By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Late in the second period Tuesday, the Cair Paravel boys looked up at a 21-7 deficit on the scoreboard. But as a ranked team for the first time in the program’s history, the Lions believe they are capable of overcoming adversity.
Chase Hastert, Cair Paravel [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]
Cair Paravel entered the contest with Centralia ranked seventh in Class 2A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. They didn’t play like it for the first 14 minutes Tuesday, but the Lions found their footing in the second half and turned that 14-point deficit into the team’s ninth win in a row, 50-42.
Cair Paravel outscored the visiting Panthers 18-12 in the third period, then ran away with a 19-6 advantage in the fourth period.
“First half we were selfish and soft. Second half looked night and day different,” said Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer. “(The Panthers) were hitting some tough shots, too. Not all of them were easy looks. But they got hot and then it can be tough to battle back when you’re down double digits.”
Sophomore Chase Hastert, who led the Lions with 14 points, echoed and added to his coach’s criticism of the first half.
“We were not going after loose balls, letting them go after it, not attacking the boards and playing selfish. We were taking first-side shots, not getting it inside. We had like four paint touches in the first half,” Hastert said. “In the second half, coach was like, ‘We can’t shoot any bad shots.’ We went on a run and we were just playing a lot harder, not just moping around.”
Kueffer credited his seniors for leading the turnaround.
“Our leaders do a great job,” Kueffer said. “We have three senior captains -- Drew Fay, Caleb Cleverdon and Lucas Marichal. They’re kind of our quarterbacks out on the court. Those floor generals can kind of rally each other and huddle everyone up to get it going.
“But the way (you stage a comeback) is one stop at a time. You can’t get 10 in a row. You can’t look at it that way. It’s just one good possession at a time, one good guard, one good rebound at a time. When you don’t get stops it’s hard to run in transition. Once we did get stops, we finished possessions. We were able to pitch ahead and score in transition.”
Fay scored 13 points for Cair Paravel and Marichal added 11. After going scoreless in the first half, sophomore Blaine Durbin turned in nine second-half points. The Lions outscored the visitors 13-3 over the final 4:41.
Kueffer is unsure if being ranked has elevated the players’ expectations, or if reeling off nine straight wins has instilled a winning DNA in the team.
“We’ve never been ranked before. It’s kind of like we don’t know what to think about it,” Kueffer said. “I would like to think we’ll be winners someday. But I think it takes a lot of grit. Getting popped in the mouth like we were tonight, you say, ‘That’s behind you, ok? What happened in the first half is over. We’ve got to see what we can do about it, how we respond to adversity.’ ”
“That’s that new culture that Coach Chip has brought into us.,” Hastert said. “I think it’s really cool how we are bought into it playing less selfish and more like a team, like one body under Christ. That’s kind of our main (goal) to keep that the main thing.”
CAIR PARAVEL BOYS 50, CENTRALIA 42
Centralia 13 11 12 6 -- 42
Cair Paravel 7 6 18 19 -- 50
Centralia (8-7) – Alserfer 7-22 0-0 17, Reinecke 4-13 1-2 9, B. Talley 2-7 0-0 5, Jones 0-3 0-4 0, A. Talley 3-4 0-0 6, Becker 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 18-51 1-6 42.
Cair Paravel (12-2) – Hastert 5-12 3-3 14, Marichal 4-12 3-8 11, Durbin 3-5 3-6 9, Cleverdon 1-3 0-0 3, Fay 5-8 3-3 13, Kaberline 0-0 0-0 0, Congdon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 12-20 50.
3-point goals – Centralia 5 (Alserfer 3, B. Tally 1, Becker 1) , Cair Paravel 2 (Hastert 1, Cleverdon 1). Total fouls – Centralia 17, Cair Paravel 9. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
