By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – The basketball season has been long gone, but the 2021-22 Lady Jackets Basketball Team, known by some as the “Magnificent Seven”, has not been forgotten! Wednesday April 27 CHS Head Coach, Clint Cowan and Assistant Coach, Amber Skorcz hosted an event to recognize and honor their Lady Jackets.
The CHS Lady Jackets Basketball Team poses for a photo at the 2022 Awards Night event Wednesday April 27. (Left to right): Amber Skorcz, Assistant Coach, Rylie Conley, Josalynn Anaya, Alyssa Seymour, Emma Diskey, Jazzi Merideth, Camrynn Howie, and Clint Cowan, Head Coach. Not present: Kailyn Absher and Rick Powley, Volunteer Assistant Coach. Jim Beers Photo
The event took place at the Chester High School James F. Sharp Cafeteria at 6:30 p.m. with players, parents, relatives and local media in attendance. After everyone was seated and comfortable, Coach Cowan welcomed everyone and began the official program.
Cowan said, “To begin with I have season summary statistics for everyone along with your personal stats. These include shooting, game stats, totals and miscellaneous totals.”
Cowan then extended thanks to Assistant Coach Amber Skorcz and Volunteer Assistant Coach Rick Powley for their dedication and contributions to the success of the 2021-22 season.
A brief season summary was then presented and Cowan praised the efforts of the seven players who “stuck-it-out” for the entire season.
Cowan said, “We started the year with ten players. After a few weeks, three of them realized that basketball was not for them and they left the team. All that was left was the seven girls that are here tonight, sometimes referred to as the Magnificent Seven”.
CHS Lady Jacket Basketball player Rylie Conley, a freshman, earned a letter for her contributions in 2022. Jim Beers Photo
The remaining Lady Jackets included one freshman, three sophomores, one junior and two seniors. The lone freshman was Rylie Conley. Cowan said, “Rylie had a great first year. She needs to be a bit more vocal on the floor, but as a freshman, she contributed significantly and helped us out a lot!”
Josalynn Anaya, a sophomore Lady Jacket Basketball player earned a letter for her contributions to the team in 2022. Jim Beers Photo
Jazzi Merideth, a CHS sophomore Lady Jacket Basketball player earned a letter for her contributions to the team in 2022. Jim Beers Photo
Emma Diskey, a sophomore Lady Jacket Basketball player, earned a letter for her contributions to the team in 2022. Jim Beers Photo
The three sophomores included Josalynn Anaya, Jazzi Merideth, and Emma Diskey. Coach Cowan said, “Josalynn is a hard worker. I am excited to see her bud into a key contributor. Jazzi is a hard worker and our best defender and Emma is dedicated and will do whatever we ask of her. I look forward to having them back next season.”
Our only junior is Camrynn Howie. Camryn is our leader. She is communicator and is a great teammate to everyone on the team!”
“Our two seniors are Kailyn Absher and Alyssa Seymour. Kailyn is very athletic. She is fierce and plays with physicality. Kailyn was selected as a member of the 2022 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Tournament. Alyssa is a very hard worker. She gets up and down the floor and has a great sense of finding the ball.”
In describing the season Cowan said, “Throughout the entire season it was impossible to practice with just seven girls. The seven we had, however, worked very hard each day. The first half of the season we lost several games because we got tired and were out of shape.”
“In the second half of the season we got in shape because the girls worked very hard over Christmas beak and did what it took to get tough and conditioned. We seemed to really get our legs at our Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. The last few weeks of the season we actually wore out several teams late in the game.”
As a team the Lady Jackets scored 72 points twice last season, once against Gibault, 72-52, and again against Sparta, 72-36. The Lady Jackets had an overall record of 14-16 and a Cahokia Conference record of 4-6.
The Lady Jackets had numerous season records and key accomplishments. They won the Consolation Championship of the Gibault Candy Cane Classic with wins over Metro-East and Valmeyer.
The Jackets were runners-up in the 2022 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Tournament with wins over Cobden, 69-18 and New Athens, 45-38, to get into the championship game vs. the Freeburg JV. Chester lost a close battle late in the final quarter to the Midgets, 44-40, to take 2nd Place.
The 2021-22 Lady Jackets set a new team record for rebounds with 949 boards. The previous record was 906. Alyssa Seymour set a new “best field goal shooting percentage in a single game” record shooting 92% vs Wesclin. The previous record was 91% set in 1999 vs Roxana by Brittany Hiens.
Chester High School Lady Jacket Basketball MVP Alyssa Seymour was honored Wednesday April 27 at the 2022 Basketball Awards Night. Pictured with Seymour is Head Coach Clint Cowan and Assistant Coach Amber Skorcz. Jim Beers Photo
Seymour set a new single season rebounding record with 386 boards. Hiens set the previous record of 286. Seymour also set a new career rebounding record with 843. She beat the previous record of 586 set by Jennifer Knowles.
Chester High School Lady Jacket Basketball player Camrynn Howie, a junior, was presented with the “Team Leader” award Wednesday April 27 at the 2022 Basketball Awards Night.
Camrynn Howie set a new game assist record with 12 assists in the game against Gibault. The previous record was 10 held by Jennifer Hittmeier and Peyton Clendenin. Howie also set a new Lady Jacket single season assist record of 160. She beat the previous record of 118 set by Destiny Williams.
Finally, Coach Clint Cowan set a new record of most wins by a first year head coach of 14 wins, beating Connie Clendenin’s record of 12.
On Thursday January 27 Chester hosted the No. 1 ranked team in Class 1A, the Okawville Lady Rockets, at Colbert Gymnasium. The girls from Chester lost that contest, 64-40, but stood proud against the best team in the State of Illinois in Class 1A.
It was that same week the Chester Lady Jackets received 3 votes in the 2021-22 Associated Press Girls Basketball Poll. Coach Cowan said, “This shows all the hard work that the girls had been doing. They’re getting noticed. We are building something special with this program and I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow.”
The Jackets ended up in 4th Place out of six teams in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division. Alyssa Seymour was voted to the 2021-22 All-Conference Team.
For the season the 2021-22 Jackets began with the fact that they had lost most of their scoring offense from last year’s squad. In spite of that fact, the 2021-22 Lady Jackets averaged 6 more points per game that last year’s team.
For their valiant efforts in 2021-22 every player earned a letter or pin. Coach Cowan praised each and every player for their hard work, dedication and loyalty to the team.
The two major awards presented by Coach Cowan were the “Team Leader Award” and the “Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award”.
The “Team Leader Award” was earned by junior Camrynn Howie. Coach Cowan said, “Camrynn took responsibility for the team. She kept everyone in line and always kept everything together. Cam was a true leader in every way and for her efforts, she is our Team Leader Award winner!” Camrynn was MVP of the 2022 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Tournament.
The 2021-22 “Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award” was earned by senior, Alyssa Seymour. Coach Cowan said, “Alyssa was selected to the All-Tournament Team of two-of-the-four tournaments in which we competed this season including Gibault Candy Cane Classic, and the Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic.
Alyssa was also named to the 2022 Cahokia Conference Illinois Division All-Conference Team; the 2022 All-South Team and named as an Honorable Mention on the Class 2A All-State Girls Basketball Team.
Seymour has already signed to continue her basketball career next fall at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) to play basketball for the Blue Storm.
In closing the event, Coach Cowan said, “I had a blast with this team this year! I really appreciate the parents who supported us throughout the year and thank the responsible players we had. You parents raised some really great kids. I look forward to next year.”