The Chanticleer boys' basketball team opened their season by hosting the Ainsworth Bulldogs. The game started with a flash for the Chants with them jumping out to a 6-0 lead. “We did a good job of attacking them early.” Coach Gates said after the game. The Bulldogs would respond and take a 16-11 lead after the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter would see the teams play pretty much even with Ainsworth winning the quarter 18-15. In the 2nd half, the Chants would go cold from the field and the Bulldogs would gradually pull away from the Chants for a 67-48 victory. “We didn’t carry that momentum from the start well and didn’t attack like we needed to in the 2nd half.” Coach Gates said after the game. Gates added, “There are many good things to build off of from this game considering we have been practicing as a team for 5 days.” The Chants were led by Elijah Pollard with 18 points and Garret Severance and Blake Hinrichs each added nine for the Chants.
On Saturday afternoon the Chants traveled to Central City to take on the Bison. The Chants started cold but were able to rally and found themselves down by five at the end of the 1st. In the 2nd quarter the Chants were able to cut the deficit to one before a late run by Central City would stretch it to a 27-21 point lead at halftime. “We played a really good half and ran out of gas a little bit at the end of the 2nd quarter but that was a good half for us. Coach Gates said. In the 2nd half, the Chants would go cold like the night before and Central City would only miss two shots in the 3rd quarter to break away for a 71-31 victory. The Chants were led by Elijah Pollard with eight points. Blake Hinrichs and Talan Bruha each added five for the Chants. The Chants will travel to West Holt on Tuesday before taking on Kearney Catholic at home on Friday night.
