By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
LINDSBORG – Like the girls team, the Smoky Valley boys waited until the second half to grab the lead and then hang on against Clay Center at home on Friday, finally winning by seven, 59-52.
With the win, the Vikings are now 6-7 on the season as they prep for a battle on Tuesday when they play host to Hillsboro who is unbeaten and ranked #1 in Class 2A.
After trailing by one, 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, Smoky Valley put 16 points on the board in the second quarter yet still found themselves trailing by a pair of points at 30-28 at the halftime break.
The Vikings defense put the clamps on the Clay Center offense in the third quarter and held the Tigers to just five points while they put 14 in the scorebook to pull ahead by five heading into the final quarter of play where they held off a Tiger attempt to come back and won by the final seven-point margin.
What the Vikings did have was not one, but two players who recorded a double-double by their names in the score and stat book as Haven Lysell-Stewart led the team with 19 points while taking care of much of the work in the paint and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Joining him with a double-double was Kade Blanchat who put 12 points in the scorebook while pulling down 10 rebounds of his own as well.
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Clay Center 13 17 5 17 52
VIKINGS 12 16 14 19 59
TEAM STATS:
Clay Center = No Team Stats Available
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS = No Team Stats Available
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:
Scoring (59 Total Points): Haven Lysell-Stewart – 19; Kade Blanchat – 12; Trayton Miller – 9; Lukas Apel – 7; Justice Autry – 5; Gus Griffith – 4; Vincent Pickering – 3.
Three-Pointers Made (2): Autry, Miller – 1.
Rebound Leaders: Lysell-Stewart – 13; Blanchat – 10.
Assist Leader: No stats available.
Leader in Steals: No stats available.
Leader in Blocked Shots: No stats available.