding win.
The Vikings offense was led by the three headed scoring machine of Karson Pihl, Trayton Miller, and Haven Lysell-Stewart as they scored 20, 19, and 15 points, respectively. Miller connected on four three-pointers while Pihl hit three of his own.
Lysell-Stewart and Gus Griffith recorded six rebounds each for their work on the boards while Lukas Apel grabbed five.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR the SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS?
With the win the Vikings are now 3-4 with a chance to even the season record on Friday when they travel south to play Hesston.
Halstead at SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Halstead 5 16 8 9 38
VIKINGS 19 18 20 9 66
TEAM STATS:
Halstead = FG 13/32 (40%); 3-PTR 8/12 (66%); FT 5/8 (62%); AST n/a; RBS 16; TO 14; STLS 1; BLKS 2; PF 18.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS = FG 22/50 (44%); 3-PTR 7/19 (36%); FT 15/17 (88%); AST 5; RBS 28; TO 8; STLS 6; BLKS 1; PF 9.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:
Scoring (66 Total Points): Karson Pihl – 20; Trayton Miller – 19; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 15; Gus Griffith – 4; Lukas Apel – 4; Tristan Stambaugh – 2; Kian Blanchat – 2.
Three-Pointers Made (7): Trayton Miller – 4; Karson Pihl – 3.
Rebound Leaders: Haven Lysell-Stewart, Gus Griffith – 6; Lukas Apel – 5; Karson Pihl – 3.
Assist Leader: Kade Blanchat – 2.
Leader in Steals: Trayton Miller – 3; Justice Autry, Lukas Apel, Haven Lysell-Stewart – 1.
Leader in Blocked Shots: Gus Griffith – 1.