VIKINGS BEAT LYONS 53-50 in OVERTIME

Blanchat scores 18

By Staff

STERLING – On Friday, the Smoky Valley boys earned their second win of the season with a three-point, 53-50, overtime win over Lyons at the Sterling Tournament.

Now 2-6 for the season, the Vikings will battle with Hutchinson Trinity (3-5) for fifth place at the tournament.

Lyons held a one-point, 8-9, lead after the first quarter and led the Vikings by five, 17-22, as the teams went to the halftime break.

Smoky Valley came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter as they put 26 points on the board while Lyons had just 13, giving the Vikings an 11-point, 43-32, lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Unfortunately, as hot as they were in the third quarter, the Vikings went  cold in the fourth and scored just two points as Lyons powered back to tie the game at 45-45 when the final buzzer went off. The Vikings then hit several key free throws to earn the final three-point overtime victory.

Some of the key team stats giving the slim advantage  to Smoky Valley include making 20 steals on defense while forcing Lyons to make 26 turnovers and hitting on 11-of-15 free throws.

Ki Blanchat led the Vikings in scoring with 18 points while both Taylor Campbell and Ty Heitschmidt both reached double digits as well with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Campbell had quick hands-on defense by making a team high eight steals and both he and Heitschmidt lead the team on the boards with each grabbing five rebounds.

SMOKY VALLEY VIKING BOYS BASKETBALL vs. Lyons

At Sterling Tournament

SCORING > Vikings won 53-50 in overtime (2-6)

Vikings > 8-9-26-2-8 = 53; Lyons > 9-13-10-13-5 = 50.

TEAM STATS >

Vikings > 2-FGs = 15/36; FTs = 11/15; 3-PTs = 4/12; ASSTs = 6; REBs (Off/Def) > 26 (9/17); STLs = 20; BLKs = 1; TOs = 16; FLs = 13.

Lyons > 2-FGs = 14/27; FTs = 4/7; 3-PTs = 6/24; ASSTs = 13; REBs (Off/Def) > 33 (14/19); STLs = 9; BLKs = 5; TOs – 26; FLs = 21.

VIKING INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS >

Scoring (53) > Ki Blanchat – 18; Taylor Campbell – 13; Ty Heitschmidt – 12; Braylon Olson – 7; Mason Holcom – 3. 3-Pointers Made (4) > Blanchat – 2; Olson/Holcom – 1.

Assists (6) > Campbell – 4.

Rebounds (26) > Heitschmidt/Campbell – 5; Samuel Peterson – 4; Blanchat – 3; Holcom/Kristian Ryan/Nolan Moore – 2.

Steals (20) > Campbell – 8; Blanchat – 5; Olson/Ryan – 2.

Blocked Shots (1) > Campbell – 1.

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