Paul Peterson photo David Jukkala of Jeffers is surrounded by Chassell players, Blade Warren (12), and Elijah Soumis in Thursday's game in Painesdale. The Panthers were 66-37 winners.

PAINESDALE — You could say the Chassell High boys basketball team has passed its first term tests with flying colors. 

But now, the 4-0 Panthers will face a stern mid-term Copper Mountain Conference challenge in its next outing — a Jan. 2 game at powerful Dollar Bay.

“I was pleased with how we played tonight,” CHS coach Bill Sleeman said after a 66-37 win over Jeffers Thursday night. “We got off to a much better start then we did Tuesday night (versus Republic-Michigamme.)”

In that game, the Panthers trailed by 12 points early in the second half before bouncing back for an easy 58-41 victory.

The Jets permitted the fast-breaking Panthers to grab the early lead, one they never relinquished.

“It’s tough to play a team like that when your effort isn’t there,” JHS first-year coach Trent Keteri said afterward. “They jumped on us right away with their pressure.”

The Chassell full-court pressure paid dividends with a 12-3 lead right off the bat. The Jets managed to cut it to 16-9 at the end of the quarter on a 3-point shot by Carson Turner.

Sleeman said his team’s defensive focus was on the high-scoring Turner.

“I thought we did a good job of defending him (Turner),” the Chassell coach said. “Everything runs through him, and we knew if we could slow him down, we felt it would give us a real good chance.”

Junior center Elijah Soumis and senior forward Grant Hokenson (14 combined points) made big contributions for Chassell with their inside work in the opening half, which ended with the Panthers holding a safe 34-16 lead.

The lead swelled to 52-25 after three quarters as CHS effectively used its backdoor plays.

“They (Panthers) based their whole offense on backdoors,” Keteri said. “They beat us every time with that play.”

Soumis paced the victors with 16 points and a team-leading six rebounds. Blade Warren had a solid all-around game with 14 points, seven assists and six steals.

“Blade (Warren) had a heckuva game, he was doing it all tonight,” Sleeman said.

Aaron Barnes and speedy guard Abe Gockenbach chipped in 10 points each, while Hokenson had eight points and five rebounds.

“I like our balanced scoring so far,” Sleeman said. “It makes it tough for the other teams to figure out where to defend us.”

The Jets, 0-3 overall and in the Copper Mountain Conference, were led by Turner with 13 points and seven boards. David Jukkala added nine points and six rebounds.

Jeffers will host Hancock on Monday.

– – –

Chassell 16 18 18 14 – 66

Jeffers 9 7 9 1 2 – 37

CHASSELL — Barnes 10, Warren 14, Hokenson 8, Soumis 16, Gockenbach 10, Kytta 3, M. Tuomi 1, Kinnunen 4. FT: 6-9; Rebounds: 32 (Soumis 6); Fouls: 11; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Warren 2.

JEFFERS — Turner 13, Mattila 7, Jukkala 9, Hill 2, Ruohonen 2, Kinnunen 2. FT: 7-14; Rebounds: 24 (Turner 7); Fouls: 12; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Turner 2, Mattila 1, Jukkala 1.