Seniors leading way for CCS boys’ basketball

Tipoff to the 2020-21 high school basketball season is imminent and the Chase County boys’ team is working hard as it looks to improve on last season’s 17-5 record.
CCS Head Coach Chris Bartels said practices have been going well so far.
“The kids are working hard and are very coachable. This is a fun group to work with,” he said.
CCS will rely heavily on four letter winners, three of them starters in 2019-2020, and three of the team’s seniors have stood out as leaders.
“We are going to rely on Cedric (Maxwell), Mason (Nordhausen) and Clay (Meeske)’s varsity experience and leadership this year and they have been doing a great job helping our younger guys out thus far,” Bartels said. Keenan Cole is the fourth letter winner for CCS. Jake German and Brandon Mintling are seniors on the team.
Hoping for a seven or eight man rotation, Bartels is also pleased with the younger players moving up in the program, saying the coaches have a good group of sophomores and juniors that will help out on the varsity and JV levels. He also complimented the team’s eight freshman for their hard work and coachability.
Despite a move down from Class C1 to C2, Bartels said he thinks the Longhorns’ schedule got a lot tougher than it has been in the last couple of years.  
CCS dives right into the season, hosting Class C1 Cozad tonight (Thursday) then traveling to Class B McCook Friday.
Games against Class B Sidney, and Class C1’s Ogallala and Adams Central will come up quickly. The Longhorns will also travel to Bridgeport and the Cabela’s Holiday Tournament before the start of the new year.
“There are a lot of above average basketball teams on our schedule and I am looking forward to those challenges for our basketball team,” Bartels said.
“Every game is important, especially with the wildcard power points system that the NSAA uses for playoff seeding,” he added.
Bartels said winning the SPVA Conference is always at the top of the list when it comes to team goals. Returning to district finals, which CCS has done the last two seasons, is also at the top of the team’s list.
“I think this would be a great year to take that next big step by winning that district final game and qualify for the state tournament,” Bartels said. “I truly believe we have the type of team that can do that this year. “