Christopher escapes Chester with 67-65 win
<span>CHESTER -- Chester had one of the best teams in Southern Illinois on the ropes for a quarter and a half, but untimely turnovers by the Yellow Jackets and clutch shooting by Christopher allowed the Bearcats to squeak out a 67-65 win on Friday.</span>
<span>Hunter Wheeler's layup with 6.2 seconds left gave Christopher a 67-65 lead, and the Yellow Jackets (12-8, 2-3 BDC) dropped their fifth game this season by three points or less.</span>
<span> </span>Recently-dedicated "Rocky" Bridges Court looked like it would see its first upset when Chester jumped out to a 15-3 lead on a 3-pointer from Hunter Howie with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
<span>But Christopher (17-1) clawed back into it in trailing only 33-32 at halftime.</span>
<span>"When you're on the road in the Black Diamond (Conference), it's going to be hard and (Chester) is a very good basketball team," said Christopher coach Eric Stallman. "They are a very good team. They are strong and physical, they've got a Division I football player (Jordan Berner) out there on the floor and he may not be the greatest scorer for them, but he is an absolute stud."</span>
<span>Berner, Jason Schwartz and Jack Weir all finished with 12 points for Chester, which was led by 16 points from Howie and 13 from Savion Smith.</span>
<span>And Howie played directly into the ending of the game, as his 3-point try from the left wing fell short. Weir came up with the rebound and the official closest to the basket blew his whistle and appeared to call for a foul before the final horn sounded.</span>
<span>After a conference of the officials, it was decided the call came after the horn.</span>
<span>"We wanted to get Jason on a curl so he could catch-and-go," Norman said of Chester's final possession. "We got a good curl and Demontae (Martin) set him a great screen and got ran over.</span>
<span>"Jason got into the middle and drew two or three guys and he made the great pass (to Howie). That's exactly how we drew it up and they executed it pretty well, Hunter just didn't have enough leg into it."</span>
<span>Isaac McPhail scored a game-high 19 points for Christopher, which kept its undefeated streak in BDC play intact at 5-0. Hunter Wheeler added 18 points, while Bradley Young contributed 15.</span>
<span>"Free throw disparity hurt us though," Stallman said. "(Chester) shot 37 free throws and we shot 11. That's what happens on the road and it's tough."</span>
<span>The Yellow Jackets (12-8, 2-3 BDC) missed 17 of those free throws, including six in the fourth quarter. Stallman also gave his view of the climactic final play.</span>
<span>"I talked to our kids, we obviously didn't want to foul a 3-point shooter or give them a three-point play," Stallman said. "I told them 'They're in the double-bonus, they don't shoot free throws very well.' In general, if we fouled them there it wouldn't have been that big of a deal."</span>
<span>Chester held a 64-63 lead on a layup by Berner with 2:34 remaining. Christopher turned the ball over on a traveling call 14 seconds later, but the Yellow Jackets weren't able to take advantage of the opportunity.</span>
<span>"In the second half, we just knew it was going to be a battle," Norman said. "We knew we had to do the best that we could defensively and made a couple of adjustments.</span>
<span>"We went to a zone for a few possessions for a little while and I think that caused some trouble for them. Just in the last last minute and a half, we didn't execute and had three really crucial turnovers late in the game when we were up by one point."</span>
<span>Chester moved on to host Dongola on Tuesday night, a game that occurred after the Herald Tribune went to press. The Yellow Jackets are at New Athens on Saturday before returning to BDC play on Feb. 3 at Goreville.</span>
<span>Chester will also make the return visit to Christopher on Feb. 10. The JV Yellow Jackets (9-2, 5-0 BDC) won their game, 53-41, while the Chester freshmen (6-3, 4-0 BDC) handily defeated the Bearcats 60-9.</span>
Chester 56, Shawnee 44: <span>Jason Schwartz scored 15 points to lead four Yellow Jackets in double figures as Chester downed Shawnee on Jan. 21.</span>
<span>Savion Smith had 12 points for Chester, while Jack Weir added 11 and Jordan Berner contributed 10.</span>