CHS Lady Jackets get votes in AP Top 10 Poll, face No. 1 Okawville
CHS Head Coach Clint Cowan is very proud of his Chester High School Lady Yellow Jacket basketball team. On Thursday, the Lady Jackets received three votes in The Associated Press Top-10 Poll.
"It's because of all of the hard work that the girls have been putting in," Cowan said. "They are getting noticed. We are building something special with this program and I can't wait to see how it continues to grow."
In the Class 2A poll, Freeburg (4), Chester (3), and Benton (1) received votes for the Top-10. In the Class 1A Poll, Christopher (5), and Carlyle (4) received votes.
As of Jan. 24 the standings in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division stood were Okawville, Carlyle, Wesclin, Chester, Sparta, and Red Bud.
<b>Okawville 64; CHS 40</b>
On Jan. 27, the Lady Jackets hosted the No. 1 team in Illinois Class 1A, the Okawville Lady Rockets.
The game tipped off at 6 p.m. with a very good crowd on hand to see the Lady Jackets take on the No. 1 Lady Rockets.
Okawville took a 16-6 lead in the first quarter behind the hot hand of Kraus who scored nine of Okawville's 16 points on a trey and three two-pointers. Chester's only points came from senior Alyssa Seymour, who was perfect at the free-throw line, making 4-of-4. She also made a layup.
The Lady Jackets began to sting the Lady Rockets in the second quarter as Seymour remained hot under the basket, banging in eight points on four field goals and another point on a free throw. In this frame, junior Camryn Howie drained a 3-pointer and senior Kailyn Absher hit a field goal to give Chester 12 points.
The Rockets edged Chester in the second quarter with 15 points to outscore the Jackets 15-12. In that frame, Rhodes paced the Rockets with eight points with three field goals and 2-for-2 shooting at the line. Okawville led Chester by 13 points at halftime, 31-18.
It was still a close game coming out of the halftime break, but the Rockets outscored Chester in the third quarter, 23-9. That proved to be a knockout blow to the Lady Jackets.
In that period Okawville was led once again by Kraus, who scored another nine points on three two-pointers and a three-pointer. Four other Lady Rockets added to the 23-point effort, including Tebbe (5), Rhodes (4), Obermeier (3), and Luechtefeld (2).
The Jackets were still respectable with scoring from five-of-their-seven players, including Camryn Howie, Riley Conley, Jazzi Merideth, and Emma Diskey, who each scored two points, and Alyssa Seymour who made 1-of-2 free throws. Okawville extended their lead to 27 points, 54-27, after three quarters of play.
Down the stretch Chester outscored Okawville 13-10 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. Chester senior Kailyn Absher came alive in the final quarter, scoring three times for two points each. Seymour added four points and Jazzi Merideth drained a 3.
The Rockets eventually put in some of their bench players in the final minutes of the game and Wienstroer (2), Genuy (2), Frederking (2), and Heckert (2) got their names in the books with two points apiece to add to Rennegarbe's two points to end the game with a 64-40 win.
Coach Cowan said, "We played a lot better than the scores indicated. Okawville is No. 1 in Class 1A, and it showed. They are a very well-coached team and they are a class act. I wish them nothing but success for the remainder of the season."
Chester was led in scoring by Seymour, who scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Fellow senior teammate Kailyn Absher scored six points and led the team on the boards with 14 rebounds.
Other offensive contributors included Camryn Howie and Jazzi Merideth, who each added five points apiece. Emma Diskey and Rylie Conley each scored two points.
In addition to Camryn Howie's five points, she also dished out four assists. She now trails the CHS single season record by just three assists.
In the loss, the Lady Jackets made 13 two-pointers and two three-pointers. From the free-throw line the girls shot 73 percent making 8-of-11 shots.
All but one Okawville player scored for the Lady Rockets in the 64-40 win, including Kraus (23), Rhodes (13), Rennegarbe (8), Tebbe (5), Wienstroer (4), Obermeier (3), and Genuy, Luechtefeld, and Frederking with two points apiece.
The Rockets hit 23 field goals in the win along with four three-pointers. From the line Okawville was 6-of-9 (67%).
The loss drops Chester to an overall record of 11-13 overall and 2-5 in the Cahokia Conference.
Coach Cowan said, "Tonight we just couldn't handle their press. Our issues were turnovers. That is what eventually got us. We fought hard and played well, but they were just too tough for us to handle.
"I'm so proud of this team and what they have done this season," Cowan said. "I hate that it is all coming to an end, but I know that we are going to fight and play hard until the end. These girls don't know the meaning of the word quit and that's what I love about them!"