By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
LINDSBORG – Monday marked the beginning of the second season of high school basketball with the start of sub-state play and the Smoky Valley boys got off to an outstanding start by playing at home and rolling past Ellsworth with a 30-point, 61-31 victory.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 11-10 for the season and will now tangle with the top-seed of their Class 3A sub-state in Southeast of Saline on Thursday in Minneapolis. Southeast of Saline will come into the game with a season record of 18-3 after hammering Minneapolis, 49-20, on Monday.
The Vikings held a six-point, 13-7 lead by the end of the first quarter before pouring 23 points into the scorebook in the second quarter to take a commanding 21-point, 36-15, advantage into the halftime break. After Smoky Valley put another 17 points on the scoreboard by the end of the third quarter to take a 53-23 lead into the final eight minutes of play where they cruised in for the final 30-point win.
Hitting a hot 54% from the field, including 53% from beyond the three-point line, gave the Vikings the boost they needed to roll past Ellsworth as if they were standing still. Smoky Valley’s win was a true team effort as they recorded 19 assists on 24 made field goals while out rebounding the visitors 31-22.
Vincent Pickering had a huge game as he was the game’s top scorer with 19 points while hitting on three three-pointers, dishing out four assists and grabbing three rebounds.
Trayton Miller also connected on the three three-pointers on his way to reaching double digits in scoring with 11. Gus Griffith was the workhorse in the paint as he led the Vikings with 11 rebounds while Kade Blanchat and Karson Pihl led the offense with five assists each.
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Ellsworth 7 8 8 8 31
VIKINGS 13 23 17 8 61
Ellsworth Team Stats: FG 12/44; 3-PTR 2/8; FT 5/10; AST 10; REBS 22; TO 7; STLS 6; BLK 2; PF 11.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS TEAM STATS: FG 23/42 (54%); 3-PTR 8/15 (53%); FT 7/10 (70%); AST 19; REBS 31; TO 7; STLS 4; BLK 3; PF 12.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKING INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (61 total points): Vincent Pickering – 19; Trayton Miller – 11; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 8; Karson Pihl – 7; Lukas Apel – 6; Kade Blanchat – 6; Justice Autry – 2; Gus Griffith – 2. 3-Pointers Made (8): Pickering, Miller – 3; Pihl, Blanchat – 1. Assists: Blanchat, Pihl – 5; Pickering – 4; Miller – 3. Rebounds: Griffith – 11; Blanchat – 5; Apel, Lysell-Stewart, Pickering – 3. Steals: Pihl – 2. Blocked Shots: Pickering, Griffith, Blanchat – 1.