Adair avenged their only loss of the season Friday after beating Chouteau on the road, 66-61.

The previous loss, suffered at the hands of the Wildcats, transpired on the Warriors home court in the third round of the Adair Invitational Tournament.

Neither team had trouble finding a rhythm offensively from the opening tip.

Adair junior guard Taylor Gilmer and senior point guard Brady Bradybury hit back-to-back threes for a short-lived lead.

Chouteau sophomore guard Arlis Aslip and senior Travis Brannon answered with consecutive threes.

Bradbury drained another from long-range late in the quarter, to which Aslip answered back from beyond the arc on the next possession.

Momentum belonged to the home team throughout the second period, and Chouteau left for the break with a 12-point lead.

The third, however, belonged to Fleming who dropped 10 points, mostly in the paint.

Adair was on the brink of the leading at the end of a quarter until Wildcats senior guard Jason Couch drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to put Chouteau back on top by one.

In the final period, Adair increasingly drove to the basket which resulted in foul trouble for Chouteau.

The result: an Adair squad that got to the foul line eight times in the fourth quarter and shot 88 percent from the stripe in the second half.

Chouteau trailed by a single point in an arena where fans of both teams created an electric atmosphere.

But home court advantage wasn’t enough to give Chouteau a second victory over their inter-county rival.

“Chouteau is always a big rivalry and we needed to play with a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” said Adair Head Coach Travis Cannady.  “With a team like Chouteau you’re never going to put them away in a game because they shoot the ball so well.”

Bradbury led Adair scoring with 30 points, followed by Jordan who had 17.

Gilmer dropped 10, junior Greg Oxford contributed five and sophomore James Eastin had four points.

Senior Jordan Shive led Chouteau scorers with 20 points.

Couch had 18, and Aslip was good for 15.

Adair moves to 8-1 and faces Chelsea for homecoming Dec. 18, while Chouteau falls below .500 and takes on Salina on the road.



Girls

The Adair Lady Warriors obliterated Chouteau for the second time this season, 77-24.

Undefeated Adair (8-0) has  annihilated  every team in its way midway through the regular season, and show no sign of slowing up.

The visitors offense was in sync from the opening tip.

The decision to execute a full court press  out of the gate stacked the cards against Chouteau.

The Wildcats seldom advanced the ball efficiently past half court in the opening period.

Sophomore forward Kylie Looney’s onslaught from three-point land in the first period  (3-4), combined with the Lady Warriors numerous steals led to a 32-2 lead after eight minutes.

By the second quarter Lady Warriors Head Coach Scott Winfield had his bench in, which hardly allowed the Ladycats a chance to catch up.

Winfield said he is looking forward to seeing his team face tougher competition in weeks ahead.

Such anticipation is born of a desire to avoid complacency within his squad.

“You always worry about it, but I try to keep my thumb on it as much as possible,” Winfield said. “I want to keep that motivation going with them.

Sophomore forward Kylie Looney led Adair scorers with 17 points.

Anna Crawford and Bailey Stephens had 12 each.

Madi Wengerd dropped 12.

The Lady Warriors take on Chelsea, Dec. 18, away.