CHS Lady Jackets win 3rd Annual Mid-Winter Classic Consolation Championship

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets Basketball Team won the Championship of the 2009 Lady Jackets Mid- Winter Classic Consolation bracket in the 3rd Annual Tournament last week. The event began Monday, January 5 and ran throughout the week with the finals taking place Saturday, January 10.

Action started with Marissa hosting Agape Christian School of Energy, Illinois Monday at 6:00 P.M. The Lady Meteors defeated Agape quite handily, 66-22 in the opening round behind Dena Malkin's 14 points to advance to the second round on the Championship side of the bracket. Agape was led by Ashley Deitz who scored eight points. Agape's loss put them on the loser's side of the bracket and they would play CHS in the second round.

In the second game of the tournament on Monday, January 5 at 7:30 P.M. the Lady Jackets hosted Sesser-Valier. The Lady Devils prevailed over the Yellow Jackets, 53-27 to advance to the second round of the winner's bracket. Chester moved to the Consolation bracket to play Agape Christian.

Sesser led 16-7 after one quarter of play and led 28-15 at the half. After a 17-7 third quarter the Devils led CHS, 45-22. In the final period Sesser added another eight points to their total for a final score of 53 points. Chester could only muster another five points to end the game with 27 points.

Hilary Best paced the Jackets with eight points and five rebounds, followed by Marci Tressler who added seven points, one rebound and two assists. Danielle Helmers contributed six points and led the team in rebounding with 11 boards. She also dished out two assists.

Rounding out the scoring for Chester were Emily Beers, Shelly Lyons and Kinzie Buchheit with two points apiece. Beers also had three rebounds and two assists while Buchheit grabbed a pair of rebounds.

With the loss Chester dropped to 3-9 overall for the year and pitted themselves against Agape in the next round set for Thursday, January 8 at 6:00 P.M.

Tuesday, January 6 Cairo hosted Elverado in the second day of competition beginning at 6:00 P.M. The Cairo Lady Pilots handed the Falcons a loss, 70-43. Cairo jumped out to a 20-4 first quarter lead and led 36-18 at the halftime break.

In the second half the Falcons came out stronger and only trailed the Pilots 15-12, but the overall score after three quarters of action was Cairo 51 - Elverado 30. A 19-13 fourth period spree sealed the game for Cairo and the Lady Pilots defeated the Lady falcons, 70-43.

With the win, Cairo earned a spot on the winner's side of the bracket while Elverado moved to the Consolation bracket.

Game No. 2 of the evening featured Valmeyer and New Athens. Valmeyer scooted out to a nice 23-9 lead in the first quarter and led 35-22 lead at the break. In the third quarter New Athens actually outscored Valmeyer 13-10 and the score going into the final period was Valmeyer 45- New Athens 35.

In the fourth quarter Valmeyer's Emily Edler broke loose with 13 points to pace the team in a 21-19 advantage to win the game 66-54 and advance to the Championship side of the bracket. They would play Cairo Friday evening at 7:30 P.M. New Athens moved to the Consolation bracket to compete against Elverado Thursday at 7:30 P.M.

Valmeyer was paced by Emily Edler who scored 29 points and Kylee Inman who added 23. New Athens was led by Samantha Hutchinson who scored 22 points.

Wednesday, January 7 was a night off for the Mid Winter Classic with all teams resting and/or practicing for the second round of action which began Thursday January 8.

In the first game of the night Agape hosted Chester at 6:00 P.M. Chester came to play and defeated Agape, 61-23 to advance the Consolation Championship game.

In the first quarter Chester led 13-6 after a rather slow, sluggish start. The Jackets got in gear in the second quarter and out-scored Agape Christian, 18-9 to enjoy a comfortable 31-15 lead going into the locker room at the half.

The Jackets came back after the break and added another 14 points, but Agape added 12 that period. Chester led 45-27 heading into the final period. A nice 16-5 run in the fourth quarter allowed Chester to pull away once and for all and win the game with a final score of 61-32.

In the win the Jackets got scoring from all but two players. Every Lady Jacket got into the game and contributed to the victory. The Jackets were paced by a pair of seniors. Both Dani Helmers and Kinzie Buchheit scored 12 points apiece. Helmers added 12 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a blocked shot to her game resume. Buchheit added two steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Marci Tressler, another senior, scored eight points. Tressler also had three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Emily Beers contributed six points, three rebounds, four assists and a steal while fellow senior, Jamie Springer added two points, a steal, three rebounds and four assists. Al- together the Lady Jacket seniors teamed up to score 40 of the 61 points. They also grabbed 25 rebounds, had 17 assists and had six steals.

Other contributors to the win included Jade Jolly (7 points), Shelly Lyons (4 points), and Ariel Gales, Hilary Best, Megan Marcinkowska and Kristy Pulliam who each scored two points apiece.

With the victory the Chester Lady Jackets improved to 4-9 overall and they earned the right to play for the Consolation Championship on Saturday afternoon at 3:45 P.M. Agape moved into the 7th place game at 2:15 P.M.

The other game of the Consolation bracket Thursday evening January 8 pitted Elverado against New Athens to decide who would compete against Chester for the Consolation Championship. That game took place at 7:30 P.M.

Elverado jumped out to a comfortable 9-2 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter New Athens outscored Elverado, 14-12 and Elverado led 21-16 at the half.

