CHS Lady Yellow Jackets win 2010 Mid Winter Classic Consolation Championship

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets Basketball Team won the Consolation Championship of their own 2010 Lady Jacket Mid Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. It is the second year in-a-row that the Lady Jackets have accomplished this feat.

The 2010 classic featured an eight team field for the first time since the tournament was established four years ago. Prior to this year the event was always a round-robin tournament. This year the field expanded to eight teams and there are even more teams interested in getting into the 2011 event.

The 2010 Mid Winter Classic featured Chester, Marissa, Sesser Valier, Elverado, Agape Christian, Trico, Valmeyer and New Athens. Marissa-Coulterville was the overall winner with Sesser-Valier as runner up. Trico won the third place game and Chester was the winner of the Consolation Championship bracket.

The tournament opened with Chester hosting Elverado on Tuesday, January 5 at 6 p.m. The Jackets beat Elverado back on November 20 at the DuQuoin Tip-Off Classic by a score of 46-39 so the Jackets had high hopes of repeating that feat in the opening round of the Mid Winter Classic.

Elverado had other ideas, however, and played the Jackets very tough and won the game, 47-36 which was a very similar score as the one in which Chester beat them back in November.

Elverado jumped out to a comfortable 10-4 first quarter lead and never really looked back. The Lady Falcons extended their lead to 22-18 at the half and led by four in spite of the fact that Chester outscored them 14-12 in the second quarter.

The third quarter was close with the Falcons outscoring the Jackets, 9-6 to extend the lead to seven points, 31-24. A 16-12 fourth quarter did the Jackets in as Elverado beat Chester, 47-36. With the win the Falcons advanced to the Championship side of the bracket while Chester moved to the Consolation side of the bracket.

In the game Shelly Lyons paced the Jackets with eight points followed by Hilary Best (7), Megan Marcinkowska (6), Jordan Clendenin (5), Jade Jolly and Raelyn Rosendohl who added four apiece and Shelby Helmers who had two. Two Lady Falcons scored in double figures to lead Elverado. Courtney Morse scored 15 points while Chelsea Cocharan scored 14.

Best led the Jackets on the boards with 12 rebounds, and Shelly Lyons, one of the smallest Lady Jackets, grabbed seven boards. Shelby Helmers also had seven rebounds. Lyons and Kellie Bert recorded three steals apiece while Best and Marcinkowska each had a pair of steals. Lyons and Jordan Clendenin led the team in hard play marks.

The loss allowed the Lady Falcons to avenge the November 20 loss to Chester and dropped the Jackets to 1-13 overall. Coach Rick Powley noted after the game that the Jackets did not transition well or play very aggressive defense against the Lady Falcons. "We will have to regroup and work on both defense and running the floor before our next game," stated Powley.

In the second game of the tournament at 7:30 p.m. Marissa-Coulterville defeated Agape Christian by a score of 84-28 to advance to the Championship side of the bracket. They would Elverado in the second round Friday, January 8 at 6 p.m. Agape moved to the Consolation side of the bracket and would face Chester in Round 2 of the tournament on Saturday, January 9 at 10 a.m.

Wednesday, January 6 Sesser Valier hosted New Athens in their opening games of the tournament at 6 p.m. Sesser was victorious with a rather easy win, 65-16, sending New Athens to the Consolation side of the bracket while Sesser Valier advanced to the Championship side of the bracket.

Trico and Valmeyer faced off at 7:30 p.m. with Trico winning handily over Valmeyer, 44-20. The win advanced Trico to the second round game in the Championship bracket against Sesser Valier at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 8. Valmeyer would face New Athens at 11:30 Saturday morning January 9 in the Consolation side of the bracket.

Snow and ice forced the Championship Semi-Final games originally scheduled for Thursday, January 7 to be switched to Friday, January 8. Marissa-Coulterville played Elverado at 6 p.m. with the Meteors winning quite easily, 53-13. The loss put the Lady Falcons in the hunt for 3rd place at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, January 9. Marissa then advanced to the Championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday, January 9.

