Chiefs Basketball Season Comes to an End

Chamberlain High School's boys basketball season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday night as the Chiefs fell 53-45 in a game looked bleak from the start.

After falling behind by 16 points at halftime, the Chiefs were looking at the end of a season that had seen them lose only twice prior to tip off.

A high number of turnovers and missed chances were hindering Chamberlain's ability to stay in the game, but the second half would see a revival of the team coach Christopher Snyder has become accustomed to seeing this season.

"That team that we saw in the fourth quarter in particular, was the team I've seen all year," Snyder said. "Any time you play the way we did in the first half it's going to be tough to win games. We didn't take care of the basketball and we didn't get back and defend the way we should have. Because of that we put ourselves in a position where we had a lot of work to do to get back in it."

In the second half the Chiefs would step up their defensive effort and senior Eric Storts would grab hold of the game offensively.

Even with the improved effort however, the team still trailed by 16 at the end of third quarter. That's when Snyder had some inspirational words for his team.

"I told them to look at the opportunity in front of them," Snyder said. "I just told them that I've seen how they can play in our previous 26 games and that if they played the way they did in those games then we could still pull this thing out. No one was going to hand it to us, we had to go get it."

The Chiefs responded in the fourth with a 16-2 run in which the Chiefs' defensive effort improved greatly. With just over three minutes remaining, Chamberlain had worn the Gladiator lead down to two points.

That's where it would end however, as the task proved to be too big for the Chiefs who were worn out in the final minutes. In his final game as a Chief, senior Eric Storts would finish with 22 points. The other Chiefs starters weren't giving Storts much help offensively so Snyder turned to his bench. Senior Joseph Shelton responded best with 10 points off the bench.

"What more can you say about Eric Storts?" Snyder said. "He's done everything we've asked of him and he played his heart out. The sad thing for him is that we didn't give him enough help. Once we got Shelton in the game, we started to get a little better, but I think the size of this court (94 feet instead of 84) maybe got to us too."

Though Chamberlain would fall just short, Snyder was proud of the way his team carried themselves throughout the season.

"The fact that they battled to the very end in a situation where a lot of teams would have folded and given in says something," Snyder said. "The fact is that we are still district champs and came within one game of the final four. There are fourteen kids on this team that are the pride of their school right now. They've carried themselves well on and off the court, and their work ethic combined with who they are as young men is all reason to be proud of this team. They'll go down in Chamberlain history as one of the great teams."