No. 8 Blue Comets unable to contain Pittsburg’s English in senior night loss

Chanute entered the matchup looking to extend a six-game win streak after being ranked eighth by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.

That streak was quickly in jeopardy, as the Blue Comets trailed the visiting team for all but the opening minute of the game. Pittsburg jumped on the gas in the first quarter, going on an 8-0 run capped by a Mason English layup to cross 1,000 career points.

English was the villain all night for the Chanute defense. The junior tallied a staggering 33 points, scoring from inside and outside while getting to the charity stripe at will.

“Obviously English had a good night,” Crabtree said. “Lars (Koester) and Eliott (Stephenson) had to work really hard guarding him. We made him take some tough shots at times, but he just kinda got going late. Looking back, we probably could have thrown some more bodies at him.”

Trailing 29-20 at halftime, Chanute attempted to swing the momentum in the third quarter. The Blue Comets went on a 13-2 run sparked by sophomore Eliott Stephenson to trail by just three. Stephenson finished with a team-high 15 points.

The fourth quarter saw the comeback effort go off the rails. English detonated for 14 points in the final frame, while the Blue Comets repeatedly turned the ball over under their own basket.

“People were trying to make some plays. I liked the idea, just not the execution,” Crabtree said. “With their size and the way they guard, we just couldn’t quite get passes through.”

After picking up a pair of fouls just three minutes into the matchup, junior Kaiden Seamster was handed a technical foul after taking a seat on the bench. Crabtree was forced to coach while seated on the bench the rest of the way, while Seamster never checked into the matchup again.

“It’s just a rule we have within our program,” Crabtree said of his decision to bench Seasmter for the remainder of the matchup. “I love Kaiden, he just made an unfortunate choice. I know he’ll be ready to bounce back and we’ll move on from it pretty quick.”

Seamster’s absence forced Crabtree to turn to his bench much earlier than anticipated. Juniors Brax Peter and Jordan Duncan were all over the court after coming off the bench, scoring eight and six points while forcing turnovers and providing relentless pressure.

“Brax was huge, he made some really big plays for us. Shots weren’t falling for Jordan, but he was still impacting the game in other ways,” Crabtree said. “I’m proud of those guys for impacting the game the way they did.”

Junior Lars Koester tried to keep the rally going in the fourth quarter, but his efforts were met with a Pittsburg defense that never seemed to break.

Koester finished with 11 points, Peter and senior Parker Henson had eight each and Duncan finished with six points.

Dan Hastings added eight points to English’s 30-ball, Jovani Salas had six for Pittsburg, Ryan Karu and Joey Cronister had four each while Jackson Turnbull netted two.

Up Next

The Blue Comets (12-5) hit the road for a three-game stint to close the regular season, starting with Coffeyville (5-11) on Friday.

“It’s always a tough matchup for us with their athleticism. Hopefully we can steal a road win,” Crabtree said.

Box Score

Pittsburg: 14 15 12 16 — 57

Chanute: 10 10 17 11 — 48

Scoring

Pittsburg: Mason English 33, Dan Hastings 8, Jovani Salas 6, Ryan Karu 4, Joey Cronister 4, Jackson Turnbull 2

Chanute: Eliott Stephenson 15, Lars Koester 11, Parker Henson 8, Brax Peter 8, Jordan Duncan 6