TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Basketball at Halstead –

2 VIKING SWIMMER SCORE POINTS AT STATE

Giving a voice to the smaller area schools of McPherson County and the Athletes they have….Our goal is to give them all some media love!!

Today we get the story and stats for the Smoky Valley Vikings and Lady Vikings basketball games on the road at Halstead on Tuesday.

We also get the story and numbers behind a pair of Viking swimmers who scored team points at the Class 5-1A State Swim Meet.

NEXT UP – Viking Basketball at Class 3A Sub-State in Russell.

VIKING SCORE 11

AT STATE 5-1A

SWIM MEET

By Staff

            LENEXA – After spending the regular season swimming in a co-op with the McPherson Bullpups, Smoky Valley swimmers Gabriel House and Tytus Reed were on  their own representing the Vikings at the Class 5-1A State Swim Meet and came home with 11 team points scored.

            The 11 points placed the Smoky Valley swimmers in 25th place out of 41 teams swimming at the state meet. Andover and Andover Central took first and second while Wichita Collegiate, Wichita Kapuan/Mt Carmel and Blue Valley Southwest rounded out the top five.

            For Smoky Valley, Tytus Reed was swimming in his fourth straight state swim meet and closed out his Viking swim career by finishing 10th in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 55.82 which earned the team seven points. Reed also placed 24th overall in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 59.30.

            Sophomore Gabriel House swam in two events, finishing 13th in the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:24.48, earning the Vikings their other four team points. House also swam in the 200 Freestyle and place 19th overall with a time of 1:58.79.

            Congrats to both Tytus Reed and Gabriel House for a season well done.

VIKINGS GET PAST

HALSTEAD BY 15

By Staff

            HALSTEAD – The Smoky Valley boys broke a four-game losing streak on Tuesday as they closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a 15-point, 66-51 road win at Halstead.

            Now 11-9 for the year and seeded sixth in the Class 3A Russell Sub-State, the Vikings will battle third seed Norton (13-7) on Tuesday, February 28 in their first round sub-state game. If Smoky Valley wins, they would then battle the winner of the game matching up second seeded Beloit (15-5) and seventh seed Hoisington (11-9) on Friday, March 3.  SE of Saline (19-1) is the top seed of the sub-state and they play eighth seed Phillipsburg (10-10) with fourth seed Russell (13-7) playing fifth seed Ellsworth (12-8) in the other game.

            Against Halstead, the Vikings took a slim, two-point, 17-15 lead into the second quarter where they extended their advantage to 12 at 34-22 heading into the halftime break. Coming out of the break, Halstead bounced back and chiseled the deficit down to just two at 47-47 before Smoky Valley powered up and outscored Halstead 19-6 in the final quarter to gain the final 15-point victory.

            Ki Blanchat led the Vikings in scoring with 20 thanks to connecting on five three-pointers while Karson Pihl scored a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists. Both Vincent Pickering and Kade Blanchat also reached double digits in the scorebook with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Gus Griffith did much of the work for Smoky Valley on the boards by grabbing seven rebounds and Kade Blanchat managed to block seven shots on the evening.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS at Halstead

SCORING: VIKINGS > 17-17-13-19 = 66;  Halstead > 15-7-23-6 = 51.

TEAM STATS: VIKINGS > 2-FGs – 16/26; 3-PTs – 8/19; FTs – 10/16; AST – 16; REBs – 25; TO – 11; STLs – 7; BLKs – 8; FLs – 9.  Halstead > 2-FGs – 13/32; 3-PTs – 7/17; FTs – 4/10; AST – 11; REBs – 27; TO – 14; STLs – 5; BLKs – 1; FLs – 14.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STATS: Scoring > Ki Blanchat – 20; Karson Pihl – 14; Vincent Pickering – 13; Kade Blanchat – 11; Gus Griffith – 6; Braxton House – 2.  3-Pointers Made > Ki Blanchat – 5; Pihl – 2; Pickering – 1.  Assists > Pihl – 11; Pickering – 2; House, Kade Blanchat, Ethan Able – 1.  Rebounds > Griffith – 7; Ki Blanchat, Pickering – 4; House, Kade Blanchat – 3; Able, Pihl – 2.  Steals > House – 3; Pihl – 2; Ki Blanchat, Pickering – 1.  Blocked Shots > Kade Blanchat – 7; Griffith – 1.

(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)

LADY VIKINGS STUMBLE

IN SEASON FINALE

AT HALSTEAD

By Staff

            HALSTEAD – Not the way they wanted the season to end, but 30 turnovers cost the Smoky Valley girls on the road Tuesday as they took a 20-point, 53-33 loss to Halstead.

            With the loss, the Lady Vikings conclude the 2022-23 regular season at 11-9. Smoky Valley will be the sixth seed at the Class 3A Russell Sub-State beginning on Monday, February 27 when they tangle with third seed Hoisington (12-8). If the Lady Vikings can win that first game of sub-state, they would then have to play the winner of the battle between second seeded SE of Saline (17-3) and seventh seed Beloit (4-16). Phillipsburg at 20-0 is the sub-state top seed and they will play eighth seed and host Russell (2-18) while the other game matches fourth seed Norton (12-9) and fifth seed Ellsworth (11-9).

            Smoky Valley trailed by six, 13-7 at the end of the first quarter and fell behind by 13 at 29-16 heading into the break at halftime. Halstead outscored the Lady Vikings 24-17 in the second half to earn their 20-point win over Smoky Valley.

            While both teams connected between 33-36% of their shots from the field, Halstead made six more three-pointers and were a perfect 12-for-12 at the free throw line.

            Individually, only Katja Blanchat reached double digits for the Lady Vikings as she scored 10 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Adrian Hazelwood just missed double digits in scoring with nine while grabbing six rebounds herself.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKINGS at Halstead

SCORING: LADY VIKINGS > 7-9-6-11 = 33;  Halstead > 13-16-11-13 = 53.

TEAM STATS: LADY VIKINGS > 2-FGs – 11/30; 3-PTs – 1/5; FTs – 8/16; AST – 5; REBs – 32; TO – 30; STLs – 8; BLKs – 6; FLs – 16.  Halstead > 2-FGs – 10/31; 3-PTs – 7/26; FTs – 12/12; AST – 11; REBs – 30; TO – 19; STLs – 14; BLKs – 2; FLs – 17.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING INDIVIDUAL STATS: Scoring > Katja Blanchat – 10; Adrian Hazelwood – 9; Sophia Fruits – 4; Clara McElroy – 3; Eva Malm – 3; Nevaeh Spitler – 2; Tinley Scott – 2.  3-Pointers Made > Malm – 1.  Assists > McElroy – 2; Blanchat, Scott, Breanne Peters – 1.  Rebounds > Blanchat – 9; Hazelwood – 6; McElroy, Scott – 5; Fruits – 2; Peters – 1.  Steals > Fruits, McElroy – 2; Blanchat, Hazelwood, Scott, Peters – 1.  Blocked Shots > Blanchat, Hazelwood – 2; Spitler, Peters – 1.

(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)