JV Lady Jackets fall to ZRC and Sesser
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester High School JV Lady Jackets Basketball Team came back from a three-week layoff facing Zeigler-Royalton-Christopher and Sesser-Valier in a pair of rather rough contests.
The last time the JV squad played was December 20 in a close, hard-fought battle with Trico in which the Jackets lost, 30-28. Since then it has been varsity tournament time and forced layoffs due to a lack of available competition and bad weather.
Since moving to the Black Diamond Conference several smaller schools have elected to not play a JV game due to low player numbers. Other non-conference schools also have difficulty fielding a JV squad so the CHS JV team has to sit idle while the varsity plays a full schedule.
Mike Coffey, CHS Athletic Director has been busy trying to find available teams to play, but the list of available teams dwindles smaller and smaller each year. As of the Sesser game January 22 the JV had played only a total of eight games. The varsity, on the other hand, had played more than twice that number of games at 17 games.
Thursday January 13 the JV traveled to Christopher High School to compete against the Ziegler-Royalton-Christopher Tornadoes. ZRC won that contest, 72-27 and dropped Chester's record to 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the Black Diamond Conference.
In that loss Chelsea Schroeder and Kaley Ludwig led the JV Jackets with seven points apiece. Averi Mueller connected for four points while Raelyn Rosendohl added three. Danette Abernathy and Katie Roth contributed two apiece while Libby Bollmann and Marah Laramore recorded one point apiece.
CHS trailed 13-4 after one quarter of action. ZRC outscored Chester, 19-8 in the second period taking a 32-12 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Tornadoes kept right on cruising in the third period outscoring CHS, 12-8 for a 44-20 lead heading into the final quarter. In the fourth quarter ZRC exploded for an additional 28 points while the Lady Jackets scored only seven. The final score was ZRC 72-CHS 27.
ZRC's Caruso led the Tornadoes with 17 points followed by Weddle (16), Grear (12), Beaver, Cole and Mayer with eight points apiece and Price with three points.
ZRC outrebounded Chester 39-20. The Jackets turned the ball over 15 times and recorded 11 bad passes. Averi Mueller and Raelyn Rosendohl paced the jackets on the boards with four rebounds apiece. The Lady Jackets shot just 6-for-30 from the field (20%) and 11-for-20 from the free throw line (55%).
After yet another week layoff the JV had the opportunity to compete again Saturday January 22. Chester hosted Sesser-Valier. The Lady Red Devils were young, but gave CHS a battle that was too much to handle.
The first quarter was very competitive as Sesser led by only one points after one quarter of play, 9-8. The second quarter was devastating as the Red Devils outscored the Jackets, 14-2 for a 13-point, 23-10 lead at the half.
The final two periods were much more competitive, but the killer second quarter proved to be too much from which to recover. Sesser outscored CHS, 10-8 in the third quarter, taking a 33-18 lead into the fourth quarter. In the final period the Devils outscored Chester, 12-8 for a final victory of 45-26.
Libby Bollmann was the only Lady Yellow Jacket in double figures with 11 points. Kellie Dillow and Sarah Bindel scored four points apiece while Alison Easton, Chelsea Schroeder and Kaley Ludwig each added two points apiece. Raelyn Rosendohl rounded out the Jacket offense hitting one free throw.
Sesser outrebounded CHS, 28-19. The Jackets turned the ball over 12 times and recorded 16 bad passes. The Jackets did record five steals, three loose ball recoveries; one blocked shot and created two Sesser turnovers. All together CHS recorded 26 hard play marks.
The JV shot 48 % from the field (10-for-21) and 4-for-6 from the free throw line (67%). Raelyn Rosendohl led the JV Jackets in rebounding with five boards. Rosendohl and Laramore each dished out an assist in the loss.
JV Coach, Connie Clendenin, noted that she was not too disappointed with the JV squad considering their lack of competition recently. "The JV has been off four-of-the-last five weeks. It is hard to get into a flow with so much down time. My girls have not played as a unit for weeks", exclaimed Clendenin, who tried to emphasize the positives that could be gleaned from the loss.
With the loss to Sesser-Valier the JV lady Yellow Jackets basketball Team dropped to 1-7 overall and 1-5 in the Black Diamond Conference race. The JV was scheduled to play Anna-Jonesboro Monday January 24. They will compete at Trico Thursday January 27 and at Elverado Monday January 31. Saturday February 5 the JV will conclude their season hosting Carterville. Chester will begin the day with a 9:00 a.m. freshmen game followed by a 10:00 a.m. JV matchup and concluding with an 11:00 a.m. contest.