HAVEN, Kan. – The Smoky Valley basketball teams were on the road on Friday night in Central Kansas League play. On the girls side, Haven jumped out to a ten-point lead after one and cruised to a big win. The boys contest came down to the wire, as Smoky Valley made the plays down the stretch for a five-point victory.
Girls-Haven 54, Smoky Valley 16– On paper, Haven already had the upper hand coming into the game on the girls side. However, with leading scorer and point guard Kenzley Haxton out due to injury for Smoky Valley, it was an uphill battle throughout the night for the Vikings. Haven took a 15-5 lead after the first quarter when Hallie Williams made her second three-pointer right before the buzzer. The Wildcats would stretch the lead to 26-9 by halftime and used a 20-1 third quarter to pull fully away. Avery Brawner scored 12 of the 20 points for the Wildcats in that third quarter, finishing with a game-high 24 on the night. She was the only double figure scorer for either team. With the win, Haven moved to 13-6 and 3-1 in the CKL, while Smoky Valley fell to 6-9 and 1-2 in the league.
SV – Brown 4, Ryan 3, Dudley 3, Patrick 2, Schrag 2, Whittaker 2
Haven – Brawner 24, DeFrain 8, Popp 6, Williams 6, Idacavage 4, Cooprider 2, Nikkel 2, O’Neal 2
Boys- Smoky Valley 44, Haven 39 – After a tough loss at home to Hoisington on Tuesday, the Vikings hit the road for a tough battle Friday night. Smoky Valley was without their second leading scorer Ty Heitschmidt, but for the most part, that did not hinder them. It was a back-and-forth game all night as Haven held a 12-10 lead after one. Brogan Wray scored the first nine points of the night for the Wildcats. Smoky Valley used an 11-7 second quarter to take a 21-19 lead at halftime.
Smoky Valley led 31-30 after three quarters. Atticus Pavlovich made a basket early in the fourth to put the Vikings up 33-30, but shortly after, Wray connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 33. On the next possession, Kristian Ryan converted a three-point play to put Smoky Valley back up by three and they would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game. Logan Jacques got the Wildcats within one at 40-39 after making his fifth three-pointer of the game, but the Vikings scored the final four points for the five-point win.
Smoky Valley is now 10-5 and 2-1 in the CKL. They were led by Ryan with 14 points and Braylon Olson tied a season-high with 13. Haven got a career-high 21 from Jacques and Wray finished with 12. The Wildcats fell below .500 at 9-10 overall and 2-2 in the league.
SV – Ryan 14, Olson 13, Griffith 6, Pavlovich 6, Anderson 5,
Haven – Jacques 21, Wray 12, Martin 3, Bontrager 2, Turner 1
