(10) Lady Jackets open Saturday February 12 at 1:00 p.m. at (9) Belleville Althoff
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER — It is hard to believe but the Chester High School Lady Jackets Basketball Team has arrived at the final week of the 2021-22 regular season. The Jackets played their final road game at Trico Monday February 7, winning by 10-points, 38-28.
Chester 38-Trico 28
Chester led, 10-7 after one quarter of play and 12 at the half. In the third quarter the Lady Pioneers outscored Chester, 11-8 to pull within six points, 29-23, but the Jackets held on with a 9-5 performance down the stretch to win, 38-28 in a hard-fought game.
The first half was predominantly Alyssa Seymour vs Trico as the senior strong forward scored 7-of-10 first quarter Chester points. In the second quarter Seymour reproduced her first period performance scoring 7-of-10 second quarter points for 14-of-21 first half points.
Jazzi Meredith scored three points for CHS in the first quarter and Camrynn Howie and Kailyn Absher added two points apiece to round out the first half scoring.
First half scoring for the Lady Pioneers included Taylor Cottom (6), Alyssa Bastien (3), Autumn Kennedy (2), and Haley Kranawetter (1).
After the halftime break Trico came back with a vengeance and outscored Chester, 11-8. Taylor Cottom paced the Pioneers with four points and Haley Kranawetter popped a 3-pointer. Mia Jimenez and Autumn Kennedy completed the third period adding a basket apiece.
Once again Alysa Seymour led Chester, scoring 5-of-8 Lady Jacket points and Camrynn Howie drained a 3-pointer to complete Chester’s 8-point outing.
Coach Clint Cowan said, “To be honest, we didn’t play well offensively tonight. We continued to turn the ball over tonight, but when it counter late in the game, we took care of the ball and brought home a win.”
Down the stretch the Chester girls outscored Trico 9-5 to secure the win. The Lady Pioneers had to foul Chester’s Alyssa Seymour in the fourth quarter to stop the clock. Seymour was sent to the line four times, making two of her free throws. She also added four points on layups.
Chester High School freshman, Rylie Conley (4) has become somewhat of a lifesaver for her team this year. Conley is known to step up and hit the 3-point shots for the Jackets in times of dire need. In several cases her timely 3-pointers have kept the Jackets alive just when it looks as if the team is in terrible trouble. In the win against Trico Monday February 7 Conley popped a trey late in the final period to help give her squad a 10-point 38-28 win over the Lady Pioneers. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s other three points came from the freshman, Rylie Conley, who as of late has been a key contributor for the Jackets. Coming up with 3-pointers at just the right times to help keep Chester alive in close games.
Trico did not go away, however, in the fourth quarter as sophomores Taylor Cottom and Alexis Stroub both hit buckets and Haley Kranawetter made a free throw to close out the contest for Trico.
In the not-so-pretty win, CHS was led by senior Alyssa Seymour who scored 25 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to keep Chester alive.
Fellow senior Kailyn Absher led the Jackets in steals with 5 takeaways, was second in rebounds with 9, and scored 2 points. Together Seymour and Absher scored 27-of-38 Chester points and grabbed a total of 28 rebounds.
Sophomore Camrynn Howie led the team in assists with 5 and she also scored 5 points. Other offensive contributors included Jazzi Meredith (3), and Rylie Conley (3). For the game, Chester scored 13 two-pointers and made two 3-pointers. The Jackets were down a bit at the free throw line having made just 6-of-16 free throws (37%).
Trico received offensive production from six different players including Taylor Cottom (12), Haley Kranawetter (5), Autumn Kennedy (4), Alyssa Bastien (3), Mia Jimenez (2), and Alexis Stroub (2). The Lady Pioneers made 11 two-pointers and just one 3-pointer. From the free throw line Trico was just 3-of-11 (27%).
Coach Cowan said, “Our defensive play won us the game tonight. I/m proud of our effort, but I need to see more offensive output and that is going to be our main focus in the last couple of practices.”
With the win, the Lady Jackets improved to an overall record of 13-15 and remained 3-6 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division.
Chester will close the regular season this Thursday night February 10 at home when cross-county rival, Sparta comes to CHS Colbert Gymnasium. Tip-off is 6:00 p.m. and CHS will celebrate its two seniors, Alyssa Seymour and Kailyn Absher during Senior Night 2022 ceremonies.
The Chester girls will only get one day off prior to beginning competition in the 2022 IHSA Regional Class 2A Tournament. Chester opens action Saturday February 12 at 1:00 p.m. in the Freeburg Regional. CHS will play Belleville Althoff on their home court in the opening game.
IHSA Class 2A State Final Tournament: Regionals; Sub-Sectionals; Sectionals; Super Sectionals
There are four Regionals which feed into the Nashville Sectional including (Anna-Jonesboro), (Benton), (Breese Central), and (Freeburg).
The (Benton Regional) and the (Anna-Jonesboro Regional) make up “Sub-Sectional A” and the (Freeburg Regional) and the (Breese Central Regional) make up “Sub-Sectional B”. Each Sub-Section hosts 12 schools.
Each Regional features six schools.
Benton Regional in “Sub-Sectional A” hosts (Benton), (McLeansboro), (Harrisburg), (Eldorado), (Johnston City), and (West Frankfort). Anna-Jonesboro Regional in “Sub-Section A” hosts (Carterville), (DuQuoin), (Metropolis-Massac County), (Vienna), (Anna-Jonesboro), and (Murphysboro).
Freeburg Regional in “Sub-Sectional B” hosts (Freeburg), (Breese Mater Dei), (Columbia), (Belleville Althoff), (Chester), and (Red Bud). Breese Central Regional in “Sub-Section B” hosts (Breese Central), (Nashville), (Pinckneyville), (Greenville), (Trenton-Wesclin), and (Sparta).
Sub-Sectional A Seeds include (1) Carterville, (2) Benton, (3) McLeansboro-Hamilton County, (4) DuQuoin, (5), Metropolis-Massac County, (6) Vienna, (7), Harrisburg, (8) Eldorado, (9), Anna-Jonesboro, (10) Johnston City, (11) West Frankfort, and (12) Murphysboro.
Sub-Sectional B Seeds include (1) Freeburg, (2) Breese Central), (3) Nashville, (4) Breese Mater Dei, (5) Columbia, (6) Pinckneyville, (7), Greenville, (8) Trenton-Wesclin, (9) Belleville Althoff, (10), Chester, (11), and Sparta, and (12).
The Lady Jackets will compete in the Freeburg Regional. Game 1: Saturday February 12 at 1:00 p.m. (10) Chester at (9) Belleville Althoff. Game 2: February 12 at 3:30 p.m. (12) Red Bud at (5) Columbia.
Game 3: Monday February 14 at 6:00 p.m. (1) Freeburg vs. Winner of Game 1.
Game 4: Monday February 14 at 7:30 p.m. (4) Breese Mater Dei vs Winner of Game 2
Game 5: Thursday February 17 at 7:00 p.m. Winner of Game 3 vs Winner of Game 4