Chaffee boys basketball team rallies past Oran

Oran's Kody Moore rained in 3-pointer after 3-pointer Thursday.

But the Eagles never gained significant separation from Chaffee.

That allowed the Red Devils to rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win their Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament consolation semifinal.

Chaffee pulled out the 68-64 victory despite nine 3-pointers from Moore.

It's the second time this season that the Red Devils have rallied from a sizable deficit to earn a victory. They trailed Saxony Lutheran by 20 points at halftime before pulling out the win earlier this month.

"We're always ready for that comeback, but we have to stay in the game the whole time and not rely on the comebacks to win games," Chaffee senior Jordan Yahn said.

Moore seemed to have the answer every time Chaffee would pull close. The Red Devils got within one about midway through the third quarter and Moore drained a 3. Chaffee trimmed its deficit to four a little later, and Moore again connected from long range.

Moore's 3-pointer with 1 minute, 23 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Eagles a 56-44 lead.

"The kid couldn't miss," Chaffee senior Alex Crowe said. "Give the kid credit -- he's a good shooter."

Moore's final 3-pointer gave the Eagles a 64-57 lead with 2:23 left in the fourth quarter.

That's the last time Oran scored.

"Played defense and got a couple turnovers," Crowe said about the rally. "Got a couple easy buckets. I looked up at the scoreboard and we were down one, and I was like, 'What?'"

Layton Tenkhoff's basket started the Red Devils' comeback. Crowe added a pair of baskets to cut Oran's lead to a point with 49 seconds left.

The Red Devils rebounded a miss by Seth Ressel, and Crowe was fouled to send him to the line with his team down one and 27 seconds left. Chaffee coach Josh Govreau called timeout before Crowe's attempts.

"I loved it because I was about to pass out," Crowe said. "I told him timeout and he'd already done it."

Crowe said there were no butterflies as he stepped to the line and swished both attempts.

"I do it so much in practice, you just kind of get up there and shoot them," Crowe said. "Have confidence in yourself. About right after I let them go I knew they were in. That's why I could let out a little smile. I've been in those situations before."

Crowe's two free throws gave the Red Devils their first lead since about midway through the second quarter.

Moore tried to answer, but his 3-pointer spun around the rim and popped out.

The Eagles fouled Yahn, who had missed two free throws earlier in the fourth quarter. Yahn faced a 1-and-1 situation and admitted the two misses weighed on him as he tried to extend his team's lead.

"I was pretty confident, but I had some nerves, so I had to stay focused and think about the shot," he said. "I wasn't trying to throw it too hard because the two free throws I missed before that were way too hard. I just tried to ease up."

Yahn managed to sink both free throws for a 67-64 lead with 17.6 seconds left.

The Eagles turned over the ball with 5.7 seconds left, and Yahn hit 1 of 2 free throws to ice the comeback win.

"It's something we've struggled with all year is the free-throw line," Govreau said. "The last two weeks they've shot so many free throws, it's good to see them finally pay off for them."

The Red Devils (6-2) shot 53 percent (8 of 15) compared to 27 percent (3 of 11) for the Eagles in the fourth quarter.

"They started playing some good defense," Moore said. "They pressured us quite a bit. Give credit to them, they played good defense, but we made some pretty boneheaded plays and I guess we started to panic a little bit. We just didn't get the job done there at the end."

Chaffee's comeback spoiled Moore's spectacular night. The junior guard went 9 of 18 on 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 29 points.

"I felt like I was making a good percentage of my shots, so I kept shooting," he said.

The Red Devils will try to defend their consolation title. They earned a rematch with Oak Ridge, the team they beat last year. Tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Oran 21 18 17 8 - 64

Chaffee 17 15 14 22 - 68

ORAN (64) -- Kody Moore 29, Seth Ressel 18, Blake Carlyle 2, Alex Heuring 4, Blake Henson 11. FG 27, FT 1-7, F 12. (3-pointers: Moore 9. Fouled out: none)

CHAFFEE (68) - Alex Crowe 17, Peyton Montgomery 12, Zach Dannenmueller 2, Cody Johnson 3, Layton Tenkhoff 6, Jordan Yahn 15, Alex Davie 9, Charlie Montgomery 4. FG 28, FT 8-12, F 12. (3-pointers: Crowe 3, Johnson 1. Fouled out: none)