Sparta finishes 3rd and New Athens wins Consolation Championship; Howie is Tournament MVP and Mott earns “All-Tournament Team” honors
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – The 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Girls’ Basketball Tournament is in the books! Chester High School hosted the 16th Annual event and the host Lady Jackets were the tournament Champions.
Sparta won the 3rd Place game and corresponding trophy, and the New Athens Lady YellowJackets won the Consolation Bracket Championship and trophy.
Following the completion of the Championship game, the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic “All Tournament Team” was announced. Team members were selected by a vote of coaches.
Coaches were instructed to choose ten players from OTHER teams than their own that were most deserving of being on the All-Tournament Team. Selections were to be ranked from 1-10 with 10 being the MOST deserving.
The following players were selected in order from 1 to 10. 1. Belle Ware, Sparta; 2. Mallory Kimbrell, New Athens; 3. Alexia Lewis, Dupo; 4. T’Yonna Burris, Dupo; 5. Brooke Miller, Valmeyer; 6. LEXI MOTT, CHESTER; 7. Kaylee Juenger, New Athens; 8. Autumn Gilley, Marissa; 9. Sydney Rheinecker, Sparta; and 10. CAMRYNN HOWIE, CHESTER, “Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Chester beats Marissa, 32-27, to win 2023 LJMWC tournament title
The title game featured the No. 3 Seed Chester Lady Jackets and the No. 4 Seed Marissa Lady Meteors. To get to the title game, Chester had to defeat New Athens, 52-28, in Round 1 and Dupo, 54-27, in Round 2. Marissa defeated Valmeyer, 42-30, in Round 1 and Sparta, 29-28, in Round 2.
The title game was close and very competitive throughout the four quarters. Chester had a slim, 10-point lead, 7-6, after one quarter of play. Marissa led by six points, 17-11 at halftime.
Chester pulled within one point, 23-22 after three quarters of competition and Chester chipped away at the Marissa lead late in the fourth quarter to win by five points, 32-27, as the final buzzer sounded.
Chester’s Riley Conley was the constant scorer for the Jackets throughout the game. Conley popped a 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter and followed with a deuce 30-seconds later to give Chester a quick lead, 5-2.
Marissa’s Kaitlyn Klingemann hit a basket at 6:30 and Emma Loyd drained a 2-pointer at 3:26. A minute later Annie Villarreal sank back-to-back free throws to give Marissa its first lead, 6-5.
With under a minute to play in the first quarter, Chester’s Conley connected for her third basket of the night to lift Chester to a 1-point lead, 7-6, to end the 1st Quarter. The score was actually Riley Conley of Chester 7- Marissa 6.
The second quarter was pretty much all Marissa as the Lady Meteors outscored the Lady Jackets 11-4 to take a 17-11 lead at halftime.
The Meteors struck first with an Autumn Gilley 3-pointer at the 6:36 mark to re-take the lead, 9-7. Chester’s Lexi Mott hit the front end of a 2-free throw opportunity to get the Jackets within one point, 9-8 at 6:28.
Mia Lanier popped a 2-pointer at 6:02 to extend Marissa’s lead to three points, 11-8. Chester’s Mott answered with a basket of her own at 4:34 to bring CHS back within one point, 11-10.
A minute later Marissa’s Autumn Gilley responded with her second 3-pointer of the night and the Lady Meteors extended the lead to 14-10. With 2:31 remaining in the half, Jazzi Merideth of Chester hit a free throw to give the Jackets their last points of the half.
To close out the half, Marissa added three more points on an Annie Villarreal free throw and a Hannah Krause 2-pointer. Marissa led by six points, 17-11, at the half.
Chester’s No. 1 scorer, Camrynn Howie, was scoreless during the entire first half. In the second half she came alive and joined forces with Riley Conley who came into the game hot and stayed hot throughout the night. The duo scored a total of 11 points in the third quarter.
Conley started with a basket at the 7:21 mark to bring Chester back within four points, 17-13. Marissa’s Autumn Gilley drained third 3-pointer of the game at 5:12 to pull the Meteors ahead, 20-13.
Chester’s Aubrie Coleman came off the bench and popped a 2-poiter at 4:45 to bring CHS within five points, 20-15. With 3:31 to play in the third, Marissa’s Gilley made her fourth 3-pointer of the game to once again extend the Meteor’s lead to seven points, 23-15.
To close out the third quarter, the Jacket defense held Marissa scoreless and Camrynn Howie hit a bucket and was fouled. She made her free throw to complete the THREE POINT PLAY! Marissa 23-Chester 18.
Riley Conley then struck again to add two points with less than a minute left in the third quarter. Chester trailed by three points, 23-20. Marissa was called for a technical with just seconds remaining in the third period. Camrynn Howie drained both free throws to end the period and Chester got back within one point, 23-22, to end the quarter.
In the final stretch, Chester outscored Marissa, 10-4, to win the game by five points, 32-27. To start the 4th quarter, Riley Conley hit the front end of a two-free throw opportunity to tie the game, 23-23.
