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CHAFFEE -- After nearly knocking off final four bound Oran in last year's Class 2, District 3 semifinals the Chaffee Red Devils return one of the more veteran groups the school's seen in recent memory.
With all five starters as well as most of the bench back in the fold the Red Devils are ready to make a run at that elusive district title and the playoff run that would go with it.
"We've played Oran close every time we've played them last year, but could just never get over that edge," Chaffee head coach Josh Govreau said. "We see what they did going to the final four. We feel that we're close and that's our goal at the end of the year is to win that district championship."
Only Jared Walker departs after last season's 16-11 campaign that ended with the Red Devil's
This leave's the Red Devils' offense almost entirely intact, including their top two scorers in Peyton Montgomery and Charlie Montgomery. On his way to being named to the SEMO media All-Region team Peyton Montgomery averaged 19.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per-game in his sophomore year.
Charlie Montgomery, a senior, was Chaffee's second leading scorer with 14.9 points-per-game.
Rounding out the starting five is seniors Jimmy Golden, Layton Tenkhoff and junior Trevor Morehead.
While the duo of Charlie and Peyton Montgomery consistently appear near the top of the scoring column, Govreau expectsa well-rounded offense that keeps the pressure of any one area.
"We had a game last year where Trevor Morehead had a 27-point game," Govreau said. "He proves that he can score in the post, which is huge for us. If we get him going that opens up a lot from the outside. Jimmy rolled his ankle last week so he'll probably be out the first couple of weeks, but he's one of those guys that if he gets going he can put up points.
"Layton is the same way that if he plays with confidence he's as good a scorer as anybody. We're hoping that we don't have to rely on just Peyton and Charlie to get points. We have plenty of people out there that can do it. It's just sharing the ball, which they do a good job of and everybody stepping up and doing there part.
Joining the starting five will be holdovers such as senior Storm Estes, who saw plenty of minutes last year. Senior Devon Yahn joins the team after not playing last season while juniors Tyler Golden and Blake Gilmore will help round out the varsity rotation.
With all but two players, Yahn and Gilmore, having logged considerable minutes Govrea hopes the Red Devils will be an improved team late in games.
"Learning situations is our biggest thing so it's kind of hard to tell now if the experience has paid off in practice," Govreau said. "Once we get into close games, that's when I hope to see they've been there before.
"(Hopefully) they know when to lock down, how to get a defensive stop and on offense not to take stupid shots or do stupid things to close out games. That's the biggest thing I'm hoping from experience we'll know how to do."
Chaffee got its season off on the right foot Tuesday with a 63-34 rout of Meadow Heights. They'll looked to keep rolling when they open up the Oran Invitational Tournament Monday at Oran High School.