DENVER | Given the tough schedule he’d lined up for his Smoky Hill boys basketball team, coach Keenon Clement sat back and enjoyed his team’s performance Friday afternoon at the Pepsi Center.
Though the win-loss record still doesn’t look pretty for the Buffs at 5-10, they’ve created some momentum at the start of Centennial League play and won for the third time in the past four games with a 61-40 victory over Mullen on the Denver Nuggets’ home floor.
Senior Alex Elkin led Smoky Hill with a career-high 17 points — many coming off feeds in the paint from teammates and sophomore Shae Wyatt poured in 12 points to spark a 25-point first quarter for the Buffs, who also got eight from senior Dmitri Newson.
Elkin was selected as the game’s most valuable player and was honored at midcourt during the Nuggets game.
Smoky Hill opened a 16-point lead with that big opening quarter and managed to keep a comfortable margin the rest of the way. Defensively, the Buffs did a fine job slowing Mustangs’ leading scorer Nathan Davis, who finished with 11 points, 10 below his season average.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
SMOKY HILL 61, MULLEN 40
Score by quarters:
Smoky Hill 25 7 20 8 — 61
Mullen 9 10 10 12 — 40
SMOKY HILL (61)
Shae Wyatt 7 0-1 16, Dalontae Kelly 1 3-4 5, Octavian Walker 2 0-2 4, Alex Elkin 7 3-3 16, Jordan Correy 3 0-2 6, Malik Seals-Pompey 0 0-1 0, Dmitri Newson 3 1-2 8, Kyle Colen 0 2-4 2, Joe Kriner 0 3-4 3, Nik Sutherland 0 0-0, Kendrick Sipple 0 0-0 0, Jarrell Ganaway 0 0-0 0, Hunter Allen 0 0-0 0, Will Becker 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-23 61.
MULLEN (40)
Trey Boeyink 0 2-2 2, Aaron Boyd 1 3-5 5, Nathan Davis 3 5-7 11, Jack Erdle 1 7-8 9, Vince Debartolomeis 2 1-3 5, Matteo Bushnado 1 4-5 6, Mitch Erdle 0 2-4 2, Chris Rush 0 2-2 2, Jack Horvath 0 0-0 0, Jared Bourgain 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 26-36 40.
3-point field goals — Smoky Hill (3): Shae Wyatt 2, Dmitri Newson; Total fouls — Smoky Hill 27, Mullen 19. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Mullen: Bench.