Sesser Valier and Trico played at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 8 with Sesser winning 49-34 to advance to the Championship game against Marissa Saturday, January 9 at 7 p.m. Trico would play in the game to decide 3rd place at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, January 9 against Elverado.

Consolation Semi-Final Round games originally scheduled to be played Friday, January 8 had to be rescheduled to be played on Saturday morning January 9. Agape hosted Chester at 10 a.m. and New Athens hosted Valmeyer at 11:30 a.m.

The Lady Jackets worked very hard all week to improve their defense and transition games and it paid off against Agape as the Jackets played what seemed to their best basketball of the season.

The Lady Jackets sprinted out to a fast start scoring 24 points in the opening quarter. The Jacket defense held the Lady Knights to only eight points in that opening quarter.

In the second period CHS added 17 points to their total while they held Agape to an even lower number of points than in the first quarter. The Knights scored only five points as Chester took a 28-point lead, 41-13, into the locker room at the intermission.

During halftime Rick Powley, CHS Head Coach, praised his girls or their up tempo style of play and told them that they have always had the potential to play as well as in the first half against Agape. Powley encouraged the entire team to work hard to get a victory so they could advance to the Consolation Championship round.

The pep talk must have worked as Chester scored another 22 points in the third period. Agape scored seven as CHS led, 63-20 heading into the final stretch. The Lady Jackets were cruising to a victory with a true team effort as every member of the team played in that third quarter.

In the fourth period Powley pulled his starters early and the bench was able to contribute another six points while shutting out the Knights. Chester won the game, 69-20 and advanced to the Consolation Championship game.

The win was a great confidence-booster for the Lady Jackets as every player played a significant amount of time in the win and 11 of the 13 roster players scored in the 69-point offensive effort.

Chester had three players in double figures. Shelly Lyons led the Jackets with 14 points. Lyons scored almost all of her points off of the break and by driving hard to the basket in the paint.

Jade Jolly, just back from a year-long knee injury, proved that she was back in full force by contributing 10 points. Hilary Best, who has been a CHS staple all season long, also scored 10 points.

The team effort did not stop there, however, as eight other players also contributed offensively. Junior Ariel Gales scored eight points followed by senior captain Allison Miller (6), Jordan Clendenin (5), senior captain Kellie Bert (4), Kristy Pulliam (4), Megan Marcinkowska (4), Shelby Helmers (2) and Raelyn Rosendohl (2).

Ariel Gales and Hilary Best led the Jackets on the boards with eight rebounds apiece. For the day CHS grabbed 41 rebounds as a team. Eight players recorded assists for CHS led by Shelly Lyons, Hilary Best, Megan Marcinkowska and Jordan Clendenin who each dished out four apiece. For the day the Jackets had a total of 22 assists.

Shelly Lyons and Ariel Gales each had three steals apiece and Allison Miller took a monster charge on defense. Shelly Lyons and Ariel Gales recorded blocked shots and Jordan Clendenin drew a foul. Lyons recorded the highest number of hard-play marks with 13. The hard play chart is a team statistic which indicates the level of exceptional effort being expended by players.

The win against Agape improved the Yellow Jacket record to 2-13 overall and put Chester in the Consolation Championship game at 3:45 p.m. Agape would play in the 7th place game at 2:15 p.m.

The other morning game featured New Athens hosting Valmeyer at 11:30 a.m. New Athens won that competition, 39-29, to advance to the Consolation Championship game against Chester while Valmeyer would face Agape at 2:15 for the 7th place game title.

The Championship Round games were played as scheduled beginning at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, January 9 with Agape hosting Valmeyer for the 7th place title. Valmeyer came out on top of that competition winning, 61-42.

The Consolation Championship game featured the hosts Chester Yellow Jackets and the New Athens Yellow Jackets. One thing for sure was that the Yellow Jackets would be victorious. The only question was whether it would be the Chester Yellow Jackets or the New Athens Yellow Jackets.

