AURORA | Down double-digits after it was carved up by Valor Christian for 22 points in the third quarter, the Smoky Hill boys basketball team was on the ropes Monday night.
The Buffaloes refused to give in, however, and roared back to tie the game in the closing seconds before senior Kevin Sylla banked in a baseline layup as time expired to give them a thrilling 70-68 come-from-behind victory over the Eagles in a high-powered Class 6A matchup.
Junior Kaylan Graham scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the final quarter — all 10 coming in a row — and Sylla had seven of his 13 as coach Anthony Hardin’s Smoky Hill team improved to 8-3. Junior Lorenzo Contreras added 10 points and assisted on the winning basket, while junior Damian Dirden chipped in nine.
The Buffaloes knocked down 11 3-pointers in the game, which was two more than the Eagles (9-2), who had two players score 20 or more points in senior Eli Kim (20) and junior Cole Scherer (22).
Valor Christian gained separation on several occasions, only to see Smoky Hill come back.
The Buffaloes trailed 8-0 with just 1 minute, 10 seconds, gone in the first quarter, but ended the period up 17-15. The Eagles built an eight-point edge in the second quarter, which was whittled to five at the break, but got built back up to 12 after three quarters as they worked hard on the glass and shared the ball for easy baskets.
The advantage stood at 14 points with four minutes left before Smoky Hill ended the game on a 12-0 run in the last 3-plus minutes.
Graham drained 3-pointers from opposite sides of the court — the second of which came after a Sylla block on a shot by Valor Christian’s Brady Wynja — then made a layup, which was followed by a midcourt steal and uncontested layup by Contreras to tie the game at 68-68 with a minute left.
An offensive foul for a moving screen stopped the Eagles’ possession with a chance to go ahead, which gave the Buffaloes possession with 6.8 seconds left. Contreras received the inbounds pass in the back court, jetted past his defender into the paint to draw the defense, where he dished to an open Sylla for the game-winning layup.
Smoky Hill returns to play on Jan. 13 with a road game at Pueblo South (4-6).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
SMOKY HILL 70, VALOR CHRISTIAN 68
Score by quarters:
Valor Christian 15 21 22 10 — 68
Smoky Hill 17 14 15 24 — 70
VALOR CHRISTIAN (68)
Cole Scherer 9 0-0 22, Eli Kim 7 2-2 20, Ryan Dixon 3 2-2 9, Brady Wynja 3 2-4 8, Ryan Mandes 0 0-0 0, Carter Hutchinson 2 3-4 7, Ryan Oblachinski 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 10-14 68.
SMOKY HILL (70)
Carter Basquez 2 0-0 5, Lorenzo Contreras 4 0-0 10, Ray Gasaway 2 0-0 5, Kaylan Graham 8 4-6 24, Kevin Sylla 6 1-2 13, Damian Dirden 3 0-0 9, Jaylen Brown 2 0-0 4, Marquilos Mata 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 5-8 70.
3-point field goals — Valor Christian (9): Eli Kim 4, Cole Scherer 4, Ryan Dixon. Smoky Hill (11): Kaylan Graham 4, Damian Dirden 3, Lorenzo Contreras 2, Carter Basquez, Ray Gasaway. Total fouls — Valor Christian 13, Smoky Hill 14. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
