On Tuesday night the Chanticleer boys opened with the 5th-seeded Ravenna Bluejays. The Chants would open a 6-point lead after the 1st quarter. “Even though we weren't shooting it well early our defense carried us for a while.” Coach Gates said after the game. The Chants would win the 2nd quarter by four and take a ten-point lead into the locker room. In the 2nd half, the Chants would build their lead gradually and ultimately pull ahead with a big run at the start of the 4th quarter to take a victory 59-43. “Blake Hinrichs led the Chants with 19 points and eight assists which was a career-high for Blake. Jordan Williams added 14 for the Chants and Talan Bruha added 12 points in the win.
The Chants advanced to take on top-seeded Doniphan Trumbull. The teams had met the previous week but this game started differently with the Chants only trailing by six after only by 12 after the 2nd quarter. “Our defense kept us in it but that just wasn’t enough for us to cut into their lead. In the 2nd half, the Cardinals would pull away from the Chants and take the victory 64-39 The Chants were led by Elijah Pollard with 17 points and was 6 of 6 from the field. Blake Hinrichs added 13 points.
In the consolation final, the Chants would take on two seed Central City. The game would start with a fairly quick pace and the Bison would take a 15-12 lead after the 1st. In the 2nd quarter, the Bison extended their lead to nine before the half. The Chants would be held to 3 points in the 3rd quarter but their defense held them in the game. in the 4th Chants would try to rally and cut the lead to seven twice. The Chants were unable to come back and fell 44-36 to the Bison. “We played well enough to win that game and our guys did a lot of good things we just didn’t make enough shots today.” Coach Gates said after. Jordan Williams led the Chants with 18 points and five rebounds. Talan Bruha added 11 points and Blake Hinrichs had eight rebounds for the Chants. The Chants will continue a large stretch of games with a make-up game on Monday at St. Paul followed by a game on Tuesday at home vs Broken Bow. Then traveling to O’Neill on Friday night.