By Staff

            STERLING – On Friday the Smoky Valley boys closed out their run at the Sterling Invitational by finishing fifth with a 12-point, 63-51 win over Kingman.

            With the win Smoky Valley is now 6-5 for the season as they prep to play host to Hutchinson Trinity on Tuesday.

            The Vikings trailed Kingman by seven, 21-14 at the end of the first quarter and still faced a six-point deficit at 32-26 going into the halftime break. Coming out of halftime, Smoky Valley’s defense held Kingman to just three points while the offense put 16 on the board to not only erase the deficit, it gave the Vikings a seven-point lead, 42-35 heading into the final quarter of play where they earned the final 12-point victory.

            A look at the stat sheet shows that the Vikings won by making five more three-pointers and six more free throws than Kingman while holding an edge in rebounds, 32-23.

            Gus Griffith led the Vikings in scoring with 14. Karson Pihl connected on four three-pointers in scoring 13 while Ki Blanchat and Vincent Pickering also reached double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

            Kade and Ki Blanchat did the yeoman work in the paint with nine and seven rebounds each and Pickering topped the team in assists with four.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS vs. Kingman at Sterling Invitational

SCORING: VIKINGS > 14-12-16-21 = 63;  Kingman > 21-11-3-16 = 51.

TEAM STATS: VIKINGS > 2-FGs – 14/29; 3-PTs – 8/18; FTs – 11/18; AST – 14; REBs – 32; TO – 14; STLs – 3; BLKs – 3; FLs – 15.  Kingman > 2-FGs – 20/38; 3-PTs – 2/8; FTs – 5/13; AST – 13; REBs – 23; TO – 10; STLs – 11; BLKs – 0; FLs – 17.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKING INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring > Gus Griffith – 14; Karson Pihl – 13; Ki Blanchat – 11; Vincent Pickering – 10; Kade Blanchat – 8; Jerome Autry – 7.  3-Pointers Made > Pihl – 4; Pickering – 2; Ki Blanchat, Je. Autry – 1.  Assists > Pickering – 4; Ki Blanchat, Ka. Blanchat – 3; Pihl – 2.  Rebounds > Ka. Blanchat – 9; Ki Blanchat – 7; Griffith – 5; Pihl – 4; Pickering – 3.  Steals > Pihl, Pickering, Je. Autry – 1.  Blocked Shots > Ki Blanchat, Pickering, Ka. Blanchat – 1.

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