ALTAMONT — Tucker Rush’s last-second layup lifted the Labette County Grizzlies boys past the Chanute Blue Comets, 49-47, on Tuesday night in SEK League play.
“I thought we played a complete game and really came out of the break hungry,” Labette County head coach Bradley Argabright said. “I thought we had a great winter break. We put practices together and got an outcome we were looking for tonight. Our guys were ready to play. Chanute is a great basketball team. So it was a good win in our league.”
Knotted at 47-47 with under 10 seconds, Labette County guard Kane Nash drove by Chanute’s Lawrence Chaney, forcing the Blue Comets to collapse. Nash dished the ball to Rush, who buried a layup that rolled around the rim twice before falling.
“Kane beat his defender and got to the paint,” Argabright said. “He found the help and passed to the guy who helped off. Then Tucker finished the shot. It was a great play.”
Chanute had fouled purposely seconds earlier to force a dead ball. Blue Comets head coach Devon Crabtree said the foul came too early.
“I was trying to get them out of what they wanted to run,” Crabtree said. “Looking back, it was a little early. I made a mistake there on my part. I’ve got to be better.”
Argabright elected not to take a timeout after the foul. “Chanute fouled and reset the shot clock, so that changed my thinking,” Argabright said. “My thought at the moment was to see if we could get to the rim early. If we couldn’t, I’d call timeout and draw something up.”
Crabtree felt the Grizzlies’ defense kept the Blue Comets’ attack out of sync.
“Labette County did a great job defensively,” Crabtree said. “Their pressure kind of threw us off and took us out of our game. Our little mistakes added up — missing free throws and giving up easy ones. We had some mishaps in our press. And they took us out of what we were trying to do. We had some great looks that didn’t fall.”
Rush was one of two Grizzlies to pace Labette County with a dozen points.
“He didn’t start tonight because I wanted to go with a smaller lineup,” Argabright said. “But we couldn’t guard (Daniel Stanley) at all until I put Tucker in. Tucker did a great job. He’s always ready for the ball. I’m impressed with his footwork this year. He’s having that junior jump and I’m proud of his progression and staying the course. And he hit that huge shot at the end.”
Kane Nash also had 12 points for Labette County. Daniel Stanley led Chanute with 19 points. Chanute’s top-three leading scorers, Warrick Olson, Lawrence Chaney and Kobe Patterson, were held to nine, eight and five points, respectively.
“I was a little disappointed with how the officials let them get away with not letting Warrick have the space to move,” Crabtree said. “It took him out of it a little bit. But kudos to them, it was a great gameplan. He still had a good game. Shots won’t always fall every night.”
With Independence’s loss to Coffeyville on Tuesday night, Chanute, Fort Scott, Labette County, Coffeyville and Independence are all tied for first place in the league.
“That’s a game you want to have, especially at home, if you want to win a league title,” Argabright said. “It was a big win for us.”
Labette County improved to 5-2 overall while Chanute dropped to 5-2.
“It’s the hardest place to play in our league,” Crabtree said of Altamont. “You have to be 10 points better just to scratch out a win, regardless of what their team looks like. Now we’ve got to be able to respond and get back to work. There’s not a whole lot of time to think about it.”
Up next
Labette County travels to Fort Scott on Friday night.
“I’ve watched Fort Scott a ton and they’ve got good shooters,” Argabright said. “We’ve got to be locked in. I feel like they’re finding their footing. We’ve got to be ready to play. Every game in our league is a dogfight.”
Chanute hosts Pittsburg the same night. “I’ve watched them and they’ve got some athletes,” Crabtree said. “We’ll have to be good in transition and we have to rebound. They’ve got length, so it’ll be a good test for us. But we’re ready to be back in our home gym, too. It’s been a long time.”
