LINDSBORG, Kan. – The Smoky Valley and Hoisington basketball teams were back into league play on Tuesday night. In the girls contest, Hoisington pulled away in the second half for a 15-point win. On the boys side, the Cardinals overcame a ten-point deficit in the early part of the second half, winning by ten in the end.
Girls-Hoisington 45, Smoky Valley 30– Hoisington got off to a hot start, getting out of the gates with a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. Smoky Valley did not go quietly into the night, though. The Vikings had the lead down to 19-13 by halftime. However, their leading scorer and point guard Kenzley Haxton went down early in the second quarter with an injury and never returned. Without Haxton on the floor, offense seemed hard to come by. Hoisington steadily pulled away, getting multiple baskets late in the game for the 15-point victory in the end. The Cardinals had three players in double figures, led by Addi Hanzlick with 14 points, which was a new career high. Her previous career high was 13 against Smoky Valley in Hoisington in January. Marley Bittel and Tianna Lutters each scored 11 in the win for Hoisington, which improved to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the Central Kansas League. Smoky Valley’s scoring was spread out as Natalee Brown, Illie DeBaere, Grace Dudley and Kamryn Ryan all scored six points each. Smoky Valley’s four game win streak came to a close as they are now 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the CKL.
Hoisington – Hanzlick 14, Bittel 11, Lutters 11, Maier 6, Beck 2, Aylward 1
SV – Brown 6, DeBaere 6, Dudley 6, Ryan 6, Haxton 2, Schrag 2, Whittaker 2
Boys- Hoisington 47, Smoky Valley 37 – After a bit of a back-and-forth start, Smoky Valley took a 14-8 lead after the first quarter and stretched it to eight by halftime at 25-17. Early in the third quarter, the Vikings had extended their lead to ten at 29-19, but from that point, offense was hard to come by, and Hoisington went on a run. By the time the third quarter had ended, the game was tied at 31. Smoky valley led 34-33 in the fourth quarter when the Cardinals scored nine straight points to take an eight-point lead. Smoky Valley got a three-pointer from Kristian Ryan to cut the lead to five, but Hoisington was able to make free throws down the stretch for the ten-point victory.
Much like the first meeting in Hoisington, which the Cardinals won 39-38, the Vikings held Hoisington’s leading scorer Mason Martin in check in the first half. Coming in averaging 21.1 points per game, Martin was held to a single free throw in the first half. He broke free in the second half, though, scoring nine points in the third and another eight in the fourth to lead the Cardinals with 18 points. Drew Hekele came off the bench due to early foul trouble for Marcus Ingram, scoring seven points in the first quarter and finishing with a career high nine. Hoisington has now won seven straight over Smoky Valley as they moved to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in the CKL. Ryan tied for game-high scoring honors with Martin, adding 18 points of his own. Ty Heitschmidt was also in double figures with 12 points. The loss marked the first one of the season at home for the Vikings. They are now 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the CKL.
Hoisington – Martin 18, Hekele 9, Ingram 9, Crawford 4, Gruis 3, Merlau 2, Pfannenstiel 2
SV – Ryan 18, Heitschmidt 12, Olson 5, Pavlovich 2
