Camrynn Howie breaks the CHS Lady Jacket single-season assist record with her six assists in the game at Wesclin
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER — The CHS Lady Jackets Basketball Team had a great win over Red Bud last week; let the Lady Rockets of Wesclin escape with a six point victory and allowed the Lady Indians of DuQuoin to scalp them in the second half of their Saturday afternoon contest.
CHS had three games in Week 10, two on the road and one at home. The Lady Jacket squad which consists of just seven (7) players, has battled hard all season and completed 27 games. “The Magnificent 7”, as they are called. Have won a total of 12 games and lost 15. They are 3-6 in the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division.
The “starting 5” play predominantly most of the game with just two sophomores to come off the bench to provide much-needed rest in times of fatigue or replacement in cases of foul trouble.
On a good day when all seven players are available, the Lady Jackets have two seniors, one junior, three sophomores, and one freshman. Starters include two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, and one freshman.
Head Coach Clint Cowan and his staff of Assistant Coach Amber Skorcz and Volunteer Assistant Coach Rick Powley have done an amazing job of getting the most out of their “Magnificent 7” players. In addition, those players never give up; they always fight hard, and they always give 100-percent and have gone far above and beyond what most fans thought would be possible.
Wesclin, 45-Chester 39
Chester traveled to Wesclin Monday January 31 and played well throughout the game. The Jackets lost to Wesclin November 29 in their first conference game of the season, 60-49, at Colbert Gymnasium.
At Wesclin, The Lady Jackets led, 11-9 after one quarter, trailed by just three points at halftime, 24-21, and tied the game, 33-33 after three quarters of action. The fourth quarter was hard-fought and back-and-forth, but the Lady Rockets managed to outscore the Jackets 12-6 down the stretch to keep the win at home, 45-39.
In that fourth quarter, Wesclin went to the free throw line 11 times, making five of those free throws. Chester did not see the free throw line even once in the final eight minutes. For the night the Lady Jackets got to the line just four times (1-for-4 25%). The Rockets were invited to the free throw line 24 times and made 12 (50%).
In the loss, Chester was led by senior Alyssa Seymour who contributed 23 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for yet another double-double.
Junior Camrynn Howie scored seven points and recorded six assists which gave her a total of 121 assists for the season and broke the previous school record of 118 assists for a single season set by Destiny Williams in 2018-2019. Howie now holds the school record and still has five more games remaining in the season.
Kailyn Absher, a senior, scored four points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Jazzi Merideth added five points to round out the Lady Jackets’ offensive production.
Coach Cowan said, “We played well tonight. We rebounded well, we just didn’t shoot well. I am happy for Camrynn for setting the new school assist record. She’s a great team player and it shows.”
“We were up by two points late in the third quarter and turned the ball over four-straight times. We continued to turn the ball over in the fourth quarter. You can’t do that against good teams like Wesclin! Turnovers cost us the game! We beat ourselves! Things like that happen. We just need to get back up, brush ourselves off, and get the next one!”
With the loss, the Lady Jackets fell to an overall record of 11-14, and 2-6 in the Cahokia conference.
Chester 46-Red Bud 38
The Lady Jackets returned to the friendly confines of Colbert Gymnasium on Rocky Bridges Court the next evening, Tuesday February 1. The opponent was the Red Bud Lady Musketeers, who are also Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division foes.
Lady Jacket senior, Alyssa Seymour (44) drives hard for a layup Tuesday February 1 against Red Bud at CHS Colbert Gym. Seymour led the Jackets in scoring and rebounds for the week against Red Bud, Wesclin, and DuQuoin with 55 points, and 32 rebounds.
CHS faced the Musketeers three times before in this season, losing two and winning one. The Jackets lost the first game of the 2021-22 season to Red Bud, 46-23, on November 17 in the Sparta Invitational, and lost to them again December 28 in the Red Bud Christmas Tournament, 49-31.
