The Smith Center Redmen lost against the Norton Bluejays back in February of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Smith Center took a 58-45 hit to the loss column at the hands of Norton. Smith Center has not had much luck with Norton recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Despite the loss, Smith Center still got an impressive performance from Wyatt Overmiller, who scored 19 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Overmiller has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Ean Doane, who scored eight points along with two steals.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Norton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Eli Jones, who scored 25 points along with seven rebounds. Jones is crushing the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Roman Hauser was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds and five assists.
Smith Center's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 7-10. As for Norton, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 14-3.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Smith Center will challenge Russell at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in Kansas (Russell is ranked 244th, while Smith Center is ranked 257th). As for Norton, they will head out on the road to take on Trego at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Norton is facing Trego at the right time seeing as Trego is stuck on a four-game losing streak.
