CHANUTE — Fully healthy for the first time in weeks, the Chanute Blue Comets boys blasted the Labette County Grizzlies, 68-45, on Friday night in SEK League action.
“This was a huge win,” Chanute head coach Devon Crabtree said. “It was one of our more complete games. If we take care of the ball, it’s even better. The guys executed our plan really well. The zone gave them trouble and we stuck with it to take their guards out. They’re liable to take quick shots and they did that. And we dominated the glass.”
The loss dropped Labette County behind the leaders in a jam-packed league field while Chanute kept pace.
“We didn’t play well on defense tonight,” Labette County head coach Bradley Argabright said. “Our attention to detail was poor. We didn’t do a good job boxing out and we let their shooters get going. We just didn’t get the job done. The second quarter really hurt us. We didn’t help ourselves out. We’ve got to put in a better effort.”
Warrick Olson led Chanute with 21 points, including 11 in the second quarter and 12 coming off four 3-pointers.
“Warrick had a great game. If he’s making shots, we’re tough to guard,” Crabtree said. “He can hit it from deep and his teammates find him. Anytime the shot clock gets late, our guys are looking for him.”
Barrett Hestand paced Labette County with 15 points.
“He had a good touch on the ball,” Argabright said. “He’s been shooting the ball confidently. Any given night, anybody can shoot the ball well. Tonight, it was Barrett. He’s always been a good scorer for us.”
Chanute’s win avenged an earlier loss to the Grizzlies this winter.
“We’ve changed things up offensively and it’s helped us,” Crabtree said. “We tried to attack their bigs and that got our guards looks. When Daniel (Stanley) is scoring, it gives everybody so many more looks.”
The Blue Comets got Lawrence Chaney back from injury, giving Chanute its full arsenal.
“We needed that immediate spark,” Crabtree said. “If we can get those minutes from those guys, it changes everything.”
Labette County has looked vulnerable the last two weeks, with close calls against Girard and Parsons plus double- digit losses to Independence and Chanute.
“It’s lapses in our attention to detail,” Argabright said. “We have stretches where we’re playing good basketball. But we’re having more stretches where we’re not keying in our assignments. We gave up too many buckets in transition. That’s not something we’ve done a lot this year. We’ve got to do a better job of stretching leads and going on runs. That starts with our defense.”
Chanute improved to 11-7 overall while Labette County dipped to 11-8.
Up next
Labette County hosts Fort Scott on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a big night,” Argabright said. “It’s Senior Night, so we want them to go out on a high note. Now, we’ve got to find a way to get better.”
Chanute hits the road to face Pittsburg on Tuesday, a rematch from an overtime loss this year.
“We’ve got to be ready for their zone and I’ve got to do a better job,” Crabtree said. “They threw us out of our rhythm. That’s the main thing we’ll talk about. We’ll figure out who we want to limit and who we want shooting the ball.”
