Chase boys deliver for son's first day on earth

Southern Valley's Carter Bose (left) and Chase County's Clay Meeske (right) tug for a rebound during the Longhorn victory in Imperial Tuesday evening.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

MPERIAL, Neb. — What a way to celebrate and finish Kallan Bartels’ first full day on crazy planet earth!

While coach Chris Bartels stayed with wife and new baby boy, his Chase County boys were bouncing through a 63-49 win over Southern Valley Tuesday night.

The Longhorns (7-5 record) stopped an eight-game Eagle win streak by following what Bartels “preaches” every day.

Chase County plays tight defense on Southern Valley's Colton Burgeon (left), though he still hit three times from beyond the arc at Imperial Tuesday night.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

Local minister Matt Maxwell should know — he stepped into Bartels’ role and enjoyed every winning moment.

“I gave up coaching when my kids started playing (at Chase) to enter the seminary and become a pastor,” Maxwell explained. “Now in the last year of my youngest boy (Cedric), I’ve had the opportunity and I’m thankful.”

“I love how this team cheers for each other,” he added. “They don’t care who does well — and that’s a reflection of coach Bartels.”

Son Cedric Maxwell made his usual great impact, scoring back-to-back layups which finished a 28-22 Chase County first half.

However — when the lane became crowded — every Longhorn selflessly spotted open teammates like sophomore Kade Anderson.

The result?

Anderson zipped five three-pointers through the nets in just seven attempts (71 percent!). He totaled 22 points to deal the returning Class D-1 state finalists only their second defeat all season (9-2).

“It was fun to see Kade get hot,” coach Maxwell confirmed. “He’s been real good at catch and shooting. Our guys did a good job of spotting who had the hot hand.”

Junior Keenan Cole added 14 points to this super performance.

The Longhorns have won four straight since a 62-60, double-overtime defeat to McCook on Dec. 30.

Southern Valley’s first loss since Dec. 5 still featured the dynamic duo of seniors Clayton Berry (21) and Carter Bose (15) teaming for 36 points.

Senior Colton Burgeson also bombed in a trio of three-point baskets.

Yet those other Eagles were limited to just four points total.

“Our plan was to put good pressure on everyone else and play good team defense against those two guys,” coach Maxwell explained. “We were pretty lackadaisical early, but start of the second quarter we started doing some things.” Chase moves on to host Perkins County tonight.

LONGHORNS (63) —Kade Anderson 22 points, Keenan Cole 14, Cedric Maxwell 12, Clay Meeske 9, Tysen Lempke 6. Three-pointers: Anderson 5, Meeske, Cole.

S.V. EAGLES (49) — Clayton Berry 21 points, Carter Bose 15, Colton Burgeson 9, Isaak McPhillamy 4. Three-pointers: Burgeson 3.