Luke Walsh, Eddie Smajic lead Vianney basketball past Springfield Central at Norm Stewart Classic

Walsh, Smajic combine for 41 points in 73-67 win

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – After opening the season with a win in its season-opening tournament, the Vianney basketball team had to wait more than a week to play again.

Luke Walsh, Eddie Smajic and the Griffins didn’t show any signs of rust from the early layoff.

Walsh and Smajic combined for 41 points and Vianney got key contributions from its bench in an impressive 73-67 victory over Springfield Central in the Norm Stewart Classic on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

“I think it’s a really good win for us,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said. “I have a lot of respect for Springfield Central. They had a great win last weekend over Staley. They are held in really high regard throughout the state. I thought they were really tough, athletic and physical. I loved how our guys responded to that. I thought we made big plays in the third and fourth quarter to really push the lead and then kept our composure late to close it out. It was a good win for us.”

Vianney, which hadn’t played since defeating Hazelwood Central 66-60 on December 1, is off to a 4-0 start after going 15-14 and 14-15 the previous two seasons.

“We knew coming into this one it was going to be a big challenge,” said Luke Walsh, the coach’s son. “They are really good. They beat Staley by 30 the other week. It’s definitely going to give us some momentum going into the MCC.”

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The Golden Griffins were led by their trio of Division I prospects — Luke Walsh, Smajic and 7-foot-3 sophomore center Symon Ghai – as well as senior guard Teddy Ochs (six assists) and sophomore guard Ben Karsten (10 points off the bench).

Luke Walsh, a 6-2 junior guard who recently surpassed 1,000 career points, finished with a game-high 22 points on seven-of-13 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and was named the game’s most valuable player.

Known as one of the top shooters in the Show-Me State, Walsh has improved his all-around game going into his junior season. He’s averaging 24.3 points per game through four contests after scoring 18.5 per game as a sophomore.

“I think he’s much better off the dribble,” Kevin Walsh said. “I think he’s aggressive going to the basket. He’s able to finish in the paint more. I think he’s really stepped up his on-the-ball defense. He’s probably tagged as a shooter, but I really think if you watch he’s becoming a complete basketball player.”

Smajic, a 6-5 sophomore guard, scored 19 points on seven-of-12 shooting, with two 3-pointers. Ghai had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.

“We really like our depth,” said Kevin Walsh, whose team led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter. “We think we have good depth and we can kind of wear teams down from time to time. Our guys that came off the bench were really big. We had a nice run when Eddie and Luke were both out with four fouls. Guys came in, Brock made a 3, Ben Karsten had a nice drive and finish. I didn’t think we fell off very much when we got some of our starters out.”

Despite trailing by five points early, Vianney led 15-9 after one quarter and 35-26 at halftime. Central outscored Vianney 19-18 in the third quarter and then 22-20 in the fourth.

Four games into the season – and four victories – the Griffins have shown signs of progress.

“We’ve got a lot of growing still to do,” the elder Walsh said. “Against Hazelwood Central last Friday and Springfield Central tonight we’ve been in games where we’ve had leads and had to maintain them and play with some composure and I thought we’ve done a nice job in both games. That’s good growth for us.”

Springfield Central (1-2), which is coming off a 15-10 campaign a year ago, had four players in double figures on Saturday.

Keion Epps led the Bulldogs with team-high 20 points, including two 3-pointers, and added six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Tyrique Brooks scored 15 points, while Bryce Walker added 11 points and six rebounds and Jordan Pittman added 10 points off the bench. 

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Vianney - Springfield Central boys basketball

Photos from Nate Latsch

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz