CHANUTE — Ending the regular season with an outright SEK League title — the first for the school since 2003 — the Chanute Blue Comets boys dominated the Parsons Vikings, 60-38, on Thursday night.
Blowing the game open in the third quarter, Chanute, which lost to Independence earlier in the week, turned a 22-16 halftime advantage into a 4722 one.
“It was a great response after our first loss in months,” Chanute head coach Devon Crabtree said. “We just defended really well in the second half. It was a great effort and a great job the guys did executing. It starts with our defense leading to great offense. That’s how our team works.”
Landen Bilby led Chanute with 17 points while Joe Keal paced the Vikings with nine points.
For Parsons, it was the second loss in a row to end the regular season after the Vikings fell at Coffeyville last Monday.
“We knew it was going to be tough playing on the road at two top teams in the state,” Parsons head coach Anthony Houk said. “But I liked the way our team played at times. We guarded and competed well against Chanute in the first half. But then we just missed some easy shots and just broke. It was a tale of two halves. Chanute wanted it more than we did in that second half.”
Rebounding disparity fueled Chanute throughout the night — the Blue Comets outrebounded the Vikings 31-25.
“That’s something we struggled with the last two games,” Houk said. “We gave up 20 offensive boards to Coffeyville and lost by two. That’s why Chanute went on their run. We’d guard like crazy and get the shot clock down to the horn, but then they get a putback. That’s something we have to do better in sub-state.”
The win for Chanute was a bounceback opportunity heading into the postseason.
“Obviously we want to win every game, but it was nice to reflect after a loss,” Crabtree said. “When you’re on a win streak like we were on, you can get blind to some of your weaknesses. It gave us an opportunity to fix some things heading into sub-state.”
Chanute also won the SEK League title outright. The loss to Independence was the lone league defeat the Blue Comets suffered.
“We’ve been close the last few years. It’s really exciting for the kids with all the effort and time they’ve put in,” Crabtree said. “I’m really happy they can put a banner on the wall.”
Up next
Chanute faces Wamego in the first round of sub-state on Tuesday. The Blue Comets are the No. 3 seed on the east side of Class 4A, meaning they have the right to host both sub-state contests en route to a state tournament berth.
“Our draw doesn’t matter, there’s always going to be some tough matchups,” Crabtree said. “Our mindset will be the same. Nobody thought we’d beat Sunrise earlier this year, except us. That’s our mindset. Now, it’s just about the next game.”
As for Parsons, the No. 8 seed, it’ll host Eudora on Tuesday. The winner of that game faces the winner of top-seeded Ottawa and No. 16 Labette County.
“It’s been peaks and valleys during this season, but overall, our seniors have done a great job leading,” Houk said. “There’s a lot of teams in the state that’d be happy being 12-8. But I hope our guys aren’t satisfied with that. We want more.”
