YellowJacket boys fall short against Carlyle
The Chester YellowJacket boys ended up having a light Week 3 with just one game Tuesday, Dec. 7 against Carlyle. The Jackets lost that game at Colbert Gymnasium 59-51. Friday's scheduled game against Okawville was postponed due to the prediction of dangerous, violent weather.
<b>Carlyle 59, Chester 51</b>
The Jackets led 3-2 at the 6:39 mark and allowed the Indians to go on a 17-6 run to close out the first quarter ahead 19-9. During that opening quarter, Chester's Jared Landeros was the only Chester player to score. He had all 9 YellowJacket points in the opening frame.
Carlyle's Sam Ruscher popped a 3-pointer to open the second quarter to extend the lead to 21-9. CHS then used an 8-0 run to pull within 4 points at the 5:37 mark, 21-17.
Cooper Eggemeyer, Landeros and Gavin Schroeder led that charge with 4, 2 and 2 points, respectively. A 5-4 battle had the Jackets trailing by just 3 points, 25-22, at halftime.
During the second quarter, Landeros scored 7 points, Eggemeyer added 4 and Gavin Schroeder recorded 2 points.
After halftime, Chester came alive and outscored the Indians 17-11 to take a 3-point, 39-36 lead at the end of three quarters. During that wild run, there were two lead changes and one tie.
Landeros led the way with 7 points, followed by 7 Eggemeyer, who hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws. Trace Fricke drained a trey and Chance Mott made a field goal to round out the accumulation.
Down the stretch, Mott opened the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run, making two free throws and a field goal to set the tone. Chester led 43-36 after one minute of action. Carlyle answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game, 43-43, at the 5:51 mark.
A 3-pointer by Carlyle's Hayden Hoffmann at 5:17 gave the Indians a 46-43 lead. Fricke answered with a field goal to bring the YellowJackets within one point, 46-45 with 4:50 remaining in the game. A 3-pointer gave the Indians a 49-45 lead.
At the 2:29 mark, Chester head coach Chris Toledo was called for a technical foul for questioning a call. Carlyle's Hoffmann made back-to-back free throws for the technical, and the Indians extended their lead to six points, 51-45.
To close out the final 2:10, Carlyle used the clock well, forcing the Jackets to foul to stop the clock. The Indians outscored the Jackets 8-6 down the stretch to escape Rocky Bridges Court with an 8-point win, 59-51.
In the loss, Chester was led by Landeros, who led all players with 25 points. Eggemeyer followed with 9 points, Mott added 6 points, and Schroeder and Fricke scored 5 points apiece. Ethan Stumpe made one-of-two free throws to round out Chester's offense.
For the night, CHS made 11 2-pointers and six 3-pointers. From the line Chester was 11-of-12 (91.66 percent).
Carlyle was led by Hoffmann, who scored 23 points, followed by Carsen Beer (11), Wyatt Nothaus (10), Sam Ruscher (9), and Jayden McIntosh (6). In the win, the Indians recorded 14 2-pointers and six 3-pointers. They were 13-of-16 from the free-throw line (81 %).
With the loss, Chester falls to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the Cahokia Conference. The postponed game from Friday, Dec. 10, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The Jackets will host Sparta the night before, Tuesday, Dec. 21, at Colbert Gymnasium.