LINDSBORG, Kan. – The 2025 portion of the high school hoops schedule for Smoky Valley and Halstead wrapped up on Friday night. The Halstead girls used a big third quarter to pull away for a victory over Smoky Valley, while the Viking boys withstood a comeback from the Dragons behind a huge night from Kristian Ryan to stay unbeaten at home.
Girls-Halstead 49, Smoky Valley 27– Halstead, ranked #1 in the state according to the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, got out to a 9-4 lead after the first quarter and held a 22-14 lead at half. Their breakout came in the third quarter when they outscored Smoky Valley 17-8 to take a 17-point lead heading into the final quarter. A 10-5 advantage in the final frame led to the 22-point win in the end for the Dragons. Piper Schroeder led Halstead with 15 points, scoring eight of those during the big third quarter. Her sister Jordy Schroeder also hit double figures with 11 points. Smoky Valley got a career high 11 points from freshman Natalee Brown. Halstead moved to 6-0 overall while Smoky Valley is now 1-4.
Halstead – P. Schroeder 15, J. Schroeder 11, Bernal 9, Wills 7, Farmer 5, A. Williams 2
SV – Brown 11, Dudley 5, Ryan 4, Flax 2, Schrag 2, Whittaker 2, Leis 1
Boys- Smoky Valley 49, Halstead 42 – Both teams got off to a bit of a slow start offensively as Smoky Valley led just 8-4 after one quarter. Halstead scored the first seven points of the second quarter to take an 11-8 lead, but the Vikings answered with a 12-0 run of their own to go up 20-11 and stretched their lead to ten at 26-16 by halftime. The Dragons didn’t go away, though, outscoring Smoky Valley 20-10 in the third quarter to tie the game at 36 going into the fourth. Although the game was tied on a couple of occasions, Smoky Valley never trailed the rest of the game as Kristian Ryan capped off a career night with ten fourth quarter points, including a 6-8 mark from the free throw line, helping the Vikings to the seven-point win. Ryan, who was averaging just under 24 points per game entering the night, erupted for a career high 32 along with 21 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The 21 rebounds were also a career best. Sophomore guard Kaleb Burgardt also finished with a career high of 10 points for the Vikings, hitting a big three-point shot in the third quarter. Smoky Valley moved to 3-0 at home and is now 3-2 overall. Halstead fell to 3-4. They were led by Damian Whillock with 11 points.
Halstead – Whillock 11, Carmichael 9, Diaz 9, Hobbs 5, Brantley 3, Diehl 3, Healy 2
SV – Ryan 32, Burgardt 10, Olson 4, Pavlovich 2, Gengler 1
