Chester boys basketball Rough week, as Jackets go 1-3
Goreville escapes Chester, 43-32; CHS Wins vs Vienna, 63-22; and Carbondale slips by Jackets, 41-28
The Chester Yellow Jacket Basketball Team finished 2-1 the week of February 4-8. The Jackets had a close game at Goreville Tuesday February 4, eventually losing to the Blackcats, by 11 points, 43-32.
CHS hosted the last two games of the week to win one and lose one. Friday February 7 Chester hosted Vienna and won, 63-22. The next afternoon, the Carbondale Terriers came to town and managed to escape the sting of the Yellowjackets, 41-28.
Goreville 43; Chester 32
It was a contest to set the standard for who might take over the lead of the Black Diamond Conference West Division and Chester came to play. By halftime, the highly competitive game looked about even, and Goreville led, 14-13.
In the third, both teams went back to work. Yellow Jacket Jordan Hughes came alive and scored twice and DeOndre Martin added a basket. Chett Andrews also popped a two-pointer to give CHS eight points.
Goreville kept things interesting and had six players contribute sparingly. Trent Glidwell, Briley Dunn, Dylan Compton and Landon Albright each added two points apiece while Kanon Webb made one of two free throws. The Cats outscored the Jackets, 10-8 and took a three-point lead, 24-21, into the final period.
The fourth quarter proved to be the deciding factor that allowed the Blackcats to extend their lead to 11 points and get a win over the Jackets, 43-32.
Goreville Coach Todd Tripp said, "It was a pretty ugly game because there wasn't a lot of excitement offensively, and we turned the ball over a lot, but they turned it over more than we did."
In the loss, Chester was led by DeOndre Martin who was Chester's only layer in double figures with 13 points. Jordan Hughes added seven points and Ian Reith added six. Matt Korando scored four points and Chett Andrews rounded out Chester's offense with two points. The Jackets shot 6-of-9 from the free-throw line (67%).
Goreville improved to 6-0 in the BDC and 22-2 overall. Chester fell to 5-2 in the conference and 15-9 overall.
"We tried to play to our strength which is patience and we got away with it early," Coach Brad Norman said. "Turnovers hurt us and we didn't shoot well. In spite of those issues, we were still in the game until we had to start fouling in the final minute of the game."
CHS 63; Vienna 22
Chester hosted Vienna Feb. 7 in a rematch of a BDC rivalry game on Dec. 10 at Vienna, which the Jackets won rather handily, 61-33.
CHS led 13-4 after one quarter against the Eagles behind the play of Ian Reith who scored seven of Chester's 13 points. The Jackets led, 10-0 at the 4:50 mark. Vienna's Jonathon Green scored for the Eagles at 3:18 as CHS led, 10-2.
Dawson Hill scored at 2:00 to bring Vienna within six points, 10-4, but Ian Reith knocked down a trey at 1:30 to extend the CHS lead to 13-4 after one quarter of play.
Lane Ross scored to open second quarter action and Vienna was within seven points, 13-6. Ian Reith answered for Chester with 10 points of his own during the next four minutes. Tat 10-2 run gave Chester a nice 23-8 lead at 4:09.
DeOndre Martin scored three times in the closing four minutes and Ian Reith added a basket for an 8-7 run to end the half, 31-15.
Chester dominated the entire third quarter with a huge 23-2 run to lead, 54-17 after three quarters. During that run, Jared Landeros scored 10 points on a pair of three-pointers, a field goal and 2-for-2 free throw shooting.
Ian Reith added six points on back-to-back baskets and 2-for-2 free throw shooting. Matt Korando added four points on a pair of field goals and a buzzer-beater three-pointer for seven more points.
There was a continuous clock in the fourth quarter. During the final 8:00 the Jackets outscored the Eagles, 9-5. Chester's Chett Andrews scored five of the Jacket's nine points on a two-point shot and a three-pointer. Sophomores Ethan Stumpe and Aiden Jany each added a free throw each and junior Nate Heffernan drained a basket for Chester's nine points.
In the win, Chester was led by Ian Reith who blew away the competition with 25 points, followed by Jared Landeros (10), Matt Korando (9), DeOndre Martin (6), Chett Andrews (5), Jordan Hughes (4), Nate Heffernan (2), and Eli Hughes and Ethan Stumpe with one apiece. The Jackets were 8-of-12 from the free-throw line (67%).
Vienna was led by Lane Ross who scored nine points followed by Richie Oliver (3) and Dawson Hill, Matthew Naese, Kaden Vaughn, Skylar Blankenship, and Jonathon Green, who scored two points apiece. The Eagles shot 40 percent (4-of-10) from the free-throw line.
"We attacked the rim and did well down low," Coach Norman said. "We were dialed in tonight and played with confidence. We did a good job of playing our game and didn't let down."
Carbondale 41; Chester 28
Carbondale has about 1,000 students, about three times the size of Chester High School.
"We will have to take care of the ball and force them to play our pace if we are going to win," Norman said before the game. We need to control the game and keep our turnovers down to be successful."
That game plan worked well the first quarter as the Yellow Jackets held the Terriers scoreless during the opening 8:00. Jared Landeros was able to score two points and DeOndre Martin made both of his free throw attempts. The Jackets led, 4-0 after one quarter.
But the Terriers wore the Jackets down in the second frame and outscored Chester 21-3 to lead, 21-7 at halftime.
Carbondale's Tavaris Macklin scored nine points on a three-pointer, two 2-pointers and two free throws. Davaris Macklin added four points on a three ball and a two-pointer, while Fairleigh Ward drained a three pointer and a two-pointer. Clayton Greer rounded off the Terrier attack with a three-pointer to give Carbondale 21 points.
Chester was only able to add two points from Landeros from 2-for-2 free throw shooting and a free shot from Ian Reith.
After halftime the Terriers controlled the game, allowing Carbondale to score just 10 points. T. Macklin and D. Macklin each hit one field goal apiece and Ward made a basket and two free shots.
The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, could only muster up three more points on a two-point field goal and 1-of-2 free throw shooting by DeOndre Martin. The Terriers led, 31-10 after three quarters of play.
Down the stretch the Yellowjackets outscored Carbondale, 18-10 to close out the game. DeOndre Martin and Jared Landeros each drained three-pointers during that stretch and Ian Reith scored nine points by sinking three field goals and 3-of-4 free throws. Chett Andrews also popped a three ball for three more points.
Carbondale added four points from D. Macklin on a field goal and perfect free throw shooting (2-for-2) and T. Macklin made both of his free throw attempts. Ward and Ragland each hit field goals to round out the Terrier attack. Carbondale led by 13 points, 41-28 at the end of play.
In the loss, Chester was led by Ian Reith who scored 10 points followed by DeOndre Martin (8), Jared Landeros (7), and Chett Andrews (3). The Jackets were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line (75%).
Carbondale was led by three players who scored in double figures including T. Macklin (13), F. Ward (11) and D. Macklin (10). Ragland added four points and Greer threw in three points. The Terriers shot 67 percent from the free-throw line (8-of-12).