Meadow Heights boys, girls play Chaffee in 'Hoosier Gym'

The Meadow Heights Panthers traveled to the Hoosier State Feb. 10, where they played a doubleheader against Chaffee in the historic "Hoosier Gym" in Knightstown, Indiana.

The gym was home to the fictional Hickory High School Huskers in the movie "Hoosiers."

Players had to make some adjustments due to the size of the court, such as having two 10-second lines, as well as having barely a shoe's width of space on side out-of-bound plays, which also came with having a wall just inches out of bounds that the players had to be careful with.

"It's very unique," Chaffee senior Levi McKinnie said. "I love how it is all thrown back [in time]. All of the stuff on the court, the lines, the scoreboard, it's all different."

McKinnie also thought shooting on the "old goals" was a cool twist.

"Those are from back in the day," McKinnie said. "It's very neat [and] very unique."

Each summer, the Hoosier Gym hosts an all-star game featuring the top players in Indiana which, like Missouri, has produced its share of NBA talent.

All four coaches tried to balance winning the games with giving every player an opportunity to get on the floor. Though his team fell to Chaffee, Panther senior Ransom Grindstaff enjoyed the whole experience.

"I thought it was neat," Grindstaff said. "I'm glad that we were able to do it. It was fun being able to come here and experience playing here."

The players relived some of the cinematic moments as they utilized the same locker room as the Huskers did in the movie. First-year Meadow Heights' girls coach Tim Winkler even said beforehand that he was going to break out one of the memorable lines from Husker coach Norman Dale, played by the legendary Gene Hackman.

"I just may tell one of the officials that he has pigeon (you know what) in his eye," Winkler laughed.

Boys: Chaffee 69, Meadow Heights 51

Chaffee gained its eighth victory on Feb. 10, easily pulling away from Meadow Heights over the final three periods to win 69-51.

"We were really hurt at times," second-year Meadow Heights coach Mitch Nanney said following the loss. "[Chaffee] is physical. They are a big, physical team, and when you're smaller than the other team, that can hurt you a little bit."

The two teams battled to a 16-16 knot early in the second quarter. However, the Red Devils owned that period and were never seriously threatened again.

Chaffee got single baskets from eight different players in the second quarter, as it outscored the Panthers 17-10 and took a 33-26 lead into halftime.

"They did what they had to do to beat us on the boards," Nanney continued, "and they beat us around the basket."

Meadow Heights matched Chaffee's five 3-pointers made, as senior Kaden Cook and junior Braden Hays each drained a couple of long shots. It even held its own at the free throw line, as both teams misfired on seven free throws, with Chaffee (8 of 15) holding a slight advantage over the Panthers (6 of 13). However, the Red Devils took care of the basketball much better and that resulted in them getting 23 makes as compared to Meadow Heights' 15.

"We need to make less turnovers," Grindstaff said. "We have to take better care of the ball."

The physicality of Chaffee began to show in the second half, particularly in the third period, as it bullied its way to the free throw line seven times while Meadow Heights could do so only once. To be fair, both teams were trying to empty their benches in the second half, so play did get a tad sloppy at times.

"I wanted to get all of the bodies in," Nanney said. "I wanted to give everybody a chance after making this trip. There were some weird combinations at times. There was stuff that we don't necessarily always do. But the expectation is always to go play hard and do your best."

Meadow Heights used 10 players following halftime while Chaffee coach Josh Govreau went even deeper with 13 players taking the floor.

Chaffee took a 50-39 advantage into the final period and held on behind eight points from post player Blake Yarbro in that quarter.

Yarbro finished with 12 points, as did senior Levi McKinnie while freshman Rolen Reischman (10 points), senior Shelton Simmons (nine), and freshman Nolan Fowler (11 points) also contributed.

Hays totaled 21 points in the loss while sophomore Mason Mayfield (12 points) and Cook (seven points) were also productive.

"I thought there were a lot of open looks for us," Nanney said. "We tried to move the ball. I thought that we played pretty hard and tried to get after it and work together."

Girls: Chaffee 52, Meadow Heights 43

The Red Devils won their sixth consecutive game by taking care of business on the long road trip filled with distractions and beating Meadow Heights 52-43.

The Red Devils (14-8) raced out to a 14-8 lead after one period and stretched their margin to 34-14 by halftime.

Chaffee utilized a combination of 3/4-court defenses to keep the Panthers (9-14) off balance. As Chaffee went deep into its bench, Meadow Heights was able to claw its way back into contention, as it trimmed its deficit to 43-29 after three periods and was within single digits late in the game.

The Red Devils are limiting their opposition to barely 42 points per game, which is the stingiest Chaffee team since the 2017-18 squad, which won 20 games.

Chaffee got 10 points apiece from three different players, including freshmen Bailey Robertson, Carlyanne Cossou and Kiersten Arnold.

Sophomore Malinah Robertson added six points, as did freshman Addison Urhan.

Meadow Heights was led by senior center Rachael Hellebusch with eight points and senior Cheyenne Tonjum with 11 points. Panther senior Maddie Denman chipped in seven points.