LINDSBORG, Kan. – The Smoky Valley Vikings opened their season on Tuesday night with a non-conference doubleheader against Southeast of Saline. Kristian Ryan had a career night with 28 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Vikings to a 66-57 win over the Trojans. In the girls contest, Southeast opened strong and finished with a 57-28 victory.
Girls-Southeast of Saline 57, Smoky Valley 28 – Smoky Valley took a 4-2 lead early, but Southeast of Saline went on a 12-1 run to finish the first quarter and take a 16-5 lead after one. They extended their lead to 27-11 by halftime and had a 47-21 lead after three on their way to the 29-point win. Reese Heinrich scored a game-high 16 for the Trojans, shooting 4-8 from three-point land. Two other Trojans were in double figures as Taryn Goetz had 12 off the bench and Kyiah Samuelson added 10. Kenzley Haxton led the Vikings with seven points in the loss.
SES – Heinrich 16, Goetz 12, Samuelson 10, Duran 6, Pearson 6, Douglas 3, Durfee 2, Smith 2
SV – Haxton 7, Dudley 5, Eyer 5, Brown 3, Schrag 3, Flax 2, Whittaker 2, Ryan 1
Boys-Smoky Valley 66, Southeast of Saline 57 – In a back and forth game, Southeast of Saline led 11-9 after the first quarter, but Braylon Olson connected on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to cut the lead down to two. Kristian Ryan scored 10 of his 12 first half points in the second quarter, helping the Vikings to a 21-17 advantage in the frame and a 30-28 halftime lead. Southeast of Saline came out hot, scoring the first nine points of the second half to take a seven point lead, but Smoky Valley weathered the storm, trailing by just four after three. Southeast extended their lead back to seven early in the fourth, but the Vikings went on a 9-0 run to take a 47-46 lead. The game was tied at 53 and Smoky Valley finished 13-4 down the stretch. Ryan capped his night with a career high 28 points and added 14 rebounds for a double-double. He scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone. Fellow senior Ty Heitschmidt also had a big fourth quarter, scoring eight of his 17 points in the final stanza. For Southeast of Saline, Tiernan Ptacek tallied a career high of 24 points with four three-point makes and Hendrix Lund also made four threes and finished with 16 points.
SES – Ptacek 24, Lund 16, Lilley 8, Kejr 6, Sawyers 2, Thiel 1
SV – Ryan 28, Heitschmidt 17, Olson 8, Anderson 5, Pavlovich 5, Gengler 3