At the 6:49 mark Marissa’s Annie Villarreal hit a bucket to break the tie and take a 25-23 lead. The Jackets then went on a 5-0 run to take a 28-25 lead with 5:30 to play. On that run, Riley Conley hit her second three pointer of the game and Camrynn Howie scored two points.
Twenty-four seconds later, Marissa’s Annie Villarreal scored the Meteor’s final points of the game with a two-point bucket to pull within one point of the YellowJackets, 28-27.
The next three minutes was a knock-down-drag-out with neither team scoring. At the 2:23 mark, Marissa’s Hannah Krause fouled out, eliminating one of their weapons.
In the final two minutes of the game, CHS Head Coach, Clint Cowan, made several strategic changes to help secure the win. Jessica Stumpe came off the bench and immediately went to the foul line. She missed her shots.
With 30-seconds remaining, Lexi Mott grabbed a rebound and put it back in the bucket for two points. Chester led, 30-27 with 1:12 left to play. The Jacket defense held strong and did not allow Marissa the opportunity to tie the game or take a lead in the final minute. Coach Cowan said, “I put Aubrey Coleman in to “dog” the Marissa’s Autumn Gilley and she did a great job.”
Coleman was fouled with 23.8 seconds left to play and made one of her free throws to make it a two-possession game, 31-27. With 4.3 seconds remaining, Jessica Stumpe was fouled and made one of her free throws for Chester’s final score. CHS led, 32-27 as the clock ran out.
In the game, Chester’s Riley Conley led all scorers with 15 points. Camrynn Howie added seven and Lexi Mott added five. Other contributors included Aubrey Coleman (3), Jazzi Medideth (1), and Jessica Stumpe (1).
Chester was 8-of-16 from the free throw line (50%) and recorded nine 2-pointers and two 3-pointers.
Marissa as led by Autumn Gilley who scored 12 points. She was followed by Annie Villarreal (7), and four players with two points including Emma Lloyd, Mia Lanier, Kaitlyn Klingeman, and Hannah Krause.
With the win, Chester improved to a winning record of 9-8 and brought home the 2032 LJMWC Championship trophy. The Lady Jackets have also won 7-of-their last 10 games!
Sparta pulls ahead late to beat Dupo for 3rd Place trophy
No. 1 Sparta and No. 2 Dupo battled for the 3rd Place trophy in a very close, competitive game. The first quarter was slow and hard to get started. Neither team could score early and at the end of the first 8:00 the score was Sparta 7 and Dupo 2. The Lady Tigers did not score until the .26 mark.
The tables were reversed in the second quarter as Dupo outscored Sparta 11-4, to lead, 13-11 at halftime. During that stretch Steffany Stanch (5), T’Yonna Burris (4), and Alexis Lewis (2) chipped in to take the lead scoring 11 points. Sparta got two points apiece from Sadie Hamilton and Isabelle Ware.
Sparta came alive again after the break and scored 17 points in the third quarter. Sydney Rheinecker, who was scoreless in the entire first half, scored seven points. Maddie Schulein added five points and Sadie Hamilton scored four points. Kylie McDonald rounded out the 17-point effort with a free throw.
Dupo scored nine points with Lewis (4), Kyann Prater (3), and Burris (2), recording points. The Lady Bulldogs led, 28-22 after three quarters of play.
Both teams made it interesting in the 3rd Quarter as Dupo led, 17-12 at 5:45 and 20-15 with 4:30 remaining in the game. Sparta used a 9-0 run to take a 24-20 lead with just 1:08 left to play. In the final minute Sparta outscored Dupo 4-2 and led, 28-22.
In the 4th Quarter the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Tigers 14-10. Dupo began the quarter with a 6-2 run to tie the game, 28-28, with 5:33 to play in the contest.
Sparta’s Maddie Schulein popped a trey to retake the lead, 31-28 at 4:33. Kenzie Pierce followed with a 3-pointer of her own at 3:51 to give Sparta a 34-28 lead and extend the Bulldogs streak to 8-0.
To finish the game, Sparta finished the game and secured the win on an 8-4 run. During that stretch Sydney Rheinecker went to the free throw line four times in-a-row making 6-of-8 and Sparta then led, 40-31, with 43-seconds to play.
In the final 38.4 seconds, Sparta’s Kenzie Pierce sank two free throws and Dupo’s Kyann Prater sank a free throw to end the game. Sparta won, 42-32.Stdney Rheinecker led the Bulldogs with 13 points. T’Yonna Burris led the Meteors with 14 points.
No. 5 Valmeyer and No. 6 New Athens battle for Consolation Championship
The New Athens Lady YellowJackets led, 15-0 after the first quarter and 21-4 at halftime. The Pirates did not score until the 6:38 mark of the second quarter. Mallory Kimbrell and Ainslee Sullivan were the strong scorers for New Athens as they scored 16 of New Athens’ 21 first half points.
Valmeyer rallied after halftime outscoring New Athens, 15-7, to pull within nine points, 28-19 after three quarters of play. Brooke Miller led the Pirates run with seven points. To close out the game, New Athens outscored Valmeyer, 11-6 to win the game by 14 points, 39-25.
