By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
SALINA – While waiting for sub-state to begin, the Elyria boys and girls went north to Salina for a couple of games Friday with Smoky Valley Home Educators (Smoky Valley HE) and returned with a pair of victories as the boys scored a 17-point, 46-29 win while the girls earned a 13-point, 40-27 victory.
The Lady Eagles are now 13-7 for the season and had a first-round bye in their Class 1A Division II sub-state. They now get to rest and prep for a week before playing Stafford on Friday, March 4.
For the Elyria boys, they are now 14-6 for the season and also had a bye in the first round of their Class 1A Division II sub-state. The Eagles will have a week to rest and prep before tangling with Pawnee Heights who beat Hutchinson Central Christian, 55-40, on Thursday. Pawnee Heights will come into the game 10-8 for the season.
Summary of the games:
HAWKINSON DOMINATES IN LADY EAGLES VICTORY
Thanks to a monster game by Ryland Hawkinson, the Lady Eagles scored a big win to end their 2021-22 regular season schedule.
It was a sluggish first half for the Lady Eagles as they trailed by one, 10-9 to Smoky Valley HE at the end of the first quarter and still had a single point deficit, 17-16, at the halftime break.
Coming out of the break, Elyria put 13 points on the scoreboard while holding Smoky Valley HE to just four in the third quarter to take an eight-point, 29-21 advantage into the final eight minutes of the game where they cruised in for the final 13-point, 40-27 win.
“I knew this would be a tough road win in a new environment against a very solid team that we had already beaten twice this season,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “Smoky Valley Home Educators is a really good team that plays with a lot of energy and we came out flat in the first half and could not match their intensity. I was really happy with the focus that we had coming out of the halftime break.”
While the Lady Eagles turned the ball over 21 times, they controlled the paint as they out rebounded Smoky Valley HE 26-13.
Ryland Hawkinson had a monster game as she recorded a double-double by pouring 24 points into the scorebook and grabbed a team leading 10 rebounds while dishing out three assists and making a pair of steals. Only three other Lady Eagles scored in the game.
Coach Fields concluded his reflections on the game by adding, “Ryland (Hawkinson) played with a lot of heart all night. It was great to see her get another double-double. I feel like she is playing her best basketball right now. KiLynn (Starburg) did a very nice job tonight distributing the ball and while Allie (Stone) is still not quite 100%, she was very disruptive on defense and she hit some big three-pointers for us at critical times.”
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
LADY EAGLES 9 7 13 11 40
SV HE 10 7 4 6 27
Smoky Valley Home Educators Team Stats: FG 12/39; 3-PTR 1/12; FT 2/8; AST 12; REBS 13; TO 19; STLS 12; BLK 3; PF 14.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE TEAM STATS: FG 13/38; 3-PTR 3/14; FT 11/14; AST 9; REBS 26; TO 21; STLS 12; BLK 1; PF 11.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (40 total points): Ryland Hawkinson – 24; Kylee Penner – 8; Allie Stone – 6; KiLynn Starburg – 2. 3-Pointers Made (3): Stone – 2; Hawkinson – 1. Assists: Starburg – 4; Hawkinson – 3. Rebounds: Hawkinson – 10; Penner – 5; Starburg, Olivia Clark – 3; Stone – 2. Steals: Stone – 4; Hawkinson, Alexus Swenson, Clark – 2. Blocked Shots: Penner – 1.
ELYRIA BOYS SCORE BIG WIN
For the Elyria boys, they had eight players put points on the board as they took control early and handled Smoky Valley Home Educators (Smoky Valley HE) with their 17-point, 46-29 win.
After taking a five-point, 11-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, the Eagles extended their advantage out to 13 at 22-9 going into the halftime break.
Putting 10 and 14 points on the board in the final two quarters, the Eagles held off Smoky Valley HE who put 11 and nine points up to gain the final 17-point win.
“It’s always good to get back in the win column,” said Eagle head coach Zach Goodrich. “We needed one before starting our game in the second round of sub-state next week. We have been working on the defensive side of the ball quite a bit the last couple of practices and I think we are getting close to where we were early in the season.”
Elyria dominated the boards as they out rebounded Smoky Valley HE 38-20.
Andrew Huxman led the Eagles offensive attack with 10 points while Josh Allen pitched in with eight. Landon Schneider led the work in the paint with seven rebounds while Allen, Keyan Wiggers, and Ben Unruh all pulled down five. Caleb Laney, Schneider, and Ben Unruh all swiped three steals.
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
EAGLES 11 11 10 14 46
SV HE 6 3 11 9 29
Smoky Valley Home Educators Team Stats: FG 9/30; 3-PTR 1/6; FT 10/16; AST 5; REBS 20; TO 23; STLS 12; BLK 1; PF 12.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLE TEAM STATS: FG 18/48; 3-PTR 2/19; FT 8/14; AST 11; REBS 38; TO 22; STLS 14; BLK 0; PF 16.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (46 total points): Andrew Huxman – 10; Josh Allen – 8; Keyan Wiggers – 6; Ty Romero – 6; Ben Unruh – 5; Dominick Lundberg – 4; Landon Schneider – 4; Johnny Unruh – 3. 3-Pointers Made (2): Romero – 2. Assists: Huxman, Romero – 3. Rebounds: Schneider – 7; Allen, Wiggers, B. Unruh – 5; Lundberg – 3; Huxman, J. Unruh – 2. Steals: Caleb Laney, Schneider, B. Unruh – 3; Huxman, Romero – 2.