Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

On Tuesday, February 1st, Chandler Prep celebrated their winter sport senior athletes. After the celebration, the boys varsity basketball team battled for a narrow and exhilarating victory over the Horizon Honors Eagles. Senior point guard Noah Rasmussen looked back on the season after the win:

“We’ve had our ups and downs and so I’m glad we pulled it out on senior night. We always fight hard against this team and we’ve lost a few close games down the stretch, so to see us composed is a really good feeling.”

The Titans were highly active from downtown in the first quarter, claiming an early 22-11 lead. Offensively, the Eagles looked less cohesive as a team, especially when matched up against the tight defensive pressure of senior Josh VanOrdt who had five steals and several more deflections.

Chandler Prep had a commanding lead at half (33-19), but the Eagles came back with new offensive strategies that better opened up Horizon’s star point guard, senior Michael Keelen. After Chandler Prep scored the first points of the second half, the Eagles went on to nearly shut out the Titans, tying things up 38-38 at the quarter break.

The fourth quarter was a defensive battle. Seniors Rasmussen and Zach Romesburg brought down the most defensive rebounds for the Titans with five and seven respectively. These defensive rebounds became vital, fouls became the Eagle’s kryptonite, and senior Owen Coulter led the Titans to victory. Shortly after Horizon Honors took a two-point lead, they sent Coulter to the line to shoot and make two free-throws. Coulter took back the lead with a two-point jumper and later was sent to the line again to shoot and make two more free-throws. After Rasmussen put the Titans ahead 46-40, Coulter was sent to the line for a one-and-one and again, he made both. Coulter said this after the win:

“It was a good team win. It was great that we started to play together and it was a great win to start the month. We had a losing streak of five, we just turned it around, and hopefully we keep winning in the month of February.”

After a nail-biting final 30 seconds, the throng of students and parents congratulated the Titans on the 48-46 win over the Eagles.

Chandler Prep sits #5 in the 2A Valley region and the team has two more games before the 2A Valley tournament starting on February 7th. Titan Up.