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

MINNEAPOLIS – On Thursday, the Smoky Valley boys went to tangle with sub-state #1 seed Southeast of Saline and ran into foul troubles and shooting woes which ended their 2021-22 season with a 15-point, 57-42 loss.

With the loss, the Vikings close out the season with a .500 record at 11-11 while Southeast of Saline moves to 19-3 and will battle Council Grove for a chance to make a trip to the Class 3A state tournament.

Southeast of Saline squeezed out a four-point, 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending the lead to 12 at 31-19 as the two teams headed to the halftime break. After getting down by 15, 42-27 by the end of the third quarter, Smoky Valley played Southeast of Saline even in the final eight minutes for the final 15-point loss.

The Vikings only shot 33% from the field and hit just 1-of-9 from beyond the three-point line in the game while struggling with three of their top players, (Kade Blanchat, Haven Lysell-Stewart, and Trayton Miller) saddled with four fouls in the second half.

Blanchat and Lysell-Stewart led the Vikings in scoring with 10 points each while Karson Pihl just missed double figures with nine.

SCORING:     1          2          3          4          FINAL

VIKINGS        8          11       8          15       42

SE of Saline   12       19       11       15       57

Southeast of Saline Team Stats: FG 23/56; 3-PTR 5/20; FT 11/18; AST 1; REBS 13; TO 0; STLS 3; BLK 0; PF 21.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKING TEAM STATS: FG 13/39; 3-PTR 1/9; FT 11/21; AST 1; REBS 13; TO 5; STLS 2; BLK 0; PF 15.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (42 total points): Kade Blanchat – 10; Haven Lysell-Stewart – 10; Karson Pihl – 9; Trayton Miller – 3; Vincent Pickering – 2; Lukas Appel – 2. 3-Pointers Made (1): Miller – 1. Assists: Pihl – 1; Rebounds: Apel – 4; Lysell-Stewart – 3; Gus Griffith – 2. Steals: Lysell-Stewart, Pihl – 1.