Bittersweet ceremony: Pat Knowles' final awards are handed out to Lady Jackets
The 2019-20 Lady Jackets basketball team gathered for one final time on Aug. 5, as Jannelle Knowles, widow of Coach Pat Knowles, joined with Coach Rick Powley to make a long-delayed presentation of awards.
The brief, 30-minute event was held on the front lawn of the Knowles' home, with everyone masked and observing social distancing. The players posed for one "masked" photo then left for the safety of their homes.
Jannelle Knowles welcomed everyone to her home and thanked them for attending.
"Pat absolutely loved this team, and he was so very proud of you all," she said. "He came home every night excited and so happy to be your coach."
Pat Knowles had the awards decided last spring, she added, but the usual awards banquet was called off with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
"He would have loved to have been here tonight to honor each and every one of you," Jannelle said.
As good as the 2019-20 basketball season was, the postseason was devastating. Coaches Pat Knowles and Jennifer King died within a month of each other - King lost her eight-year battle with cancer on March 28, and Knowles died unexpectedly on April 29 after a short illness.
At the awards ceremony, Knowles announced that Pat had decided to give the Most Valuable Player Award to the entire team, recognizing the many great accomplishments achieved during the season. The 25-5 regular season set a new CHS record, and the team set three other school records too: Most points scored in a single season, 1,798; most rebounds in a single season, 896 boards; and the most three-pointers in a single season, 182. As well, Chester went the entire season without back-to-back losses.
Next, she introduced every player and presented the individual awards.
Sixth Man Award: Josie Kattenbraker. junior.
Most Improved Award: Camryn Howie, freshman.
Hustle Award: Kendall Williams, junior.
As well, Black Diamond All-Conference awards were earned by seniors Destiny Williams and Reese Chandler.
A Chester High School record was set by sophomore Alyssa Seymour for grabbing 192 rebounds in a single season and by senior Destiny Williams for dishing out 119 assists in a single season.
Destiny Williams also set a new single game record for most free throws made with 16.
Finally, Destiny Williams was honored for setting new individual career records for the Lady Jacket basketball program in just about every conceivable category: Most Points Scored (1,836); Most Field Goals Made (685); Most Free Throws Attempted (428); Most Free Throws Made (326); Best Free Throw Percentage (76.2%); Most Assists (406); and Most Steals (289).
Destiny Williams was also named to the SICA All-South squad for the fourth consecutive year. She was named to the Black Diamond All-Conference team all four years; in her junior year she earned MVP honors and in her senior year she was named Captain of that squad.
Last but certainly not least, Destiny earned Illinois Basketball Association 2nd Team All-State honors her junior year and Special Mention her senior year.
Williams left Chester on Aug. 8 for Overland Park, Kansas, where she will attend Johnson County Community College and play basketball for Coach Ben Conrad and the Cavaliers while she pursues a degree in Sports Management.
Season in review
The Lady Jackets season began Nov. 20 at the 2019 Sparta Invitational Tournament where the ladies swept the competition with four wins to take the tournament crown. It ended Feb. 13 with a disappointing loss to Freeburg in the IHSA Class 2A Regional Tournament at Columbia.
The Lady Jackets started the season 5-0 record before losing to Vienna, 58-46, Dec. 2. The Jackets came back with a 3-0 run to improve to 8-1 before a Dec. 9 loss to Saxony Lutheran, 63-54. A hard-fought, 58-53 loss at home Dec. 21 to perennial powerhouse Goreville, was followed by the Lebanon Tournament where they finished 5th with only one early six-point loss to Marissa by a score of 35-29.
After that loss, the Jackets, 10-4, would beat Gateway and Gibault to finish the tournament and bring home the 5th place trophy and a 12-4 record.
CHS won another ten games to improve to 22-4 until the Sesser-Valier Lady Red Devils derailed the Jackets with a one-point loss on the road, 66-65. With the loss, CHS had a record of 22-5 overall and 4-3 in the BDC.
From that point, the Lady Jackets went undefeated the rest of the regular season to finish with a regular season record of 25-5. The previous school record was just 21 wins.
Chester beat Du Quoin in the first game of the 2020 regional, 50-38 to improve to 26-5. Freeburg eliminated Chester, 38-29 in the championship game of the Class 2A Columbia Regional to end the Lady Jacket's season with an overall record of 26-6 and a Black Diamond Conference record of 7-3.
In addition to winning the Sparta Tournament, the Lady Jackets won their own Mid-Winter Classic with wins over Valmeyer, Sparta and Marissa. They then went undefeated in the 2020 Carbondale Mid-Winter Classic Tournament with quality wins over Carbondale, Marion and Mt. Vernon.
The very dedicated group of young ladies who accomplished these amazing feats are Ally Rowold, Audrey Hopper, Trinity Brown, Destiny Williams, Josie Kattenbraker, Reese Chandler, Kendall Williams, Peyton Clendenin, Katie Shinabargar, Torre Berger, Alysa Seymour, Kailyn Absher, Ashlyn Colvis, Camryn Howie, Maleia Absher, Sydney Collins and Aubrie Medford.
All but the four seniors - Destiny Williams, Trinity Brown, Ally Rowold and Audrey Hopper - will return for next season in 2020-2021.