Sparta and Marisa win on Night 1, Cobden and Valmeyer fall in opening round action
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER — The 16th Annual Chester High School Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament is now underway. The 2023 event takes place Monday January 2 through Saturday January 7.
The field of competition features 8 teams from the area including (presented in seeded order) Sparta, Dupo, Chester, Marissa, Valmeyer, New Athens, Steeleville, and Cobden. The tournament will have 12 games, 4 in Round 1; 4 in Round 2; and 4 on Finals Day. Each team will play 3 games throughout the week.
Monday January 2:
Game 1: features No.1 Sparta vs No. 8 Cobden at 6:00 p.m.
Game 2: features No. 4 Marissa vs No. 5 Valmeyer at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday January 3:
Game 3: features No.2 Dupo vs No. 7 Steeleville at 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: features No. 3 Chester vs No. 6 New Athens at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday January 4:
Game 5: will have No. 5 Valmeyer facing No. 8 Cobden at 6:00 p.m. in the Consolation Bracket
Game 6: will have No. 1 Sparta facing No. 4 Marissa at 7:30 in the Championship Bracket
Thursday January 5:
Game 7: The loser of Game 3 will face the loser of Game 4 at 6:00 p.m.
The winner of Game 3 will face the winner of Game 4 at 7:30 p.m.
NO GAMES FRIDAY JANUARY 6
Saturday January 7:
Game 9: The losers of Game 5 and the loser of Game 7 will play for 7th Place at 4:00 p.m.
Game 10: The winner of Game 5 and the winner of Game 7 will play for the Consolation Championship at 5:15 p.m.
Game 11: The loser of Game 6 and the loser of Game 8 will play for 3rd Place at 6:30 p.m.
Game 12: The winner of Game 6 and the winner of Game 8 will play for the Championship at 8:00 p.m.
Round 1 Action:
Game 1: Sparta 41-Cobden 28
Cobden played well the first half. Sparta struggled. The Lady Bulldogs led by just two points, 15-13 after one quarter of play. Cobden outscored Sparta 10-6 in the second quarter to lead by two points, 23-21 at halftime.
Sparta woke up in the third quarter and outscored Cobden, 14-2 to lead, 35-25 going into the final period. The Lady Bulldogs continued to run hard in the 4th quarter to outscore the Lady Appleknockers, 6-3 to win the game by 13 points, 41-28.
Sparta was led by Sydney Rheinecker who scored 15 points. The Appleknockers were led by Dixie Kaufman who scored 10 points. With the win Sparta moved into the Championship Bracket. Cobden moved to the Consolation Bracket.
Game 2: Marissa 42-Valmeyer 30
Game 2 was very competitive throughout the first half with No. 5 seed Valmeyer leading No.4 seed Marissa 12-9 after the first quarter. In the second period, Marissa outscored Valmeyer, 12-5 to take a 4-point lead into the locker room, 21-17.
After halftime, the Valmeyer Lady Pirates continued to slip a bit allowing the Marissa Lady Meteors to outscore them by just six points, 8-2, however that allowed the Meteors to lead by 10 points, 29-19, after three quarters of action. Down the stretch, the final quarter was once again competitive with Marisa outscoring Valmeyer, 14-11, but it was too little too late for the Pirates as the Meteors won, 42-30.
In the win, Marissa had two players in double figures, Autumn Gilley with 13 and Hannah Krause with 11. In the loss, the Pirates were led by Brooke Miller with 9 and Josie Reeves 8.
With the win, Marissa moves to the Championship Bracket while Valmeyer moves to the Consolation Championship Bracket.
Tuesday January 3: Round 1, Day 2
Game 3: No. 2 Dupo hosts No. 7 Steeleville at 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 3 Chester hosts No. 6 New Athens at 7:30 p.m.