12/08/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER - After dropping their Cahokia Conference Illinois Division opener on Tuesday night at home to Carlyle, 45-42, the Chester Yellow Jackets could ill afford to lose a second straight league contest if they want to stay in contention for the division title.

While the offense for Coach Chris Toledo's club was a bit stagnant, the defensive effort proved to be just enough.

Chester survived missed free throws late in the game and held off Okawville, 34-32, to improve to 1-1 in the conference and 4-4 overall.

While they didn't shoot the ball well themselves, the Yellow Jackets kept the Rockets from getting much going offensively as Okawville dropped to 0-1 in the division, 3-3 overall for head coach Ryan Heck.

The teams weren't very good offensively on Friday night, combining for just 24-of-80 shooting from the floor overall.

However Chester managed to get just enough stops on the defensive end to pick up the needed victory.

The Yellow Jackets were topped in scoring by 6-3 junior Devante Palacio with 11 points while teammates junior Kolton Jany (nine) and junior Cayden Brunkhorts (seven) helped with the scoring.

Okawville got a game-best 15 points from sophomore Landen Shubert and eight points from 6-9 junior Aidan Anderson.

“Our defense won it tonight,” said Coach Toledo. “We didn't shoot it as well as we would've liked from the 3-point line, but the game-plan going in was to get into the passing lanes and force some turnovers and it worked, I'm glad we executed on defense.”

There were four lead changes and three tie scores in the first quarter alone as Chester led 13-12 at the first horn.

Palacio scored twice in the frame on a pair of nice drives to the basket.

His reverse lay in gave Chester a 6-5 lead early.

Shubert scored eight of his points in the opening quarter, nailing down a pair of 3-point bombs and a mid-range score.

A 3-pointer from Brunkhorst close the quarter scoring.

Six-five junior Brenden Malley scored four points in the contest, both on buckets in the second quarter for Chester while 6-3 senior Lucas Thompson hit a 3-pointer as Chester led 22-18 at halftime.

Okawville got six points in the quarter with sophomore Ryker Obermeier hitting a 3-pointer and Shubert converted three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Jany finished the half on a drive to the basket when Anderson was called for goal tending as neither team scored in the final 4:50 of the second quarter.

Okawville got off to a much better start in the third quarter, with a 6-0 run to take the lead.

Shubert hit 1-of-2 free throws and freshman guard Braylen Turner nailed down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to get the run going.

Anderson followed up a missed shot with a two-handed dunk that gave the Rockets their first lead since the opening quarter at 24-22 with 4:30 left in the third.

Shubert added another 3-pointer however Chester scored twice to close out the stanza with Palacio and Jany each finishing at the rim on drives as the quarter ended at 27-26 Rockets.

Chester started their fourth quarter with consecutive transition scores off of Okawville turnovers to take back the lead for good.

Jany and Palacio converted both lay ups in transition before Palacio scored on a back door cut taking an assist from Brunkhorst for a 32-27 advantage.

(CONTINUED)

(CONTINUED)

Chester could have iced the game late from the foul line as Okawville sent them to the stripe.

With the new rule in place with no 1-and-1 opportunities, the Yellow Jackets went to the foul line to shoot two free throws on four trips in the final 1:28 and converted just 2-of-8.

Anderson scored the final points on an inbound lob pass to cut the score to just 34-32 with :55.3 left.

Okawville just missed on a shot from the left corner by Obermeier in the final second and then Jany was sent to the foul line one last time with :01.8 left.

He missed both foul shots and, on the second one, Anderson grabbed the rebound and launched a long shot attempt that was blocked by Malley as the final buzzer sounded.

Chester ended up 14-of-38 overall from the floor and just 2-of-17 from the 3-point line.

The Rockets were 10-of-42, 6-of-23 from the arc.

“My kids work hard, they're scrappers and we're still learning to win and this is part of it. The losses aren't fun and they aren't happy about it but it's part of the process. We're getting there. They're hard working kids every day and we will get there.” said Coach Heck.

Chester ended up with a 25-23 rebounding edge and the Yellow Jackets had just eight turnovers compared to 13 by Okawville.

“We have done really well on the boards this season, the only game we were out-rebounded was the Carmi-White County game by just one rebound,” said Coach Toledo. “Rebounding keeps us in these close games. But we need to do a better job on turnovers.”

Both teams get back on the court on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets host Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran and the Rockets host Steeleville.

“If you want to win the conference, you can lose your first two and that was what we were thinking going into tonight. It's better to be 1-1 than 0-2. We felt we had to get this game,” said Coach Toledo. “As early as it is in the season, this was a win we had to get.”

Okawville (32) - Turner 0 1 0-0 3, Krohne 0 0 0-0 0, Obermeier 0 2 0-0 6, Schaller 0 0 0-0 0, Shubert 1 3 4-5 15, Anderson 3 0 2-2 8. 2FG-4, 3FG-6, FT-6-7, PF-12.
Chester (34) - Brunkhorst 1 1 2-4 7, Palacio 5 0 1-2 11, Korbin Jany 0 0 0-0 0, Kolton Jany 4 0 1-4 9, Dunning 0 0 0-0 0, Malley 2 0 0-0 4, Thompson 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-12, 3FG-2, FT-4-10, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.