On Friday night the Chanticleer boys basketball team opened its season by traveling to Ainsworth to take on the Bulldogs and the Chants jumped out on the Bulldogs to take 8-1 lead. The Chants would finish the first quarter with a 13-10 lead. The Chants would lose the lead once in the 2nd quarter but once they took it back they would never lose it again. The Chants would go on a run in the last two minutes of the 1st half to take an eight point advantage into the locker room. In the 2nd half the Chants would build their lead to as much as 20 before cruising to a 59-45 win. “We haven't had a lot of time to get ready for this first weekend and I am really happy how we played tonight” Coach Gates said. “We got a lot of good minutes off the bench tonight and that was a big factor for us to be able to pull away.” Gates added. Ten of the eleven Chants that played scored a bucket in the game. The Chants were led by Quinton Ries who had 13 points and 17 rebounds in the win. Zach Smith also had 13 points. Blake Wells added 9 and Cade Geiser added 8 in the Chant win.
On Saturday night, the roles got reversed on the Chants against the Central City Bison. The Bison jumped out on the Chants to take a 9-0 lead before the Chants got their first bucket. The Bison would run their advantage to 17 before the Chants cut the lead to 10 multiple times in that 2nd quarter and again in the 3rd quarter. “We came out slow and that put us in a hole we just couldn't dig out of. Coach Gates said. “I liked that we cut into the deficit multiple times but we just weren't able to close that gap enough.” The Bison were able to close the game out and defeat the Chants 60-43. Quinton Ries had 11 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Zach Smith scored nine points for the Chants. The Chants will host West Holt on Tuesday before traveling to play number 2 ranked Kearney Catholic on Friday night.