Playing in the first ever girls’ bracket of the Ralph Miller Classic, the Chanute Blue Comets won once and lost twice.
Chanute opened with a onepoint, 40-39, loss to Belle Plaine on Thursday.
Entering the fourth quarter down 10 points, the Blue Comets pulled within a score before Belle Plaine snuffed out the comeback. Sarah Uhner led Chanute with 16 points while Kylee Sanborn scored 12.
“I thought we had a great fourth quarter,” Chanute head coach Dustin Fox said. “We got hot and had some big buckets to get us back. But we didn’t shoot the ball well enough through the first three quarters to have a chance. But we also played well defensively.”
The Blue Comets secured their first win of the season on Friday, beating Wichita-West in dominant fashion, 55-26.
Chanute led 16-2 through a quarter and shot 35.6% from the field while holding West to 23.7%.
“Any win is a good win,” Fox said. “We’re not going to apologize for anybody we get a win against. West struggled a bit and we found some things that worked against them. We just kept going to the well.”
AnnaKate Noonan led the Blue Comets with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting while adding five rebounds and two steals.
“She scored a lot off the same action,” Fox said. “The girls saw it was working and there was a lot of selflessness. We just wanted to keep scoring.”
Chanute’s slate in the Ralph Miller Classic ended on Saturday with a 63-32 loss to Eisenhower. The Blue Comets trailed by three after the first quarter before Eisenhower outscored Chanute, 17-0, in the second stanza.
“We had a horrific second quarter after being down by three,” Fox said. “To the girls’ credit, we battled in the second half. But Eisenhower just made too many shots. We were there contesting. But they just were hot shooting.”
Chanute left its home tournament — the first time ever the Ralph Miller Classic hosted a girls’ side — with its first win of the 2024-25 campaign.
“The win definitely raised spirits,” Fox said. “Honestly, we’re trying not to focus as much on wins and losses rather than focusing on our own gains. Are we improving? That’s the approach that’s served as well. We want to be our best towards the end of the year. Last year, we didn’t have a great regular season but we pulled off a big upset to get to a sub-state championship.”
Sunrise Christian Academy won the girls championship of the Ralph Miller Classic. Uhner was among the selections to the all-tournament team.
Up next
Chanute starts a five-game road trip with a tilt at Trinity Academy on Tuesday.
“Their record isn’t great, but they’ve played some great competition. They’ll pressure in full court man,” Fox said. “So we need to be ready to handle the ball against pressure and try to get downhill. We have to play controlled and be the more fundamental team.”
AnnaKate Noonan (12) of the Chanute Blue Comets drives in transition towards the rim during Friday’s win over Wichita-West at Chanute High School. Sean Frye | Tribune photo
