On Tuesday the Chants opened up conference tournament play with a game against Arcadia-Loup City. The game started with Arcadia Loup City taking a 10-8 lead. The Chants were able to respond with a 8-0 run in the 2nd quarter to take a 21-14 lead at the end of the 2nd quarter. The Chants would stretch the lead to nine by the end of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter the Chants would open up a fifteen point lead and never look back to get a 51-34 victory. Solomon Campise led the Chants with 19 points. Hayden Grint added 15 points and nine rebounds. Zach Smith had eight points and seven rebounds in the win. “This was a nice win for us and to play well in the first round of the tournament was good to see.” Coach Gates.
On Thursday, the Chants had a rematch from a week before with the number one seeded Doniphan Trumbull Cardinals. The Chants were able to take a one point lead after the first quarter. In the 2nd quarter the Chants would take a eight point lead before the Cardinals responded with a 13-0 run before half to take a five point lead. Capped off with a 3 points buzzer beater. “That was a big run by them and we just did not convert on either end of the floor during that run.” Coach Gates said. The Chants would fall behind by 10 in the 3rd quarter before rallying to cut the lead to two at the end of the 3rd. The Chants could never get over the hump and the Cardinals were able to hold on for a 46-40 win. The Chants were led by Zach Smith with 14 points. Hayden Grint added 12 points seven rebounds and nine blocks.
Saturday the Chants took on number two seed Centura in the consolation final of the Conference Tournament. The game turned out to be a good one. With both teams improving on their performances from Thursday. With the score being 28-28 at half. Centura would take a 6 point lead before the Chants would cut the lead to two before the end of the 3rd. In the 4th quarter the Chants would go cold to start the quarter and fall behind by 10 with 3 minutes left. Then the Chants would heat up from the field. They would cut the lead but it would be too little too late when a ¾ shot by Zach Smith went in but it was 0.2 seconds late and Centura was able to hold on for a 57-54 victory. “We played well tonight but we just had a few lulls vs a good team and you can’t have those in a tournament situation.” Coach Gates said. “However, I am really proud of our effort and we had some guys step up on the defensive end as the game went on including Stetson Bredthauer and Riley Warner.” Solomon Campise led the Chants with 25 points. Zach Smith added nine points. Hayden Grint had 10 points but also added 18 rebounds for the Chants. The Chants will have two games next week going to Broken Bow Tuesday before hosting O’Neill on Friday Night.