Camrynn Howie (3) a Chester High School junior, fires a three ball Tuesday February 1 when the Red Bud Lady Musketeers came to Colbert Gym. The Jackets won, 46-39 to improve to 12-14 overall and 3-6 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division. For the Week10, 3-game series Howie scored 17 points and dished out 22 assists. Against Wesclin Monday January 31, Howie recorded six assists to break the Chester High School Lady Jackets single season assist record. The previous record was set in 2018-2019 by Destiny Williams when she dished out 118 assists. With Howie’s six assists against Wesclin Howie’s total assists for the 2021-22 season totaled 121. She added nine more against Red Bud Tuesday February 1 to break her own record with 130 assists. She dished out seven more assists Saturday February 5 at DuQuoin to break her own record again with 137 assists. Jim Beers Photo
Chester beat Red Bud on the road January 10 in the first Cahokia Conference game of the season, 48-30. The Jackets came into the February 1st game with every intention to sweep the Lady Musketeers in league play and even the record against Red Bud, 2-2 for 2021-22.
Chester‘s Kailyn Absher (25), a senior Lady Jacket player, takes a well-deserved break late in the win against Red Bud Tuesday February 1. For the three-game series in Week 10, Absher scored 12 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Jim Bers Photo
Chester led from the opening tip off, but never by more than four points, 6-2 at the 5:48 mark. Seniors Chloe Wild (4), Sam Kolweier (3), and Hannah Sievers (2) kept the Musketeers in the game with a total of nine points.
Chester’s Alyssa Seymour (4), Jazzi Merideth (4), and Riley Conley gave the Lady Jackets a one point, 10-9 lead after the first quarter.
CHS Lady Jacket Head Coach, Clint Cowan, draws up a play late in the game against Red Bud Tuesday February 1 at CHS. The Jackets won, 46-38 to improve to 12-14 overall and 3-6 in the Cahokia Conference. Jim Beers Photo
Neither team could get going to start the second quarter, but sophomore Lyla Hess hit a bucket to give Red Bud the first lead of the game, 11-10 at 4:28. Alyssa Seymour answered with a basket at 3:59 to retake the lead, 12-11. Musketeer Hannah Sievers answered Seymour’s basket with one of her own to take back the lead, 13-12 at 3:15.
With 2:53 remaining in the half, Chester’s Jazzi Merideth was called for her third foul of the game sending Red Bud’s Lyla Hess to the line. Hess made both of her free throw extending the Musketeer lead to 15-12. Emma Diskey came off the bench for CHS to replace Merideth.
Lady Jackets Alyssa Seymour (44) and Kailyn Absher (25) sprint down the court after Camrynn Howie (3) releases a rebound and orchestrates a fast break in the win against Red Bud Tuesday February 1. The Jackets ran the court well against the Lady Musketeers and won the game, 46-38, to sweep Red Bud in league play. Jim Beers Photo
Chester ended the half on a 7-0 run by Alyssa Seymour to take a 19-15 lead into the locker room. During that run, Seymour made a layup to bring CHS within one point, 15-14 at 2:28. She was then fouled on her way to the hoop and made a free throw to tie the game, 15-15 at 2:04.
Seymour retook a Chester lead, 17-15 at 1:30 then scored one final time on a drive to the hoop to give Chester a 19-15 lead at the buzzer. In the first Alyssa Seymour scored 13-of-Chester’s 19 points. Jazzi Merideth added four and Rylie Conley made a basket to round out the offense. The Jackets outscored the Musketeers 9-6 in the second quarter.
After halftime, Red Bud came out with a 4-0- run on a three-pointer by Lyla Hess and a bucket by Chloe Wild. Red Bud tied the game with that run.
Chester returned the favor with a 7-0 run to retake a 26-19 lead at 4:28. Chester’s run was compliments of Camrynn Howie who drove to the hoop for a layup, Alyssa Seymour who added two-pointer and Rylie Conley who drained a three ball.
