Chester competes in Murphysboro tournament
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[By Mike Trotter
Staff Reporter
The Yellow Jackets struggled in the first round of the Ernie Bozarth Memorial Tournament and lost to Murphysboro by a score of 73-29. Murphysboro put the game away early when they scored 23 points in each of the first two quarters while holding Chester to only 11 total points by halftime.
Zach Lochhead was the leading scorer for Chester with 15 points, Justin Woodward put in six, Matt Chandler had five and Chris Schwartz added four. Seth Johnson was the leading rebounder. Jerrod Gaston led Murphysboro with 21 points.
Chester bounced back on Tuesday with a nice 65-59 win over Cleveland. The Yellow Jackets only led by two after three quarters but outscored Cleveland 21-17 down the stretch to get the victory.
Lochhead was the hot shooter for Chester as he put in 25 points. Other offensive leaders were Chandler with 11, Woodward with 10, Matt Heberlie with seven, Schwartz with six, Brandon Young with four and Johnson with two.
Friday night's contest against Gateway was a wild, fast-paced game that saw Chester fall by a score of 78-67. The game got a little sloppy at times as both teams committed many costly turnovers. The Yellow Jackets seemed to struggle against a quicker and more athletic club, but they did rally from a 19-point deficit to within three during the fourth quarter. Unfortunately they could not get any closer as the Jaguars finally made a few key free-throws at the end to get the win.
Lochhead turned in another great performance with 34 points, half of them coming in the fourth quarter. Chandler scored 14, Woodward had 13 and Heberlie, Johnson and Brandon Straight each added two. Chandler was also the leading rebounder with 13. Andrenos Powell was the leading scorer for Gateway with 17 points.
Chester wrapped up their participation in the tournament with a 61-44 loss to Carterville on Saturday. The game was tied 23-23 at halftime but Carterville took control with a 19-10 run in the third.
Lochhead and Woodward each put in 13 points, Heberlie had 11, Johnson scored four and Straight added three. Ryan Bonifield was the leading scorer for Carterville with 15 points.