Yellow Jackets take fifth at tournament
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Chester's boys basketball team spent a productive four days at last week's Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, winning three games and finishing in fifth place.
The opening round saw Chester take out Cobden by a score of 66-47. Chester was only up by three early in the second quarter when they shifted into another gear and went on a 13-2 run to take control.
Zach Lochhead was the main offensive threat for the Yellow Jackets. Despite not scoring in the fourth quarter he still finished with an impressive 29 points. Also scoring for Chester were Matt Chandler with 11, Seth Johnson with eight, Woodward with six, Matt Heberlie with four, Chris Schwartz and Caleb Arbeiter with three each, Brandon Straight with two and Boyd Miles with one. Cobden's leading scorer was Rob Lehr with 17.
In the quarterfinals Chester suffered their only loss of the tournament to a much-improved Sparta squad by a score of 61-50. The third quarter proved to be the difference as the Bulldogs outscored the Yellow Jackets 22-11.
Lochhead was the leading scorer with 19 points, Woodward was right behind with 18, Heberlie had six, Chandler put in three and Straight and Schwartz added two each. Aaron Rushing led Sparta with 14 points.
Chester had a battle on their hands in the third round but eventually topped New Athens by a score of 53-49. New Athens got off to a quick start and led 8-2 before Chester settled down and fought their way back into the contest. The lead changed hands several times during the second and third quarters and the contest was tied 44-44 midway through the fourth before Chester pulled away for the win.
Lochhead put in 20 points to lead the offense, Chandler had 14, Woodward scored nine, Johnson had six and Schwartz added for. Lochhead and Chandler were also the leading rebounders. Adam Ingles led New Athens with 13 points.
The Yellow Jackets captured the fifth-place trophy with a 59-54 win over Marissa-Coulterville. Chester led much of the game, but the Meteors went on a 13-4 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to take a four point lead. That seemed to be all Marissa-Coulterville had, though, as Chester closed the game on a 15-6 run for the win.
Lochhead and Chandler each put in 16 points, Woodward had 14, Johnson scored six, Schwartz had three and Straight and Arbeiter added two each. Joey Martin led the Meteors with 19 points.
After the championship game Lochhead was named to the all-tournament team.