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

LARNED – The Smoky Valley boys used a strong second quarter to help propel them to an even stronger second half on their way to scoring a road win Friday over Larned, winning by 20, 57-37.

After the two teams played to a 10-10 tie in the first quarter, the Vikings pulled out to a seven-point, 28-21 advantage going into the halftime break. After the intermission, Smoky Valley’s defense went to work, and they held Larned to just four points in the third quarter while scoring 13 and taking a 16-point lead into the final eight minutes of play where they put four more points on their cushion to earn the final 20-point victory.

Two areas in the stat sheet that played to the Vikings advantage was on the free throw line where they had 10 more attempts and eight more makes than Larned and in the paint where the Vikings dominated with a 30-18 advantage in rebounds, including 12 second chance opportunity rebounds on the offensive end of the court.

Haven Lysell-Stewart led the team in scoring with 20 while also grabbing six rebounds and blocking a shot.

Kade Blanchat reached double digits in rebounds with 10 which included five offensive and five defense grabs.

With the win the Vikings are now 7-8 for the season as they rest and prep for another road trip on Tuesday when they travel to Lyons before returning to the home court next Friday when they will host Nickerson.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS at Larned

SCORING       1          2          3          4          FINAL

VIKINGS        10       18       13       16       57

Larned           10       11       4          12       37

TEAM STATS =

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS = FG 23/50 (46%); 3-PTR 2/8 (25%); FT 9/13 (69%); AST 3; REBS 30; TO 9; STLS 8; BLK 3; PF 7.

Larned = FG 15/41 (36%); 3-PTR 4/16 (25%); FT 1/3 (33%); AST n/a; REBS 18; TO 16; STLS 9; BLK 1; PF 13.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKING INDIVIDUAL SCORING/STAT LEADERS =

Scoring (57 total points) = Haven Lysell-Stewart – 20; Karson Pihl – 8; Trayton Miller – 7; Kade Blanchat – 7; Vincent Pickering – 6; Lukas Apel – 5; Gus Griffith – 4.

3-Pointers Made (2) = Pihl, Miller – 1.

Assists (3) = Lysell-Stewart – 2.

Rebounds (30) = Blanchat – 10; Lysell-Stewart – 6; Pihl – 5; Miller, Pickering – 3.

Steals (8) = Pickering – 3.

Blocked Shots (3) = Lysell-Stewart, Blanchat, Pickering – 1.