Chester edged New Athens in the opening quarter leading, 11-9. In the second period New Athens took the advantage outscoring CHS, 13-9, to lead, 22-20 at the half. During the intermission Coach Powley challenged the Jackets to play hard and play smart down the stretch to secure the win. Transition and tough defense were encouraged and Powley assured the team that victory was possible.

The pep talk apparently worked as Chester outscored New Athens, 16-10 in the third quarter to regain the lead, 36-32 heading into the final period. The fourth quarter was a draw with both teams scoring seven points. Chester outlasted New Athens winning 43-39. The Chester Yellow Jackets won the Consolation Championship trophy for the second year-in-a row and ended the 2010 Mid Winter Classic with a record of 2-1.

Hilary Best was Chester's high-point scorer with 19 points. Best was also the "best" rebounder with 13 rebounds. Her 19 points and 13 rebounds gave her a double-double for the game. Best also had a steal; two jump balls, and she drew three fouls.

Jordan Clendenin scored eight points in the win. She also recorded five rebounds, an assist, two steals; one loose ball recovery and she took a charge and drew two fouls. Shelly Lyons and Ariel Gales each had six points.

Lyons also dished out four assists, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot. She recorded a total of nine hard play marks for the win. Gales grabbed six boards, had two jump balls and recorded a deflection as her added contribution to the victory.

Jade Jolly and Megan Marcinkowska each scored two points to round out the Jacket offense. Jolly also had five rebounds, two assists and she recorded five hustle-plus marks on the hard play chart. Marcinkowska had an assist, two steals and three deflections in the win.

For the game Chester recorded five steals, 13 hustle-plus marks, seven deflections, one blocked shot, six jump balls, two loose ball recoveries, 48 rebounds and nine assists. The Jackets further dove on the floor five times for balls and took one charge. The win improved Chester's overall record to 3-13 for the season.

The competition for 3rd place began at 5:30 p.m. and featured Trico and Elverado. Elverado never really gave up and played their hearts out right up until the end, but the Trico Lady Pioneers came out on top, 43-31 in the end to win the 3rd place trophy.

The Championship game started on time at 7 p.m. with Marissa-Coulterville hosting Sesser-Valier-Waltonville for the title of champion of the 2010 Chester Lady Jacket Mid Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. This was the 4th Annual event hosted by the Lady Jackets.

Marissa came into the tournament seeded No.1 and most fans thought that the Lady Meteors would win by at least 10 points. The Sesser Lady Devils had other ideas, however, and led most of the game.

In the fourth quarter when it looked as if there might be an upset, Marissa took care of the ball down the stretch and tied the game at the buzzer to put the Championship game into overtime.

In the overtime period Marissa managed to keep Sesser from making a serious run and the Meteors won a close one, 52-47. Immediately following the Championship game CHS Athletic Director, Mike Coffey presented the runner-up trophy to Sesser and the Championship trophy to Marissa.

Stadium announcer, James W. Best then announced the 2010 Mid Winter Classic All-Tournament Team consisting of nine members and a tournament MVP. Coffey presented each player with an individual All Tournament Team trophy.

All Tournament Team selections were, Shelly Lyons, Chester, Hilary Best, Chester, Chelsea Cocharan, Elverado, Beth Daniels, Trico, Kendra Goss, Marissa, Chelsea Jarrett, Trico, Dena Malkin, Marissa, Lorena Mario, Sesser Valier and Ashley Slack, Sesser Valier. The 2010 Mid Winter Classic MVP was Kara Wine, Marissa.

The 2010 Chester Lady Yellow Jackets Mid Winter Classic basketball Tournament was deemed a huge success in spite of the foul weather. All eight teams played well and stated that the Classic was one of the best organized and best hosted events that they had attended this season. Next year's event promises to even bigger and better as CHS brings the 5th Annual Mid Winter Classic to Colbert Memorial Gymnasium.