02/13/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER - For the second time in three seasons the Wesclin Warriors have won the Illinois Division of the Cahokia Conference.

It took just eleven seconds for Coach Brent Brede's club to take the lead in its game at Chester Tuesday night.

The Warriors never let up in a commanding 70-44 win Tuesday night.

With the victory the Warriors finished 8-2 in the division and head into the postseason next week at Columbia with a sparkling 27-4 mark.

“We have been in the conference (division) three years and this is the best it has been. We had a tough week in December and we lost back-to-back games (Sparta and Carlyle),” said Coach Brede. “It was a good effort for us to win it outright.”

For Chester, any sort of upset hopes disappeared early on the teams' Senior Night as the Yellow Jackets never led as their overall record slipped to 13-17, 3-7 in the league.

Six-six senior center Seth Macke finished with 12-points and 11-rebounds and he got most of the defensive attention from Chester.

Coach Chris Toledo and his staff had a plan to over play inside on Macke, leaving the perimeter open.

That strategy didn't pay off.

The Warriors nailed 11 3-point shots as they cruised out to an early lead.

Wesclin was led in scoring by 6-3 freshman guard Gavin Rahm and 6-1 junior Chandler Mueller who each scored 19-points.

Rahm (four) and Mueller (five) hit nine of the 11 3-point shots for the Warriors.

Senior Harrison Rakers added 13-points to the totals for Coach Brede as the balanced attack left little doubt of the outcome by halftime.

“That was our game plan, to limit Macke and make them hit the 3's,” said Coach Toledo. “You have to pick your poison with them. That's why they're ranked number two in the toughest sub-sectional in the state.”

Chester was led by junior guard Cayden Brunkhorst with 11-points and junior Brenden Malley with nine.

Brothers Kolton (junior) and Korbin Jany (senior) finished with seven-points each.

Junior Devante Palacio ended up with eight-points after spending most of the second quarter on the bench with three personal fouls.

Those four Warriors scored points in the opening minutes four first quarter 3-pointers hitting the mark.

Rahm canned two of the long distance shots and added a conventional three-point play on a drive in the paint.

Mueller banked home a desperation 3-pointer from 35-feet away from the basket after making a steal.

His bucket beat the first quarter buzzer for a 21-11 lead.

“We had some wide-open 3-point shots tonight and I'm happy we were able to knock them down,” said Coach Brede. “Sometimes there were five white shirts in the paint when Seth would catch the ball. Teams have to make a choice on how they want to play us.”

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Two key plays occurred in the second quarter that made matters worse for the hosts.

Macke scored twice early in the quarter on the inside.

His second bucket came where there was contact in the lane where it could have been a block or a charge but nothing was called.

Coach Toledo protested and was whistled for a technical foul.

After Mueller hit 1-of-2 free throws, Wesclin had the ball back and Palacio picked up his third foul seconds later.

Macke later added two more free throws and Mueller got to the rim while being fouled.

His free throw following the basket closed a 10-2 run for a 31-13 advantage with 4:33 left in the half.

“Every night is a battle in this conference. We took one on the chin tonight,” said Coach Toledo. “With the number of kids we play we have to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble.”

Brunkhorst added a late basket in the second quarter but the Warriors got another 3-pointer from Mueller on an assist from Macke as Wesclin led 36-19 at intermission.

The Warriors' hot shooting continued in the second half.

Mueller hit two more 3-pointers as did Rakers in the third quarter.

Rahm also had a 3-pointer on in inbounds play and Mueller added a rebound bucket as the advantage ballooned to 53-33.

An 8-0 run after a Malley basket to begin the final quarter by Wesclin sealed the deal.

Rahm and Mueller padded the stats with one 3-point shot each in the run and Rakers added a fast break lay in on a pass from Rahm for a 61-38 lead.

Senior guard Luke Tasker finished a fast break after a steal by Mueller before both coaches emptied the benches with just under three minutes remaining.

The numbers also added up to a Wesclin win.

The Warriors hit 24-of-53 shots, including 11-of-25 from the arc.

Also important for Coach Brede is that they hit the glass on the offensive end, grabbing 12-offensive rebounds, five in the first quarter as they ended up with extra chances that paid off early.

Chester hit just 16-of-42 shots from the floor, just 1-of-5 from outside.

Wesclin also took care of the basketball, committing just five turnovers, zero in the first quarter when the took command.

Chester ended up even with the Warriors on the boards at 27-27.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Belleville Althoff on Monday night for a first round Columbia Regional game.

The winner will face the host Eagles on Wednesday night.

Wesclin is in the other side of the bracket where they will face the winner of the Sparta vs. Red Bud Monday night matchup.

Both semifinals will be played on Wednesday.

“He (Macke) is better at playing through double-teams this year than he was last year. He made good decisions tonight,” said Coach Brede. “Tonight was a good win. We hit shots.”

Wesclin (70) - Zurliene 0 1 0-0 3, Tasker 1 0 0-0 2, Tobin 0 0 0-0 0, Herdon 0 0 0-0 0, Norbury 0 0 0-0 0, Szpila 0 0 0-0 0, Rakers 3 1 2-2 13, Wellen 0 0 0-0 0, Kapp 1 0 0-0 2, Rahn 3 4 1-1 19, Mueller 1 5 2-3 19, Middleton 0 0 0-0 0, Josias 0 0 0-0 0, Haar 0 0 0-0 0, Macke 4 0 4-8 12. 2FG-13/3FG-11/FT-9-14/PF-15.
Chester (44) - Brunkhorst 4 0 3-4 11, Peters 0 0 0-0 0, D. Palacio 3 0 2-3 8, Korbin Jany 2 1 0-0 7, Kolton Jany 2 0 3-8 7, Dunning 0 0 0-0 0, T. Palacio 0 0 0-0 0, Coffman 0 0 0-0 0, Malley 4 0 1-2 9, Thompson 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-15/3FG-1/FT-11-19/PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Chester Bench.