By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The red-hot Cair Paravel Lions ran their winning streak to 17 games Thursday, setting themselves up for the post-season with a 64-43 victory over Jefferson County North.
Chase Hastert paced Cair Paravel with 13 points in Thursday's 64-43 win over Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The 20-2 Lions have not tasted defeat since December 12, when they dropped a hard-fought battle with Axtell, the state’s top-ranked team in Class 1A Div. 2.
Thursday, Cair Paravel overcome a size disadvantage by playing gritty defense and shooting the lights out. The Lions hit 23-47 shots, including eight threes to just two for JCN.
The Lions had to figure out how to stop towering post player Isaac Laird and high-scoring wing man Chance Jenkins. Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer decided to put his tallest player, Blaine Durbin, on the lanky Jenkins, leaving senior Caleb Cleverdon to defend Laird in the paint.
“Coach Johnny McDermott put together a flawless scouting report and they followed it to a T,” Kueffer said. "(The Chargers) were a huge matchup problem, and they’re going to make a run, I would be surprised if they don’t win their sub-state. They’ve got a lot of length and they’ve got matchups.
“Caleb Cleverdon, I mean, he doesn’t look like much of an offensive lineman, but he is. So, we just had him sit on (Laird). He had to have help from behind and we had to talk, big time. Really proud of Caleb for the way he showed up tonight.”
Freshman Mateo Gossard reacts after hitting one of his four 3-pointers Thursday night in Cair Paravel's 64-43 win over JCN. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Lions led 18-9 early in the second period when they got an outburst from freshman Matteo Gossard, the only non-starter to play for the Lions. Gossard nearly brought the roof down when he connected on four consecutive 3-pointers in the quarter.
“Stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” Kueffer said of Gossard’s contribution. “He’s a player. No surprise to anybody, but so happy for him. He’s been a spark all year, but really happy to see those shots fall for him.”
“Our guards, Chase (Hastert) and Lucas (Marichal), were driving in, creating open lanes for me and then just dishing the ball. Then I just basically had to finish the job,” Gossard said. “So, thanks to them. When I hit the first one, I kind of was like, ‘I might be able to get hot.’ Then my teammates just kept giving me the ball when there was no one on me.”
Trailing 34-15 at halftime, Jefferson County North made some adjustments and appeared energized to make a run. But senior Drew Fay, scoreless in the first half, converted all four of his field goal attempts in the quarter to help the Lions stay in front.
“It was a great team win. This was definitely one of our best games of the season,” Fay said. “I felt like we all worked together, we all played hard, and things were just kind of clicking tonight. Our passes felt crisp. We were hitting shots. It seemed like things were just going our way.”
The Lions’ offense produced balanced scoring Thursday. Hastert led with 13 points, followed by Gossard and Durbin with 12 apiece. Cleverdon and Fay each tallied 10, and Marichal added seven.
The Lions entered the final week of the season as the seventh-ranked team in Class 2A. Having never been ranked before this season, they now enter the postseason in an unfamiliar role – the hunted as opposed to the hunter.
“It’s interesting because we’re starting to get a little bit of attention from people,” Kueffer said. “We just got to make sure that we deflect and redirect all that attention towards Christ because that’s what we stand on. That’s the cornerstone of everything we do. We’re getting attention for the school, which is a great thing, but we got to make sure that the main thing stays the main thing.”
CAIR PARAVEL BOYS 64, JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH 43
Jefferson County North 7 8 16 12 -- 43
Cair Paravel 10 24 15 15 -- 64
Jefferson County North (16-6) – Van Dyke 2-8 0-0 4, Elias 1-5 0-0 3, Fuhrman 3-9 4-8 10, Jenkins 4-9 1-1 10, Laird 5-5 2-4 12, Lindsay 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 17-39 7-13 43.
Cair Paravel (20-2) – Hastert 4-7 3-8 13, Marichal 1-4 5-6 7, Durbin 6-16 0-0 12, Cleverdon 4-7 0-0 10, Fay 4-6 2-3 10, Gossard 4-7 0-1 12. Totals: 23-47 10-17 64.
3-point goals – Jefferson County North 2 (Elias 1, Jenkins 1), Cair Paravel 8 (Gossard 4, Cleverdon 2, Hastert 2). Total fouls – Jefferson County North 14, Cair Paravel 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