In the win, New Athens was led by two girls in double figures. Mallory Kimbrell scored 18 and Ainslee Sullivan scored 12 points. Valmeyer was paced by Brooke Miller who scored 15 points.
New Athens claimed the Consolation Championship with their 39-25 win over Valmeyer. Both teams fought hard and never gave up throughout the game.
After the close of the tournament, Chester Head Coach, Clint Cowan said, “I am very proud of each of our girls. They deserved the title of LJMWC Champions. Our defense played hard and held Marissa to just 27 points. Freshman Aubrey Colman did a great job on defense and really helped us control the last portion of the game when we needed to pressure Autumn Gilley.”
“Camrynn Howie worked really hard all summer to prepare for this season. I am very proud of her. She played well!”
“With this win, we now have a winning overall record at 10-9. We have also won 7-of-our-lasy 10 games. We are getting closer and closer to being that team that nobody wants to face!”
All photos by Jim Beers
The Chester High School Lady Jackets Basketball Team won the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Tournament. Pictured with their Championship Trophy are (Front row, left to right) Lillian Diskey, Aubrey Coleman, Aubrey Bowles, and Natalie Guetersloh. (Back row, left to right) Emma Diskey, Jessica Stumpe, Camrynn Howie, Riley Conley, Lexi Mott, and Jazzi Merideth. Howie was selected as the All-Tournament Team MVP and Mott was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Both are holding their trophies. Riley Conley is holding the 2023 Championship Team Trophy.
Chester’s Jazzi Merideth (12) and Marissa’s Annie Villarreal (24) jump ball to start the 2023 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Championship game Saturday January 7. Chester won the game, 32-27, to become the 2023 LJMWC Champions.
CHS sophomore Riley Conley (4) fires one of her two 3-pointers Saturday January 7 in the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. Conley led all scorers with 15 points in the Lady Jacket win over Marissa to become the LJMWC Champions.
Lady Jackets and coaches celebrate their Championship win Saturday January 7 after Chester defeated Marissa in the title game of the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. Pictured are (Front row, left to right) Lillian Diskey (24), Aubrey Coleman (32), Camrynn Wolff (22), Aubrey Bowles (31), and Natalie Guetersloh (41). (Back Row, left to right) Rick Powley, Assistant Coach, Amber Skorcz, Assistant Coach, Emma Diskey (35), Jessica Stumpe (25), Camrynn Howie (3), Riley Conley (4), Lexi Mott (33), Jazzi Merideth (12), Clint Cowan, Head Coach, and Jennifer Coleman, Assistant Coach.
Camrynn Howie (3) holds the 2023 Championship trophy that Chester had just won following their 32-27 win over the Marissa Lady Meteors Saturday January 7. Watching the announcement of the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic “All-Tournament Team” with Howie are left to right Riley Conley, Aubrey Bowles and Jazzi Merideth. A few seconds after this photo was taken Howie was announced as the 2023 “Most Valuable Player” of the LJMWC.
Pictured are the 2023 Consolation Champions of the Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Tournament. New Athens players are Front row, left to right Jamie Wilson (25), Jolie Alfeldt (3)., Ella Bohn (13), Abby Meyer (24), Aubrey Albers (23), Mallory Kohnen (31), and Bethany Dachsteiner (11). Back row, left to right: Head Coach, Tony Meyer, Peyton Houser (4), Mallory Kimbrell (15), Kaylee Juenger (10), Ainslee Sullivan (40), and Aubrey Generous (21).
Chester’s bench and Head Coach Clint Cowan react in celebration to a successful Lady Jacket play in the win over Dupo to advance to the Championship game of the 2023 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic. The Jackets beat Dupo, 54-27 to earn their trip to the title game.
Pictured are the Sparta Lady Bulldogs who won the 3rd Place trophy at the 2023 Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. The roster lists the following girls (in no particular order) as they pose including Liberti Johnson, Anna McDonald, Kenzi Perce, Sydney Rheinecker, Ruthie Pillers, Daria Pillers, Sadie Hamilton, Maddie Schulein, Gabby Dethrow, Serenity Richardson, Emily Sangurima, Kylie McDaniel, Kamiya Richardson, and Isabelle Ware.
The Marissa Meteors were the 2023 Runners-Up of the Lady Jackets Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament. Their roster includes Kiley Klingeman (2), Emma Lloyd (3), Ambria Neal (4), Mia Lanier (5), Autumn Gilley (10), Adalynn Burns (20), Kaitlyn Klingeman (21), Ashlyn Cathcart (22), Myricle Mellon (23), Annie Villarreal (24), Hannah Krause (30), and Kearston Alstat (31). Coaches are Darin Degenhart, Head Coach, and Jim Inman, Assistant Coach.
Pictured are members who were available for the LJMWC 2023 “All-Tournament Team” including left to right Camrynn Howie of Chester, MVP; Autumn Gulley, Marissa; Lexi Mott, Chester, Belle Ware, Sparta; and T’Yonna Burris, Dupo. Others not available for the Photo include Sydney Rheinecker, Sparta; Kaylee Juenger, New Athens; Brooke Miller, Valmeyer; Alexia Lewis, Dupo, and Mallory Kimbrell, New Athens.