First night is in the books; Gibault and Saxony come away with wins
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – The 59th Annual Chester Invitational Tournament (CIT) tipped-off Monday January 9 with two games already in the books. The event, considered to be the longest running tournament south of I-70, features eight teams, three from Missouri and five from Southern Illinois.
This year’s slate of teams includes Chester, New Athens, Valmeyer, Lovejoy, Waterloo Gibault, Perryville, Valle, and Saxony.
Night 1 Monday January 9 had two games in Round 1 action. Waterloo Gibault hosted Valmeyer in Game 1 at 6:00 p.m. and Saxony hosted Lovejoy in Game 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Night 2 Tuesday January 10 will feature Valle hosting New Athens in Game 3 of Round 1 at 6:00 p.m., and the nightcap will feature the hosts Chester YellowJackets vs Perryville at 7:30 p.m.
Round 2 (Semi-Finals) will start Wednesday January 11 with games at 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. The losers of Night 1, Round 1 will play at 6:00 p.m. and feature Valmeyer vs Lovejoy. The winners of Night 1, Round 1 will play at 7:30 p.m. and feature Gibault and Saxony.
Round 1, Night 2 losers will face off Thursday January 12 (Semi-Finals) at 6:00 p.m. and winners of Round 1, Night 2 will battle Thursday January 12 (Semi-Finals) at 7:30 p.m.
THERE WILL BE NO GAMES FRIDAY JANUARY 13.
Saturday January 14 will be the final night of the 2023 CIT
Game 1: 7th Place Game starts at 2:20 p.m.
Game 2: Consolation Championship game starts at 4:00 p.m.
Game 3: 3rd Place game starts at 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: Championship game starts at 7:00 p.m.
Night 1, Game 1 Results: Waterloo Gibault 73-Valmeyer 56
\Gibault roared out to a 21-8 1st quarter lead. The second quarter Valmeyer responded well by was outscored, 28-20 for a 49-28 deficit at halftime. Waterloo Gibault opened the second half by outscoring Valmeyer, 18-8 to lead, 67-36 going into the final quarter. In the 4th quarter, Valmeyer came alive and outscored Gibault 20-6, but it was too-little-too-late as the Hawks defeated the Pirates, 73-64.
In the win, Gibault was led by three players in double figures including Kaden Augustine (22), Kameron Harvey (20), and Gavin Kesler (18). Valmeyer was paced by Harrison Miller who scored 20 points.
Gibault will face Saxony Wednesday January 11 in Round 2, Game 2 in the Championship Bracket at 7:30 p.m. Valmeyer will face off with Lovejoy Wednesday January 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Round 2, Game 1 of the Consolation Championship Bracket.
Night 1, Game 2 Results: Saxony 69-Lovejoy 64
The Nightcap was a knock-down-drag-out from the start to the finish in a very competitive game. Lovejoy led, 16-11 after one quarter of play. In the second quarter, Saxony retaliated with a 24-12 barrage to lead by seven points, 35-28, at halftime.
The Lovejoy Wildcats responded soundly after the break outscoring the Saxony Crusaders, 22-14, to lead, by one point, 50-49, at the end of the third quarter. That set the stage for a very long, hard-fought, competitive final period which took approximately 30-minutes to finish!
The entire 4th quarter was filled with lead changes, ties, fouls, challenged calls, charges, turnovers, steals, dives on the floor, free throws, excitement, and hurt feelings on BOTH sides of the court.
The 4th quarter began with Lovejoy holding a slim. 1-point lead, 50-49. By the 2:20 mark the scores had see-sawed, back-and-forth throughout the opening six minutes of the period. Tensions were high and anxiety had set in for both the Wildcats and Crusaders.
Lovejoy led, 64-60 with just 56.4 seconds left in the game. Saxony’s John Hartman hit a bucket with 44.5 seconds remaining in the game. Lovejoy led, 64-63.
Saxony’s Max Richey connected for two points with 26.4 seconds left to allow Saxony to retake the lead, 65-64.
On Lovejoy’s next possession, the Wildcats faced extreme defensive interference and bobbled the ball twice before turning the ball over to Saxony on a wild pass with 22.1 seconds to play. Saxony still enjoyed a slim, 1-point lead, 65-64, at that point.
Lovejoy had to foul with 17.1 seconds remaining and Saxony’s Max Richey made one of his two free throw attempts to extend the Crusader’s lead to 66-64. The game was still within reach for the Wildcats.
On Lovejoy’s next possession, they were called for charging and sent the Crusader’s John Hartman to the line with 16.4 seconds to play to shoot two free throws. He made both and extended Saxony’s lead to 68-64.
In the final seconds Lovejoy missed two bunny shots right under the basket and fouled to stop the clock sending Saxony’s Aaron Zoellner to the line. He sank one of his two shots to give the Crusaders a final score of 69-64 as the buzzer sounded.
In the win, Saxony was led by three players who scored in double figures including Aaron Zoellner (17), John Hartman (15), and Max Richey (10). The Crusaders committed nine fouls, hit (20) 2-pointers, (3) 3-pointers, and made 20-of-29 free throws (69%).
The Wildcats were led by Shantez Holliday who scored 21 points, Jamal Brown who recorded 14 points, and Michael McCallum who scored 13 points. Lovejoy committed 19 fouls. They had (18) 2-pointers, (7) 3-pointers, and shot 7-of-12 from the free throw line (58%).
Lovejoy will face Valmeyer Wednesday January 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Consolation Championship Bracket. Saxony will battle with Gibault Wednesday January 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Championship Bracket.
All photos by Jim Beers.
Saxony’s Max Richey shoots free throws with 25.3 seconds remaining in the game to take the lead, 65-64, over Lovejoy in the first night of basketball action in the 59th Chester Invitational Tournament Monday January 9th. Saxony “eked out” a 69-64 win to advance to the Championship side of the tournament bracket.
John Hartman, a 6’3″ senior for the Saxony Crusaders, shoots a short jumper in the win against Lovejoy Monday January 9. It was Round 1, Game 2 of the 59th Annual Chester Invitational Tournament. Saxony won a hard-fought game, 69-64. Hartman scored 15 points in the win and played well on defense.
Jamal Brown (11), a 6’4″ junior Wildcat who plays for Lovejoy goes up for a basket in Game 2 of Night 1 of the 59th Annual Cheser Invitational Tournament. The Wildcats led much of the night but got into foul trouble late in the game and ended up losing, 69-64. Brown was Lovejoy’s second highest scorer with 14 points for the night.