The third run of the third quarter came from Red Bud as Lyla Hess and Addi Dilley hit back-to-back baskets for a 4-0 run to bring the Musketeers within three points, 26-23.
The Lady Jackets finished the quarter in exciting fashion as Alyssa Seymour hit a bucket with 50-seconds to play and Rylie Conley connected for her second trey of the quarter at the buzzer to extend Chester’s lead to eight points, 31-23 to end the period.
The fourth quarter was a real shoot-out as both teams scored 15 points to end the game. Red Bud’s Hess started the battle with a two-pointer at 6:48 to trail, 31-25. Chester’s Jazzi Merideth answered with a two-pointer eight seconds later, 33-25.
Just 30-seconds after that, Red Bud’s Addi Dilley hit the first of three 3-pointers for the final stretch to bring the Musketeers within five points, 33-28 with 6:10 remaining.
Chester answered with a 7-0 run as Alyssa Seymour made two free throws at 5:05 and followed with a hard drive to the basket for two more points at 4:45. She was fouled and made her free throw. To close out the run, Camrynn Howie stole the ball and drove the length of the floor for a bucket at 3:48. Chester led by 12 points, 40-28, with 3:48 to play.
Just when the Jackets had what appeared to have the game in the bag, they turned the ball over three times-in-a-row. Red took advantage of the Chester errors and had a 4-0 run to get with 8-points, 40-32 with 2:08 remaining.
At the 1:12 mark Chester’s Jazzi Merideth connected for two points to extend the CHS lead to 42-32. At the 1:07 mark Coach Cowan called a time out to map out the last minute of the game. Immediately after the time out, Chester turned the ball over again! Red Bud could not capitalize on that turnover and Chester got the ball back with 53.6 seconds to play. Red Bud had to start fouling to stop the clock.
In the final seconds, the Musketeers sent Camryn Howie to the free throw line six times. She made four of those six. In the final 43.7 seconds, Red Bud’s Addi Dilley popped a pair of 3- pointers to bring the Musketeers within eight points, 46-38. That would be the difference in the game at the buzzer.
In the win, Chester was led by Alyssa Seymour who had 23 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double in two games. Rylie Conley, Camrynn Howie and Jazzi Merideth each scored eight points apiece. Kailyn Absher grabbed nine rebounds.
Camrynn Howie dished out another nine assists to lead the YellowJackets and break her own season-high assist record which she just set the night before at Wesclin with 121 assists.
Coach Cowan said, “We played great tonight! We came out and responded well after a tough loss the night before at Wesclin. The game was back-and-forth and a big play that opened it up was at the end of the third quarter as time expired and Rylie Conley hit the big 3-pointer. That really sparked us!”
“We took care of the ball and finished plays down low. We moved the ball well on offense, and that sparked us. That got us going! We ran the floor and ran our run-and-gun offense. This was a huge conference win for us and set up a potential big match-up for us at home Thursday February 10 with Sparta on Senior Night.”
“We have a chance to finish 4th in the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division. Some people had us finishing last. I am proud of our girls and what they have done this year!”
With the win, the Lady Jackets improved to 12-14 overll and 3-6 in the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division.
DuQuoin 46-Chester 26
The Jackets traveled to DuQuoin Saturday February 5 to challenge the Lady Indians in a 5:00 p.m. contest. Chester led the after the first quarter, 10-9. Neither team scored in the opening two minutes but Chester buzzed to an 8-2 lead at 4:47.
Kailyn Absher stepped up and hit a pair of buckets early followed by Rylie Conley and Alyssa Seymour two points apiece. Following a Camrynn Howie foul S. Hill hit two free throws to break the Lady Indian drought. CHS led, 8-4, at 3:55.
Wirth 2:28 to play in the first quarter, Jazzi Merideth knocked down a shot to extend Chester’s lead to 10-4. DuQuoin’s Mocaby drained a 3-pointer at 1:59 to get within three points, 10-7 and the Indian’s hit another bucket with 1:25 remaining to get within one point, 10-9.
