Valle beats Perryville, 74-64 to play in Consolation Championship
BY JIM BEERS Contributing Writer
CHESTER — Semi-Finals are over and the schedule is set for “Championship Day” at the 2023 Chester Invitational Tournament (CIT). In Day No. 2 of the Semi-Finals Chester beat New Athens, 52-46, to earn a seat at the Championship game. New Athens moved to the final spot in the 3rd Place bracket to compete for the 3rd Place Trophy.
In the Consolation Championship bracket Semi-Final, Valle defeated Perryville, 74-64, to play in the Consolation Championship game. Perryville will compete for the 7th Place title.
Chester 52-New Athens 46 in Championship Semi-Final
This was a battle between two YellowJacket teams. There was a guarantee that the YellowJackets would win. The game determined which YellowJacket team would advance to the 2023 CIT Championship game.
Chester led throughout the game, sometimes as much as 18 points! CHD led, 15-12 after the first quarter, 29-18 at halftime, 40-26 after three quarters, and ended up winning the game by just six points, 52-46.
The game started off just as it ended Tuesday January 10 against Perryville with senior Gavin Schroeder having a “hot hand”. Against the Pirates Schroeder drained five 3-pointers and a 2-pointer to lead the Jackets with 17 points. Against New Athens, he started the game with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Chester a 6-2 lead by the 3:50 mark.
Just 35-seconds later Davante Palacio sank a bucket for two more points and CHS led 8-2 with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter. New Athens’ Gannon Birkner stopped the bleeding with a basket down low at 2:26. Teammate Gavin Gallagher popped a 3-pointer at 1:57 and Isaiah Lintker and Owen Tolson scored two points apiece. The quarter ended with Chester’s Lucas Thompson hitting a basket and Kolton Jany sinking a pair of free throws with 47-seconds to play. Chester led, 15-12 after one quarter of play. Chester hit three 3’s in the process.
CHS continued to excel in the 2nd Quarter, outscoring New Athens, 11-6 to lead 29-18 at the half. During that stretch Chance Mott stepped up and hit a 3-pointer at 7:10. He then connected for a 2-point basket and was fouled, making his free throw completing the 3-point play at 5:57.
Davante Palacio made a basket at 5:11. Less than a minute later Gavin Schroeder drained his 4th 3-pointer of the night, followed by a 2-pointer with 20-seconds to close the 2nd Quarter.
New Athens recorded six points when Gannon Birkner drained two free throws at 6:57, Owen Tolson sank a shot at 5:28, and another at 2:58. Chester led, 29-18 going into the locker room at the half.
After halftime the Jackets continued their roll outscoring New Athens, 11-8 to increase the lead to 40-26 after three quarters of play.
Gavin Schroeder started the second half off making his 5th 3-pointer of the game at 6:50 to lead, 32-18. New Athens’ Gannon answered with a three ball of his own at 5:51. The score was 32-21 in favor of CHS.
33-seconds later Trace Fricke scored a bucket for Chester to extend the Jacket’s lead to 34-21. Davante Palacio followed with a 2-pointer at 4:51. CHS led, 36-21. Trace Fricke then completed a 7-0 Chester run when he drained a 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining in the third period. CHS led, 39-21.
New Athens retaliated with Gannon Birkner’s second 3-pointer of the quarter to bring New Athens within 15 points, 39-24. Chester’s Palacio hit a free throw with .41 left to play and New Athens’ Isaiah Lintker ended the quarter with a last second bucket. Chester led, 40-26 after three quarters.
With a 14-point lead, all indications were that the Chester YellowJackets were on their way to an easy 4th Quarter and a trip to the CIT Championship game. Nothing was further from the truth. New Athens would get within three points, 49-46, with just one minute to play in the game. The final minute was filled with drama and suspense, but the Jackets held on for a 52-46 victory.
The period opened with a 3-point basket from New Athens’ Isaiah Lintker. New Athens trailed 40-29. In the next three minutes, New Athens would drain another four 3-pointers to get within six points, 47-41. During that three minute stretch, Chester would get another seven points from back-to-back 3-pointers from Trace Fricke and a free throw from Kolton Jany.
At 1:56. Chester’s Chance Mott sank-to-back free throws to extend the lead to 49-41. The final 1:41 turned out to be filled with suspense, drama, pain and dread. With 1:41 left to play, Chance Mott was injured requiring him to leave the game with a cut above his eye. That required an extended “official time out”.
Following the time out, New Athens’ Gannon Birkner sank a basket at the 1:28 mark. (CHS 49-NA 43). New Athens forced a Chester turnover on a bad pass resulting in a Birkner 3-pointer (CHS 49-NA 46) with 1-minute to play in the game.
