HALSTEAD, Kan. – The Smoky Valley Vikings hit the road for the first and last time in the 2024 portion of the high school basketball schedule, falling to Halstead in both girls and boys action on Friday night. The Halstead girls opened with a 19-0 lead, while Braxton Creed hit the 1,000 career point mark in the Dragons’ win.
Girls-Halstead 50, Smoky Valley 32 – After Halstead jumped out to a 19-0 lead after the first quarter, the Vikings did get their offense going. However, the Dragons outscored them 19-12 in the second quarter and held a 38-12 lead at half. Halstead shot a blistering 7-14 from beyond the three-point line in the first half. Smoky Valley held the Dragons to just six points in each the third and fourth quarters, but the deficit was too much to overcome in the 18-point loss. Kaci Young led Halstead with 16 points as they finished the first semester at 6-0 and 2-0 in the CKL. Kat Blanchat was in double figures for the fourth time in four games for the Vikings with 12 points.
SV – Blanchat 12, Boughfman 9, Haxton 6, Ryan 3, Debaere 2
Halstead – K. Young 16, Schutte 8, Bernal 7, P. Schroeder 6, Wills 5, Nedich 3, J. Schroeder 3, Williams 2
Boys-Halstead 69, Smoky Valley 57 – Entering Friday night’s game with 996 career points, Braxton Creed needed less than two minutes of game action to hit 1,000 for his career for Halstead. However, Smoky Valley tried to steal the show, as they held a 32-23 lead late in the first half behind 18 points from Ty Heitschmidt, who matched his career high in just 16 minutes of play. The Dragons would not go away quietly, though, scoring two baskets before the end of the first half and extending their run to 30-6 into the third quarter. A 28-14 edge in the third was the difference in the 12-point win. Creed finished with 21 for Halstead, while Kohen Corona led the Dragons with 23 points. Keaston Shields finished with 12. Heitschmidt tied Corona for game high honors, leading the Vikings with 23. Braylon Olson chipped in a career high 13 for Smoky Valley as well. The Vikings are 0-4 and 0-2 in the CKL, while the Dragons moved to 4-2 and 1-1.
SV – Heitschmidt 23, Olson 13, Pavlovich 7, Anderson 6, Gengler 4, Dankenbring 3, Griffith 1
Halstead – Corona 23, Creed 21, Shields 12, Millspaugh 7, Diehl 6