Following the break the New Athens Yellow Jackets outpaced the Elverado Falcons 15-5 to take the lead 31-26. The final quarter was a deadlock at 12-12. New Athens was ahead at the buzzer to win 43-38 and advance to the Consolation Championship game against Chester. Elverado moved into the 7th place game against Agape.

New Athens was paced by Samantha Hutchinson who scored a game high 25 points. Elverado was led by Sami Hicks who contributed 12 points for the Falcons.

Game #7 of the tournament on Friday, January 9 featured Marissa against Sesser at 6:00 P.M. Sesser prevailed 43-38 over the Meteors to advance to the Championship game. Marissa moved into the 3rd place game.

The Meteors were led by Dena Malkin who had 11 points. Sesser was paced by Terra Flowers who had 13 points for the Lady Devils. During the game Sesser's Emmalee Metcalf was honored and recognized for scoring her 1000th point of her career.

The other semi-final game of the evening featured Valmeyer and Cairo in a battle to determine who would be the other team to make it to the Championship game. Valmeyer broke Cairo's undefeated status in a close, hard-fought game, winning, 68-65 in a wild affair.

Valmeyer had three players in double figures to win the game and earn the right to play Sesser for the tournament championship. Emily Edler led Valmeyer with 25 points followed by Kylee Inman (23) and sister Corine Inman (10). Cairo's leading scorer was Daviah Pierce who broke loose with 31 points.

The brackets were now set for the final night of action Saturday, January 10. The four-game series of games began with the 7th place game at 2:15 P.M. Elverado hosted Agape with the Lady Falcons defeating Agape Christian, 50-28.

Elverado was led by Sami Hicks who had 18 points for the game. Agape was led by Ashley Dietz who contributed nine points. With the win, Elverado finished the tournament with a record of 1-2 while Agape went winless at 0-3 in their first trip to Chester.

The Consolation Champion-ship game featured the hometown Chester Lady Yellow Jackets and the New Athens Yellow Jackets. One thing for sure was that a Yellow Jackets team would definitely win the Consolation Championship game.

Chester slipped by New Athens in the first quarter with a lead of 10-6 and outscored the New Athens Yellow Jackets 13-11 in the second period to take a 23-17 lead into the locker room at the break.

Chester struggled a bit in the third quarter and let New Athens gain a slight advantage outscoring them 10-9, but Chester still maintained a slim five-point lead, 32-27. New Athens outscored the Chester Jackets again in the final period, 21-19; however Chester had a big enough advantage going into the final period to win the game, 51-48.

The Jackets got scoring power from eight players including leaders Dani Helmers (13) and Kinzie Buchheit (12). Helmers also had her second double-double as she led in rebounding too with 13 boards. Buchheit grabbed five boards. Helmers had two steals and a pair of assists to add to her resume while Buchheit added an assist.

Also contributing to the offense were Marci Tressler (9), Jamie Springer (6), Hilary Best (5) and Emily Beers, Jade Jolly and Jordan Clendenin who each added two apiece.

With the win Chester improved to 5-9 for the season overall and they finished the 3rd Annual Chester Lady jacket Mid Winter Classic with a record of 2-1. The Jackets brought home a nice Consolation Championship trophy for their efforts.

New Athens was paced by Samantha Hutchinson who scored 22 points. Two other Yellow jackets players scored in double figures. Rachel Ozier scored 11 points while Abby Wolf added ten points.

The evening games began at 5:30 P.M. with Marissa taking on Cairo in the 3rd place game. Winning third place was Marissa who easily handled Cairo, 69-46. Marissa was led by Kristen Terry who had a whopping 43 points in the game. Dena Malkin scored 10 points while Kara Wine added nine.

In the loss Cairo had three girls in double figures. Daviah Pierce scored 11 points for the Pilots while both Paulette Thomas and Reed each scored 10 points apiece. With the win Marissa left the 3rd Annual Mid Winter Classic with a tournament of 2-1 and the 3rd Place trophy. Cairo finished with a tournament record of 1-2.

The Championship game featured Sesser Valier and Valmeyer in a 7:00 P.M. match up. Sesser jumped out to a 15-7 first quarter lead and out scored Valmeyer 22-4 in the second quarter for a 35-11 halftime lead.

In the third period the Devils once again outscored Valmeyer 16-9 for a third quarter 53-20 advantage. Down the stretch Valmeyer outscored Sesser 7-4 but it was too little too late as the Lady Devils went on to win the 3rd Annual Mid Winter Classic 57-27.

Sesser was paced by Ashley Slack who had 16 points and Emmalee Metcalf who scored 14 points. Kate laird added 10 points. Valmeyer was led by Kaylee Inman with nine points.

Sesser won the tournament with an undefeated record of 3-0 while Valmeyer ended up at 2-1. Sesser won the Championship trophy while Valmeyer took home the runner up trophy.

Following the Championship game CHS Athletic Director Mike Coffey presented the 2009 Chester Lady Jacket Mid Winter Classic All-Tournament Team. Head Coaches from all of the eight participating teams voted for ten girls in rank order to determine the squad. The top vote getter was the MVP of the tournament. Coaches could not vote for players from their own teams.

The 2009 All-Tournament Team included, in order of the voting, MVP, Sam Hutchinson, New Athens; Emmalee Metcalf, Sesser-Valier; Emily Edler, Valmeyer, Kylee Inman, Valmeyer; Kristen Terry, Marissa; Daviah Pierce, Cairo; Danielle Helmers, Chester; Kara Wine, Marissa; Marci Tressler, Chester and Sami Hicks, Elverado. Each girl received a trophy for her efforts.