By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
PRATT – The Smoky Valley boys and girls went on the road Tuesday to finish out their 2021-22 regular season and returned home with a split of two games with Pratt as the Viking boys lost 56-47 while the Lady Vikings rolled to a 50-32 victory.
With the win, the Lady Vikings finish the regular season at 14-6 and prep to play Ellsworth next Tuesday in sub-state. The loss drops the Viking boys to a .500, 10-10 mark for the season as they also prep to battle with Ellsworth in sub-state next Monday.
Summary of the games:
LADY VIKINGS ROLL OVER PRATT
For the Lady Vikings, they got off to a slow start and only led by one, 14-13 at the end of the first quarter before pulling out to an eight-point, 24-16, advantage when they broke for the halftime break. Smoky Valley then scored 13 points in both the third and fourth quarters while holding Pratt to just nine and seven as they extended their lead out to the final 18 point win.
“There was never any doubt about how hard our girls were playing,” explained Lady Viking head coach Jason Drouillard. “We just need to consistently focus on attention to detail. We weren’t good about communicating on the defensive end and that hurt us. Fouling is something we need to clean up going into sub-state as they scored 12 of their 32 points at the charity stripe.”
As a team, the Lady Vikings dominated inside the paint as they outscored Pratt in the paint 22-12 and grabbed 17 more rebounds, out rebounding them 39-22. Smoky Valley also out scored the home team 18-2 on second chance scoring opportunities.
Individually, Katja Blanchat had a huge game for Smoky Valley, scoring 10 points while grabbing a whopping 16 rebounds and make a pair of steals.
Adrian Hazelwood led the Lady Vikings in scoring with 17 points while Abby Rose connected on four three-pointers to help net her 14 points. Breanna Priddy may have only scored three points, but she did some work in the paint by pulling down nine rebounds and leading the team in steals with four.
Coach Drouillard concluded his post-game reflections by adding, “I was proud of our effort and I loved the way we attacked the rim and stayed aggressive throughout the game. Kudos to the freshman, Katja Blanchat, for her effort on both ends, she is electric on both ends and it was so much fun seeing the team’s excitement for her. Adrian (Hazelwood) and Keira (Mullen) were defensive juggernauts as they held both of Pratt’s top scorers under their season averages. I loved the ownership they took in their match-ups and it helped us allow us to get separation on the scoreboard. Great win and so happy for the girls.”
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
LADY VIKINGS 14 10 13 13 50
Pratt 13 3 9 7 32
Pratt Team Stats: FG 9/32; 3-PTR 2/12; FT 12/21; AST 2; REBS 22; TO 15; STLS 3; BLK 0; PF 18.
SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS TEAM STATS: FG 16/45; 3-PTR 4/16; FT 14/21; AST 4; REBS 39; TO 15; STLS 10; BLK 2; PF 20.
SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (50 total points): Adrian Hazelwood – 17; Abby Rose – 14; Katja Blanchat – 10; Breanna Priddy – 3; Tinley Scott – 2; Gracie Lambert – 2; Keira Mullen – 2. 3-Pointers Made (4): Rose – 4. Assists: Hazelwood – 2. Rebounds: Blanchat – 16; Priddy – 9; Hazelwood, Mullen – 4; Steals: Priddy – 4; Blanchat – 2. Blocked Shots: Hazelwood – 1.
VIKING BOYS 2ND QUARTER STUMBLE COSTLY
After trailing by just four, 15-11, at the end of the first quarter, the Viking boys could only get seven points in the scorebook in quarter two while Pratt put up 13, giving Pratt a 10-point, 28-18 lead heading to the halftime break. In the third quarter, Smoky Valley chipped five points off the deficit and only trailed by five, 36-31 heading into the final eight minutes where Pratt out scored them 20-16 to give the Vikings their final nine-point loss.
Vincent Pickering had the best offensive night for the Vikings as he drilled four three-pointers on his way to scoring 18 points while Haven Lysell-Stewart also reached double digits with 10. Karson Pihl led the Vikings on the boards with seven rebounds while both Pickering and Lysell-Stewart each pulled down five.
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
VIKINGS 11 7 13 16 47
Pratt 15 13 8 20 56
Pratt Team Stats: FG 19/43; 3-PTR 4/11; FT 14/21; AST n/a; REBS 24; TO 5; STLS 6; BLK 1; PF 17.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS TEAM STATS: FG 16/46; 3-PTR 5/18; FT 10/14; AST n/a; REBS 24; TO 8; STLS 4; BLK 1; PF 19.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (47 total points): Vincent Pickering – 18; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 10; Trayton Miller – 7; Lukas Apel – 6; Karson Pihl – 4; Gus Griffith – 2. 3-Pointers Made (5): Pickering – 4; Miller – 1. Assists: n/a. Rebounds: Pihl – 7; Pickering, Lysell-Stewart – 5; Griffith – 4. Steals: Pickering, Miller, Apel, Pihl – 1. Blocked Shots: Pihl – 1.