In the final 1:25 Chester turned the ball over and DuQuoin missed three shots. CHS had possession with 4.5 seconds to play, but they held the ball as the buzzer sounded. CHS led, 10-09 after one quarter.
The Lady Indians outscored Chester, 10-4 in the second frame to take a five point, 19-14 lead at halftime. During that quarter Chester’s Camrynn Howie and Alyssa Seymour were the only Lady Jackets to score. They added two-points apiece.
DuQuoin’s 10-point effort came from Heape (2), Mocaby (3), Duncan (3) and S. Hill (2). Heape took the lead right away with a bucket at 7:35. Her motivation sparked a 5-0 run that gave the Lady Indians a 14-10 lead.
Chester could not get anything going. Six turnovers gave DuQuoin the opportunity to take and keep a 14-10 lead until Alyssa Seymour made a layup at 2:12 to give Chester two points, trailing, 14-12.
DuQuoin’s Mocaby drained a 3-pointer with under a minute to play in the half to extend the DuQuoin lead to five points, 17-12. With 45-seconds to play, S. Hill hit a bucket to extend the Indian lead to 19-12. At the buzzer, Chester’s Camrynn Howie connected for a two-pointer to give the Jackets 14 points. CHS trailed by five points, 19-14 at halftime.
To begin the third quarter DuQuoin went on a 5-0 run to start the half and take a 24-14 10-point lead at 4:53. Rylie Conley hit a bucket at 4:39 for CHS and Alyssa Seymour made a layup and two free throws and Chester trailed by four points, 24-20 with 3:02 to play in the third.
In the final three minutes the Jackets missed three shots and could not score again after defending well and getting the ball back with 1.5 seconds on the clock. DuQuoin added five more points on baskets by Heape and a free throw by Dunkin. The Indians led, 29-20 after three quarters of play.
A very tired Lady Jacket squad was outscored 17-6 down the stretch and lost the game, 46-26. In that stretch DuQuoin was paced by S. Hill who scored eight points on four baskets. Mocaby hit a trey and a two-pointer and Heape made two baskets. Chester got four points from Kailyn Absher and two points from Alyssa Seymour.
In the win, DuQuoin was led by three players in double figures including Heape (18), S. Hill (12), and Mocaby (11). Dunkin added five points to round out the 46 point effort. For the game the Indians were 7-of-1 from the line (67%).
Chester was paced by Alyssa Seymour who scored 10 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds. Kailyn Absher recorded 8 points followed by Rylie Conley (4), Jazzi Merideth (2) and Camryn Howie (2). Camrynn Howie dished out seven assists to make her season total 137. The Jackets made 4-of-5 free throws (80%). They failed to make even one three pointer, but did connect for 11 two-pointers.
With the loss, Chester fell to 12-15 overall. Coach Clint Cowan said, “The game was close until the fourth quarter. We didn’t shoot well or rebound well, and we turned the ball over way too many times. Put all of that together and that is a recipe for disaster!”
“We were down by just five at the half, but came out and turned the ball over too much in the second half. We also couldn’t get rebounds. When you give good teams like DuQuoin two or three shots at the basket, they’re going to hit baskets!”
“Simply put, we had an off night against a very good team. These things happen so we need to put it behind us and move to the next one.”
Cowan said, “We are entering our final week of the regular season and I expect us to finish very strong. This had by far been the best group of girls I have coached and hate to see it coming to an end!”
In Week 11 Chester will travel to Trico Monday February 7 and will play their final home game of the regular season Thursday February 10 when Cahokia Conference rival Sparta comes to CHS Colbert Gym for a 6:00 p.m. game on Senior Night.
The Jackets will play in the IHSA Sub-Sectional Saturday February 12 at Belleville Althoff. Tip-off is 1:00 p.m.