Jackets fall to Anna-Jonesboro in Regional final

The Chester YellowJacket Basketball Team had a great 2017-2018 season finishing in second place in the Black Diamond Conference West Division. The boys from CHS also tied the record for most wins at Chester High School in a season with 22 wins.

They had two more accomplishments that were in the grand plan for 2018. The Jackets wanted to set a new school record of reaching 23 wins and they had high hopes of winning the 2018 IHSA Class 2A Regional Tournament hosted by Johnston City.

But it just wasn't in the cards this year as the championship slipped away from the YellowJackets in the final minutes, losing to Anna-Jonesboro 54-51, in the Regional final game Feb. 23.

En route to the title matchup, the No. 5 Jackets made their way to the regional finals by beating hosts No. 11 Johnston City, 67-40, in the opening game Feb. 19 and then taking the semifinal game against No. 3 DuQuoin, 53-52, Feb. 21.

In the championship game, Chester's took the first period with a 9-2 run early. Anna-Jonesboro was not finished, however, and had a 5-0 run of its own to end the quarter and trailed by only two points, 9-7 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a wild affair with six lead changes and six ties. Both teams made big plays throughout and each had an answer for the other's attacks. When the clock ran out for halftime, Anna-Jonesboro had a two-point, 28-26, lead after outscoring Chester, 21-17.

The third quarter saw five lead changes and one tie as the battle continued. At the end of three periods, the Wildcats led, 41-40.

The margin stayed close into the fourth quarter, but started to widen when Jake Haberberger and Keith Kiner pulled the Jackets ahead, 49-44 in the final six minutes. Anna-Jonesboro Head Coach Mike Chamness immediately called time out at the 4:35 mark. Out of the time out Wildcat Jacob Zimmerman came off the bench a hit a huge three-pointer to stop the Chester run and all of a sudden Anna was back in the game, 49-47 with 2:59 to play.

Down the stretch in the finals seconds, the Wildcats gave the ball back to Chester twice but the Jackets could not score. CHS attempted two field goals and missed on both opportunities. A last-ditch effort with just 4.3 seconds left missed the mark for yet a third chance for Chester to tie the game, but it failed and as the buzzer sounded, AJ won the game and the title, 54-51.

For the game Chester was led by Kiner with 23 points fol-lowed by Haberberger (15),

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Jakob Cushman (5), Ian Reith (4), and Drake Bollman (2). For the night CHS made 2-of-5 free throws (40 percent).

Anna-Jonesboro was led by Jake Parr who had 25 points. He was followed by Logan Sawyer (14), Sheldon McGrath (7), Jacob Zimmerman (3), Noah Smith (3), and Blake Pena (2). The Wildcats made 6-of-10 free throws (60%).

The loss ended Chester's season with a record of 22-9 and foiled the attempt to break the school win record. The Jackets needed one more win to break the former record of 22 wins. They had to settle for a tie in 2017-18.

The good news of the night, however, was that CHS senior Haberberger made nine three-pointers in the IHSA Class 2A Regional Three-Point Shooting Contest and was one of four players at the regional tournament to advance to the 2018 IHSA Class 2A Sectional Tournament Three-Point Shooting Contest.

"I am very proud of the boys for their accomplishments this season. They tied the Chester High School record for most wins in a season with 22 wins and made it to the championship game of the 2018 IHSA Class 2A Regional Basketball Tournament," said Chester Head Coach Brad Norman said, "In addition, the boys finished second in the Black Diamond Conference West Division. They have nothing to be ashamed of!"

Chester 76, Johnston City 40

In the first round of the tournament, The Jackets faced Johnston City. CHS led 14-13 after the first quarter and 36-17 at halftime. The third quarter brought another 18 points for Chester vs. an additional 15 points to Johnston City's total and the Jackets led, 54-32 heading into the final stretch. The Jackets substituted heavily in the fourth quarter, but still outscored the Indians 13-8 down the stretch, winning the game by a score of 67-40.

Every player on Chester's roster saw playing time in the victory and 9-of-12 players contributed offensively led by Josh Haberberger who scored 23 points on a barrage of three-pointers. Haberberger knocked down a total of five treys with an additional two field goals and 4-of-4 free throw shooting for his total of 23 points.

Other contributors included Keith Kiner (16), Ina Reith (10), Drake Bollman (6), Colin Wingerter (3), Clay Herrell (3), and Jake Haberberger, Jakob Cushman, and Nick Heffernan with two points apiece for Chester's total of 67 points. For the night CHS hit 10-of-11 free throws for 91 percent shooting.

Johnston City was led by Chase Selby who scored 17 points followed by Houston Hall (11), Coltan Steinmetz (5), Matt Campbell (3), and Luca Gualdoni and Tyler Youkewich with two points apiece for the Indian's 40 points.

Chester 53, DuQuoin 52

Chester advanced to the semifinal round Feb. 21 against No. 3 DuQuoin. Chester led by five points, 18-13 after one quarter of play. At halftime the game all knotted up at 30-30 with neither team willing to give an inch to the other.

Things didn't change much after the break. Chester outscored the Indians again in the third period, 13-10 to take a three-point lead, 43-40 after three quarters. Down the stretch DuQuoin outscored the Jackets, 12-10 to pull within one point, 53-52. Had there been a bit more time left on the clock the Indians may have edged even closer, but as time ran out, DuQuoin could not make the desperation shot and CHS won, 53-52 to advance to the Class 2A Regional final.

In the win the Jackets played just seven players and got scoring from only five. Keith Kiner led the charge with 20 pints followed by Ian Reith (15), Jake Haberberger (8), Drake Bollman (7) and Colin Wingerter (3) for Chester's 53 points. AS a team CHS made 7-of-10 free throws for 70 percent shooting from the line.

DuQuoin was paced by Lamontay Daughtery who scored 20 points followed by Josh Heap (12), Hank Stewart (8), Breaden Pursell (6), and Will Woodside, Shamar Adams, and Ashton Smith who each scored two points apiece. As a team the Indians shot 78 percent (7-of-9) from the free point line.

With just 3:30 to play in the game DuQuoin's Braeden Pursell passed to Lamontay Daughtery who made the basket to give the Indians a three-point lead, 52-49. The YellowJackets made sure that DuQuoin would not score again, however.

It took Chester until only seven seconds remained to finally regain the lead at 53-52 on an Ian Reith field goal. With seven seconds the Indians had a chance to win, but couldn't make a shot. It was a real knock-down-drag-out, but Chester played good enough defense to protect their one-point lead and win the game.

With the win Chester improved to 22-8 to tie the school record for wins in a season. The victory also put the Jackets in the championship game against Anna-Jonesboro. For Anna-Jonesboro to get to the final game they had to beat West Frankfort in a game that was too close for comfort, 59-57. The Wildcats with their No. 2 seed had a bye in the first round