Over the Christmas Break, the Chant Boys basketball team traveled to Sidney for the Sidney holiday tournament. On the Opening night the Chants opened up with the Mitchell Tigers which was the first game since a tough loss to Centura before the break for the Chants. The Chants came out quickly vs the Tigers. The Chants were able to jump out to an 11 point lead by halftime. In the 2nd half the Tigers would try to chip away at the Chant lead but Chants would seal the win with two Blake Wells 3’s late in the 4th quarter to win 51-40. The Chants were led by Will Grint and John DeRiso with 13 points each. DeRiso added nine rebounds in the Chant victory.
On the 2nd day the Chants took on host Sidney. Sideny came into the game with one loss on the year. Early in the game the Chants played inspired defense but were unable to convert on the offensive end. “We played really well on the defensive end of the floor but we just didn’t convert our good looks early.” Coach Gates said. The Chants found themselves only down by 4 at half 17-13. However a slow start in the 2nd half would allow Sidney to pull away from the Chants and go on to a final score of 29-56. The Chants were led by Will Grint with nine points.
To conclude the tournament the Chants played McCook. The game featured an offensive explosion by both teams. “We really bounced back offensively today. Coach Gates said. The Chants scored as many points in the 1st half as they did the day before. The Chants were 7-10 shooting three-pointers in the 1st half from a slew of guys including Blake Hinrichs, Cade Geiser, Calen Pollard, and John DeRiso. The Chants found themselves down 34-30 at half. The Bison opened with a 7-0 run to start the half and the Chants could never get the lead back to under five. “Their two runs at the end of the half and the start of the 2nd half were the difference today.” Coach Gates said. The Bison would pull away for a final of 65-48. The Chants were led by Blake Hinrichs with 14 points. John DeRiso added 11 points and Will Grint added 9 points. “Overall we played some really quality competition out here and its going to make us better it also gave us a chance to bond as a team.” Coach Gates said. “It would have been great to get another victory or two out here and we had our chances but our guys got a great experience out of this.”