With 36-seconds to play, Chester’s Gavin Schroeder was knocked to the floor with an intentional foul that created a technical foul on New Athens. Schroeder went to the free throw line and made both free shots to extend Chester’s lead to 51-46.
Chester then got the possession from the technical foul and Schroeder was fouled on a drive to the basket with 17.7 seconds remaining. He made another free throw giving Chester another point to extend the lead to 52-46. Neither team scored in the final seconds and the Jackets secured the trip to the Championship game with the 52-46 win over New Athens.
In the final quarter, New Athens made an exciting comeback within three points, 49-46 as a result of six, made 3-pointers; 4 from Isaiah Lintker, 1 from Owen Tolson, and 1 from Gannon Birkner. New Athens outscored Chester 20-12 in the final 8:00.
Chester benefited from making 6-of-9 free throws down the stretch; 3-of-4 from Gavin Schroeder, 2-of-2 from Chance Mott, and 1-of-2 from Kolton Jany. Trace Fricke’s back-to-back 3-pointers also helped to save the day.
In the win, Chester was led by two players who scored in double figures. Gavin Schroeder scored 18 and Trace Fricke scored 12. Other contributors included Chance Mott (7), Davante Palacio (7), Kolton Jany (5), and Lucas Thompson (3). For the night, CHS made (7) 2-pointers, (9) 3-pointers, and shot 11-of-18 from the free throw line (61%).
New Athens got all of its scoring from just three players. Isaiah Lintker (20), Gannon Birkner (17) and Owen Tolson (9) scored all 46 points on (7) 2-pointers, (10) 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throw shooting (100%). Lintker made (6) 3-pointers, Birkner made (3) 3-pointers, and Tolson made (1) 3-pointer.
Valle-52 beats Perryville-46 to advance to the Consolation Championship game; Perryville will play for 7th Place
In the opening game of the night Valle and Perryville battled for the right to advance to the Consolation Championship game. Both Missouri schools played hard and gave the fans a great show. The final scores were not indicative of the game.
Perryville played well in the opening frame and led, 17-14 after one quarter of play. In the second quarter Valle outscored Perryville 19-13, and gained a slim, 33-30 lead, at halftime.
Valle maintained a decent lead in the 3rd quarter outscoring Perryville, 27-21, to extend the lead to nine points, 60-51, after three quarters of competition. Down the stretch, Perryville made a good effort, but the Warriors outscored the Pirates, 14-13, to win the game by 10 points, 74-64.
Valle used three players in double figures in the win including Clayton Drury (22), Chase Fallert (19), and Sam Drury (11). Other contributors were Harry Oliver (9), Carson Tucker (, Nick Oliver (3), and Tyler Gegg (2).
In the loss Perryville likewise had three players score in double figures including Ethan Blythe (21), Jake Cissell (19), and Andrew Terbrak (15). Other scorers were Robert Ussery (6), and Brady Garza (3).
With the win, Valle earned the right to compete for the Consolation Championship facing Lovejoy. Perryville will play Valmeyer for 7th Place.
In the photos:
Perryville’s Grant Smith (21) attempts to score over Harry Oliver (23) of Valle in Game 1 Thursday January 12 at the 2023 CIT. Valle won the game, 74-64 to play in the Consolation Championship. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s Trace Fricke (44) a 6’4″ senior forward fires a 3-pointer Thursday January 12 in the Semi-Final round of the Chester Invitational Tournament. For the night Fricke drained (#) 3-pointers along with a 2-pointer and a free throw to score 12 points in the Chester win over the New Athens YellowJackets. With the win, CHS advances to the Championship game of the 59th Annual CIT. Jim Beers Photo
Gavin Schroder (2) a Chester High School senior point guard, goes to the free throw line with 17.7 seconds left to play in the game Thursday January 12. In the final seconds of the game, Schroeder made two trips to the line making 3-of-4 to help put Chester up, 52-46 to win the game over New Athens. With the win, Chester advanced to the Championship game of the 2023 CIT. Jim Beers Photo
Perryville guard Grant Smith (21) drives hard down the center of the lane Thursday January 12 in Game 1 against Perryville. Pirate defender, Devon Seabaugh (3) fouls Smith to prevent the score early in the first half of the game. Valle ended up with the win, 74-64 to advance to the Consolation Championship of the CIT. Jim Beers Photo
The Chester High School Dance Team, under the direction of Adrianne Kern, performs to the tune of “Knock on Wood” Thursday January 12 at halftime of the Chester vs New Athens Semi-Final game. The group rocked the crowd to a standing ovation. Jim Beers Photo