Chase takes down D-1 top five Eagles

Chase County’s Cedric Maxwell (left) defeats all the traffic while driving in for two more points during Tuesday’s 59-51 win over Southern Valley at the Graff Events Center. S.V. Eagles junior Carter Bose (23) tries to contest the shot while teammate Colton Burgeson (4) moves closer.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. —Class C-1’s smallest basketball school loves lighting up big arenas like the Graff Events Center.

“I like our chances in any class this year,” coach Chris Bartels proclaimed after Chase County hit 10 three-pointers during a 59-51 win over Class D-1 No. 5 Southern Valley Tuesday night.

“Why? Because this team loves to share the ball,” Bartels added about his 8-1 team. “They don’t care who scores, as long as it’s Chase County. Not a lot of teams are like that.”

Junior Mason Nordhausen was more Skittles than Marshawn Lynch with his “rainbow” three-pointers so perfect that they barely touched net until zipping through its bottom strands.

“Mason’s a great three-point shooter and when he gets hot like that,” Bartels said. “There’s not much you can do. It’s fun.”

Yet just when one “gym rat” seemed ready to score 40 like James Harden, other Longhorns joined this long-range fun.

Junior Cedrick “Cornbread” Maxwell was baking whether he attacked inside or outside the paint while totaling 14 points.

Seniors Bennett Bauerle (12 points) and Kobe Clevenger (10) also kept the Eagles from ever targeting just one shooter.

The Longhorns kept hitting clutch shots much like last year’s 53-42 victory on this same Graff Events Center floor.

“We like playing here. It helps us for (SPVA) conference next week where we play in bigger gyms like North Platte,” Bartels explained.

Junior Brody Yant’s game-high 21 points led a respectable S.V. Eagle performance. They drilled five threes which means these two teams combined for 15 triples.

Eagle senior Draden Best capped his splendid 11-point fourth quarter with a trifecta at the final buzzer.

“Give Southern Valley credit. They just keep getting better,” Bartels concluded. “I hope they can go far in D-1.”

LONGHORNS (59) — Mason Nordhausen 18 points, Cedric Maxwell 14, Bennett Bauerle 12, Kobe Clevenger 10, Taylor Jablonski 3, Clay Meeske 2. Three-pointers: Nordhausen 5, Bauerle 2, Clevenger, Maxwell, Jablonski.

S.V. EAGLES (51) — Brody Yant 21 points, Draden Best 13, Beau Baily 6, Clayton Berry 5, Jaden Quinn 4, Carter Bose 2. Three-pointers: Yant 3, Bose 2.