Ord Boys Defeat Centura 59-40
By: Kyle Campise
In the boys’ LouPlatte conference tournament quarterfinals, the Chants boys team went on the road, and came away with the win to advance to the Thursday evening semifinals where they will face the top seeded Wood River Eagles. Ord came in as the five seed, causing this to be a road game with the number four seed Centurions hosting the game. The games now all move to Centura for the remainder of the tournament.
The game was a rematch of their December 21st matchup at Centura, where the Centurions came away with the victory, 56-52. The only quarter Centura won on this night was the first quarter that ended with a 15-11 Centura lead. The Chants won the other three quarters, playing good defense, going on a strong offensive run, dominating the paint, and even winning the fourth quarter 16-5.
Head Coach Nick Gates had this to say after the game, “We started the game strong, and were able to build on that as the game went on.” He continued, “Our guys did a great job defensively and that carried us in the second half.”
Barrett Fries led Centura with 15 points, while Weston Kroeger added 10 points on the night. Landon Critel led the Chants in scoring with 17 points, while Jordan Williams added 16. Garret Severance had a hot hand from three-point land, going 2 for 3 from beyond the arc, and ending the night with six points. Williams along with Elijah Pollard added seven defensive rebounds apiece, while Williams also led the team in assists with four. The Chants as a team were also perfect from the free throw line on the evening.
Thursday night for the now 8-10 Chants against 14-5 Wood River will be a rematch of a tough loss for Ord 60-56 on January 28.
Chants Boys Finish 4th in LPC Tourney
By: Kyle Campise
After a first round LouPlatte Tournament Victory over four seed Centura, the fifth seed Chanticleers dropped two straight games in the tournament to finish fourth overall.
Thursday night’s matchup was a rematch of a 60-56 overtime game last Tuesday, where the Chanticleers lost on the road to Wood River. The Chanticleers played good aggressive defense on the night, and drove the lane well against the Eagles, but the shots just didn’t seem to fall for them. The Chants only shot 30% in the first half. Ord kept things close, and at the half, Wood River led the game 21-16.
In the second half, the Chants shooting improved a little, but the Eagles offensive rebounding hurt Ord, along with some unfortunate and untimely turnovers by the Ord offense. With all these things combined, Wood River ended up with the 54-49 victory, moving the boys’ record to 8-11. This is the third loss in the last four games for the Chants.
In this game, Landon Critel went 8 for 15 from the filed en route to putting in 19 points offensively, a career high at Ord for this young man. Elijah Pollard was also in double figures in scoring, adding 11.
This set up a battle with Central City for the 3rd place matchup on Saturday at Centura, with the loser of the contest taking 4th in conference.
Central City jumped out of the gate quickly, taking a ten-point lead after one quarter. The Chanticleers won the second quarter in points scored, but that was the only quarter they were able to score more than the Bison. The contest ended with a 67-45 victory for Central City, pushing the Chanticleers to a fourth-place conference tournament placing.
Jordan Williams was the only Chanticleer to reach double figures in scoring in this game with 11 points. He was perfect from the free throw line, but along with his other teammates, struggled from the field, only going 3 for 11. Overall, the Chants only shot 28% from the field on the night, not near enough made baskets to defeat a talented Central City squad. The loss dropped the Chants to a record of 8-12 on the year. They will next have two home games this week, taking on the 6-13 Broken Bow Indians on Tuesday, then the 8-10 O’Neill Eagles on Friday for a Valentine’s Day matchup.