Blue Comets overcome slow start, blow past Golden Tornado

COFFEYVILLE — The Chanute Blue Comets overcame a slow offensive start to prevail 56-46 over host Field Kindley Golden Tornado Saturday afternoon.  

Chanute (8-6) trailed 9-4 at the conclusion of the opening frame. Its first basket from the field came early in the second quarter, via Kaidan Frederick’s offensive rebound and lay-in. 

Back-to-back Kam Koester lay-ins trimmed the Blue Comet deficit to 15-13 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Coffeyville closed out the half on a 9-4 blitz, punctuated by Jazavier Logan’s off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 24-17 advantage. 

The Tornado extended its lead to 10 early in the third. Chanute then went on a 7-0 run, courtesy of consecutive Aaron Robertson low-post buckets and a Carter Coombs trey, and trailed 27-24. 

Logan’s three late in the third pushed the Tornado lead to 32-26. The Blue Comets closed the frame strong, with Koester scoring seven consecutive points, handing Chanute its first lead of the game at 33-32. 

Koester opened the fourth with an assist to Robertson for a lay-up, and a 37-34 lead. A Koester bucket with six minutes remaining gave Chanute its largest lead of the contest, 43-36. 

With Coffeyville star guard Logan on the bench with four fouls, Chanute coasted to the 10-point victory. Koester concluded with a game-high 18 points. 

Chanute closes out its regular-season slate with a conference road game today against Parsons.