Chaffee girls rally in third, blitz past Scott City at home in thriller-turned-rout

It took three quarters for a rivalry of polar opposites to be determined, but the two-loss Chaffee Red Devils’ big third was all they needed to down Scott City and rekindle their winning ways in a 59-43 victory on Wednesday night.

In its first home victory in the rivalry since Jan. 2021, Chaffee struggled with foul trouble throughout the first half and dealt with some shooting struggles as well, but that physicality played a centric role in deciding this one.

Fighting out of draws at the half as well as the first quarter, the Red Devils needed a spark and found it in their rally to take a double-digit lead, scoring 19 in the third quarter alone.

That jolt of energy coming out of the half took the wind out of Scott City’s sails and kept Chaffee away from an upset bid, still undefeated in conference play.

“I thought the effort was there,” Chaffee coach Kennan Elfrink said. “But give Scott City a ton of credit.”

Carlyanne Cossou led all Red Devils in the scoring column, putting in 18 points while Kiersten Arnold’s 11 and Bailey Robertson’s 10 added depth down the line.

Chaffee improves to 9-2 for the season, fresh off its second loss of the season in its seconde game of the new year but back in the win column for the time being.

Lilyan Landis led Scott City with 16 points in the loss, the only Ram to reach double digits. Skylar Watson’s 9 placed second without having played in the second half due to injury.

Scott City’s now 1-8 in the 2024-25 season, showing the crucial signs of improvement through the phases of Wednesday’s contest but faltering heavily in the second half without the same shooting stroke of the first.

After taking a crushing 17-point loss to Portageville the day prior, the Red Devils needed to make a big statement on Wednesday against a Scott City team that hasn’t had the best go at it this season.

Though a lackluster first half held them back, the response seemed adequate for the moment as Chaffee rights its woes from Tuesday night and fixes its eyes on a new winning streak heading into the third game of the new year.

When Scott City mounted a 12-7 lead late in the first quarter, Chaffee responded with a quick run to tie it up at 12s at the end of the period.

But Scott City’s resounding answer gave the Rams an 8-point edge early in the second, and the Red Devils needed a response lest they fall even further behind their rivals on their own home floor.

A 13-4 run did that job swimmingly, and though the Rams tied it up at halftime, Elfrink’s girls kept that energy going into the new half and never looked back, cracking open a tight game with an explosive third.

“We missed some shots early, but it felt like those shots were going to fall,” Elfrink said. “It's four quarters of basketball.

“I told the kids, ‘Be patient. Keep playing hard, keep competing, continue to rebound. Shots are going to fall.’ Eventually, we got a few easy ones to go and kind of opened up.”