CHAFFEE LOOKS TO BUILD ON MOMENTUM OF ITS FIRST WIN IN U-HIGH TOURNAMENT

Chaffee is just 1-3, but the Red Devils will be carrying a bit of momentum into the U-High Tournament.

That's because the Red Devils picked up their initial victory under first-year coach Tim Corley in their most recent outing, a 64-57 triumph over Zalma on Dec. 17.

"It felt great," said Corley. "The kids were real excited. They've been working very hard and it was good to finally see them get rewarded for their effort."

But Chaffee wasn't rewarded as far as its first-round matchup in the tournament. As the 16th and last seed, the Red Devils take on two-time defending champion Charleston at 9 a.m. Monday.

"It's an early-morning game and maybe we'll catch them asleep," said a laughing Corley of Chaffee's daunting opening game. "We'll just look to play them as close as we can. Our goal is to get one or two wins out of the tournament."

Even though the Red Devils lost their first three games of the season, Corley said, "We hadn't played bad. Against Portageville, we hung with them after the first quarter. Against East Prairie, it was really close and we shot horribly at the free-throw line. Against Woodland, we shot terribly from the field."

Matt Stroup is off to a big start for the Red Devils, averaging 23.5 points per game to rank second in the area.

Chace Eskew, who scored 22 points in the win over Zalma, is second on the team offensively at about 12 points per game.

Also starting for the Red Devils have been Sean Hampton and Mike McClard, who both contribute around six points per contest.

Corley has been rotating several players at the final starting position, with the likes of Perry Rice, G.P. Glueck and Tommy Stidham all seeing action.

Also contributing off the bench has been Kevin McCullum.

Assessing his team's overall play so far, Corley said, "We've been taking good shots. Nobody has really been forcing it too much, it's just a matter of putting it in the hole. Defensively, we've kind of broken down and gone from scratch to teach them the way I want to play. That's been the hardest thing to do, but we're getting better at it."

An offseason weight training program seems to have paid some dividends, according to Corley.

"Some of the guys participated and I think the added strength has helped us," he said.

Corley said he is looking forward to coaching in the his first U-High tourney because he has heard nothing but good things regarding the annual event.

"I've heard it's very well run and the competition is always really good," he said. "I know the kids always look forward to it. It's a great opportunity for them to play in a great arena like the Show Me Center."