Win 3-of-4 games; Lexi Mott makes All-Tournament Team
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School Lady Jackets Basketball Team won the Consolation Championship of the 2023 Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School (CORLHS) Winterfest Tournament.
The Chester High School Lady Jackets Basketball Team won the title of 2023 Consolation Champions at the 2023 Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School Winterfest Tournament in Centralia. Pictured are (Front row, left to right): Riley Lochhead, Rylie Conley, Lillian Diskey, Aubrey Coleman, and Natalie Guetersloh. (Back row, left to right): Jazzi Merideth, Camryn Luthy, Aubrey Colvis, Lexi Mott, Emma Diskey, Jessica Stumpe, and Bailey Hartman. The girls are proudly displaying their Championship medals. Tracey Mott Photo
The ladies from CHS came home from Centralia with medals and one player that was selected for the 2023 All-Tournament Team. Sophomore Lexi Mott earned that honor by scoring 61 points, grabbing 30 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, grabbing 8 steals and blocking 2 shots in the 4-game tournament.
In the tournament Chester won 3 games and lost just 1 game, however, unfortunately, the 1 game that they lost was the first game of the tournament, putting them in the Consolation side of the bracket. Once they hit the Consolation side of the bracket, the Lady Jackets did not lose again.
In the tournament, Chester lost to Johnston City, 58-49, in Game 1. In Game 2, CHS beat Anna-Jonesboro, 51-39. In Game 3, the Lady Jackets won against Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School, 51-30. In the Consolation Championship Game 4, the Jackets beat Sandoval, 69-49, to win the Consolation Championship.
Game 1: Johnston City 58-Chester 49
Chester opened the tournament against Johnston City. The Lady Indians led by just one point, 13-12 after one quarter of play. In the second quarter, it was still a very close game with JC outscoring CHS, 18-15, to lead by only four points, 31-27, at halftime.
The third quarter proved to be the killer for the Lady Jackets as nothing seemed to fall for Chester and Johnston City outscored Chester, 16-6, to take a 14-point, 47-33 lead after three periods.
Chester got back on track down the stretch and challenged the Lady Indians, outscoring them, 16-11, in the 4th quarter, but still trailed by 9 points at the final buzzer, 58-49.
Lexie Mott (33) posts up in basketball action against Sandoval Saturday December 30 in the Consolation Championship game of the 2023 Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School Winterfest Tournament. Mott helped to lead her team to a victory behind her game of 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. The Lady Jackets beat Sandoval 69-49 to earn the Championship title. For her 4-game tournament efforts of 61 points, 30 rebounds, 8 steals, 5 assists, and 2 blocks, Lexie earned a spot on the 2023 Winterfest All-Tournament Team. Tracey Mott Photo
In the loss, the Jackets were led by Lexi Mott who scored a whopping 24 points. She also grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 1 assist, and had 1 steal.
Jesse Stumpe also scored in double figures with 12 points. She also added 4 boards, and 3 assists. Rylie Conley had 6 points and a pair of assists. Camryn Luthy (2), Lillian Diskey (2), Emma Diskey (2) and Aubrey Colvis (1) rounded out the Chester stats. Lillian Diskey also recorded 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Johnston City had one player, C. Clark, with 24 points. K. Mowly added 11 points and other scorers included H. Newell (8), Z. Cullom (7), P. Smith (6), and K. Dugger (2).
With the first round loss, Chester moved to the Consolation side of the bracket and fell to an overall record of 6-7 for the season.
Chester 51-Anna-Jonesboro 30
In the first game in the Consolation Bracket the Lady Jackets faced former River-to-River Conference foe Anna-Jonesboro. The Lady Wildcats scrapped their way to a first quarter, 13-8 lead behind the 5-point effort by S. Smith.
The Wildcats only shook the Lady Jackets hive to anger the YellowJackets and Chester swarmed the Cats and stung them with an 18-8 second quarter to take a 5-point, 26-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
AJ edged CHS, 11-10, in the third quarter to trail by just 4 points after three periods, 36-32. The Lady Jackets took care of business in the final stretch and outscored the Lady Wildcats, 15-7, to win the game, 51-39.
In the win, Chester was led by Jesse Stumpe who scored 19 points. She added 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Lexi Mott also scored in double figures with 13 points. Mott threw in 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist to spark the Jackets.
Other contributors included Rylie Conley who scored 8 points, grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. Lillian Diskey had another respectable game with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist.
Camryn Luthy (3), Aubrey Colvis (2), and Aubrey Coleman (2) rounded out the scoring. Senior Emma Diskey had a good day on the stat sheet with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a pair of assists.
