By Staff

            HILLSBORO – After trailing for most of the game, the Smoky Valley girls nearly pulled off a huge on the road fourth quarter rally only to fall short in a two-point loss to Hillsboro on Tuesday, 51-49.

            With the loss the Lady Vikings fall to 3-4 for the season as they prepare to play host to Larned on Friday.

            “We had a slow start to the game,” noted Lady Viking head coach Jason Drouillard. “But we really got going in the second half and helped propel the team to have a chance to win the game.”

            Trailing by three at 9-6 at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Vikings found themselves down by seven, 18-11, at the halftime break. After falling behind by nine, 34-25, at the end of the third quarter, Smoky Valley made a valiant come back by outscoring Hillsboro 24-17 in the fourth quarter only to fall short by a pair of points in the heartbreaking loss.

            Eva Malm had a huge game as she connected on four three-pointers in leading the Lady Vikings in scoring with 14 points while also grabbing four rebounds. Adrian Hazelwood and Katja Blanchat also reached double digits in the score column with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Blanchat and Hazelwood also led Smoky Valley in rebounds with eight and seven each. Tinley Scott hit on three three-pointers and just missed double digits in scoring with nine.

            Coach Drouillard concluded his post-game reflections discussing a pair of players in adding, “While she didn’t have a big day filling up the stat sheet, I loved the impact that Sophia Fruits had on the game. She plays a role that most kids don’t want to play, which is to just play with a tremendous amount of effort and energy on defense and she was spectacular. Eva Malm also had a great day.”

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS at Hillsboro

SCORING: LADY VIKINGS > 6-5-14-24=49; Hillsboro > 9-9-16-17=51

TEAM STATS: LADY VIKINGS: 2-FGs – 11/35; 3-PTs – 7/21; FTs – 6/10; AST – 8; REBs – 35; TO – 18; STLs – 12; BLKs – 0; FLs – 21.  Hillsboro: 2-FGs – 15/39; 3-PTs – 2/12; FTs – 15/22; AST – 6; REBs – 37; TO – 19; STLs – 11; BLKs – 3; FLs – 14.

LADY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: SCORING > Eva Malm – 14; Adrian Hazelwood – 11; Katja Blanchat – 10; Tinley Scott – 9; Sophia Fruits – 2; Nevaeh Spitler – 2; Breanne Peters – 1.  3-POINTERS MADE >  Malm – 4; Scott – 3.  ASSISTS > Hazelwood – 3. REBOUNDS > Blanchat – 8; Hazelwood – 7; N. Spitler – 5; Malm – 4.  STEALS > Hazelwood – 4; Blanchat, Fruits – 3.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)