Chester boys defeat Sesser-Valier on Senior Night

Posted February 19, 2016 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

Jason Schwartz scored 18 points in his final basketball game at Colbert Gymnasium, and Chester held off Sesser-Valier for a 66-57 Senior Night victory.

Chester trailed the Red Devils 49-43 late in the third quarter, but a 13-2 run by the Yellow Jackets bridging the third and fourth quarters saw Chester take a 56-51 lead on two free throws by Schwartz with 5:10 remaining.

"I thought our energy level was fine, I just thought we had some breakdowns on defense," said Chester coach Brad Norman. "We gave up some easy looks, a lot of easy looks, and we've got to do a better job of that.

"We've talked about that before because that's been an issue and we did a real good job against Christopher on the rotation and it seems like we've fallen off since then."

Despite Chester's surge, the Red Devils had some fight left, closing to within a point, 58-57, on a steal and layup by Peyton Rock with 2:26 to go.

But the Yellow Jackets made sure Chester's seniors of Schwartz and Austin Carpenter went home happy by closing the game out at the free-throw line.

"We were smarter in the second half and we took better shots and got to the free-throw line," Norman said.

Jack Weir added 16 points and Jake Golding contributed 13 for Chester (20-8, 7-2 Black Diamond West), which reached the 20-win mark for the fifth time in program history and second in Norman's tenure.

If the Yellow Jackets defeat Trico in the semifinals of the Class 2A Sparta Regional - a game that occurred after the Herald Tribune went to press - they would have matched the most-single season wins under Norman.

In his fifth season in Chester, Norman - with 85 victories - is only eight wins behind Bill Brewer for most in Yellow Jacket history.

"We're not going to underestimate anybody," Norman said of Trico, a team Chester has played three times previously this season. "We're not going to overlook Trico by any means."

Charles Farmer scored a game-high 21 points for Sesser-Valier, which finished the regular season with a record of 10-19 and 2-8 in the BDC West. Lukas Gunter also chipped in 15 points for the Red Devils.

Norman also commented about his seniors, who were honored with their parents before the contest. Senior cheerleader Elizabeth Heffernan was also honored.

"They're both great kids," Norman said. "I think Austin Carpenter was a big surprise for us. We had no clue he was coming in and then he kinda comes out of nowhere and says 'Hey coach, I'm here to play basketball.'

"I'm like 'Who is this kid?' Carp's a funny character, but he brings a lot to our team and he's fearless."

Norman has commented previously on what Schwartz has meant to the program and reiterated that again after the game.

"I think he's special," Norman said. "He's a really good kid. He's going to be a great father, he's going to be a great citizen of the community. He's going to be someone special in life."

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