The Canistota Hawks used a huge second half to put away the Chester Flyers on Tuesday night. Canistota outscored Chester 39-28 in the second half to gain a 75-61 win.
The Flyers hung tough with the highly-touted Hawks (10-1) in the early going of the game. Austin Opdahl put the Flyers on top 12-9 when he completed the old-fashioned three-point play with 2:25 left in the opening period.
With the score tied at 14-14 and time running out in the first period, Josh Anderson launched a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded and it connected, giving the Flyers a 17-14 lead after one quarter.
Chester held a five-point advantage throughout most of the second period. With the score knotted at 29-29, the Hawks went on a 7-1 run to gain a 36-30 lead with just 11 seconds left in the half.
Cole Acheson drained a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Flyers trailed 36-33 at halftime.
The Hawks outscored Chester 19-10 in the third period and never looked back in posting the win.
Opdahl poured in a game-high 23 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had five assists to pace the Flyers. Acheson added 16 points for the Flyers.
"We played well tonight," said Chester Coach Eric Knight. "I thought we as a team played together very well; we defended together as one unit. In a lot of ways, we took a step forward against a very good basketball team."
Alex Robertson scored 19 points, grabbed five rebounds and had seven assists for Canistota. Cody Bunger had 17 points and nine assists. Jason VanWinkle added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Tyler Decker chipped in with 11 points.
Canistota won the B game 39-21.
Chester (3-10) will swing back into action on Tuesday. The Flyers will go to Parker for a boys'/girls' doubleheader with the Pheasants with the tipoff set for 6:15 p.m.
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