AJ was led by two players in double figures, including K. Criag who scored 12 points and J. Sheperd who scored 11 points. They were followed by S. Smith (7), J. Schefer (3), A. Turner (3), R. Sedler (2), and R. Cruse (1).
With the win, Chester advanced to the semi-final round of the bracket, and improved to an overall season record of 7-7.
Chester 42-Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School 32
The next step towards getting to the championship game was to defeat the hostesses CORLHS. The Lady Jackets led 9-6 after one quarter of play. In the second quarter CORLHS outscored CHS 12-6 to take a brief lead, 18-15 into halftime.
Chester came back after the popcorn break and outscored CORLHS, 13-8 to retake the lead by 2 points, 28-26 after three quarters of battle. Down the stretch, the Lady Jackets took care of business and outscored Christ Our Rock, 14-6, to extend their lead to 10 points, 42-32, to win the contest.
In the win, Chester got offensive contributions from eight players, two of which scored in double figures. Lexi Mott had 12 points and Jessica Stumpe had 10 point. They were followed by Emma Diskey (8), Camryn Luthy (3), Aubrey Coleman (3), and Rylie Conley, Aubrey Colvis, and Lillian Diskey with two points apiece.
Lexi Mott and Jesse Stumpe led the team in rebounding with five rebounds apiece. Lillian Diskey led in assists with three. Lexi Mott led in steals with three. Emma Diskey added 2 boards and 2 thefts, and Aubrey Coleman recorded 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 block.
CORLHS had only four players contribute to its offense. R. Pingsterhaus led with 12 points followed by P. Jett (8), C. Carter (7), and R. Scwertzland (5).
The win put the Lady Jackets into the Consolation Championship game to face Sandoval for the title. The win also gave the Jackets a winning, 8-7, overall record for the season to date.
Chester 69-Sandoval 49 for the Consolation ChampionshipThe Lady Jackets buzzed their way to the Consolation Championship game with their back-to-back wins over Anna-Jonesboro and Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School. Just one final win would earn Chester the title of the Consolation Bracket. Sandoval is all that stood in the Jacket’s way!
The Lady Jackets came to play and conquer as they flew out to a huge 25-7 first quarter lead behind the scoring of Jazzi Merideth, Jesse Stumpe, and Aubrey Coleman who each scored five points in the opening frame. Rylie Conley and Lexi Mott each added four points apiece and Camryn Luthy was perfect from the free throw line with back-to-back free throws.
CHS outscored Sandoval, 12-8 in the second quarter to own a tasty, 37-15, lead at the half.
Sandoval outscored Chester, 21-15 in the third quarter to cut the Jacket’s lead to 16 points, 52-36 after three quarters. CHS scored 17 more points in the final period, while Sandoval scored 13. Chester won the game by 20 points, 69-49, to claim the title.
In the win, Chester used the offensive expertise of nine different players including three players that scored in double figures. Jessica Stumpe and Lexi Mott each scores 12 points apiece while Emma Diskey scored 11 points.
Other Lady Jackets who contributed included Rylie Conley (8), Jazzi Merideth (7), Aubrey Coleman (7), Camryn Luthy (7), Riley Lochhead (4), and Lillian Diskey (1). Impressive was the fact that the bench provided 21 of Chester’s 69 points.
In the win, Chester recorded 27 rebounds, led by Lexi Mott with six; 14 assists, led by Aubrey Colvis with four; and 5 steals from Lexi Mott (2), Jazzi Merideth (2), and Rylie Conley (1).
Sandoval had eight players that scored, with three in double figures, including A. Ray (17), H. Harper (10), and M. Starr (10). Other contributors included L. Calhoun (3), C. Cullip (3), M. Garrett (3), M. Lee (2), and K. Knox (1).
With the win, the Lady Jackets won the Consolation Championship and improved to 9 wins and 7 losses for the 2023 -2024 season.
Next up for Chester will be the 2024 Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic with will be hosted by CHS at Colbert Gymnasium Tuesday January 2 through Saturday January 6. Chester will face Cobden Wednesday January 3 at 6:00 p.m.
The 2024 lineup features # 1 Marissa, # 2 Chester, #3 Valmeyer, #4 Steeleville, # 5 Sparta, # 6 Dupo, # 7 Cobden, and # 8 New Athens.
Marisa and New Athens will open the tournament Tuesday January 2 at 6:00 p.m. followed by Steeleville and Sparta at 7:30 p.m.
Chester and Cobden will face off Wednesday January 3 at 6:00 p.m. and Valmeyer and Dupo will follow at 7:30 p.m.
Games will proceed Thursday and Friday with games at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Championship Day will be Saturday January 6 with games at 12:00 noon, 1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and the Championship game at 4:30 p.m.