Lady Yellow Jackets hand Goreville first loss
<span>Colbert Gym was a buzz on December 16 when the Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets hosted Goreville in a JV and varsity Black Diamond Conference contest.</span>
<span>Both games were hotly contested right up until the end, with the JV falling, 37-30, and the varsity winning 58-53.</span>
<span>"This was a great game," said Chester coach Pat Knowles. "Our girls played hard and never gave up their lead.</span>
<span>"Down the stretch, they listened to me and did what I said to do. They kept their cool and make key free throws when it counted."</span>
<span>Many thought that Chester was the underdog in this contest against undefeated Goreville since the Lady Yellow Jackets were paying without one of their top scorers and rebounders in junior Alexis McMath.</span>
<span>McMath has been battling back pain for years and recently, the pain got so bad that McMath went to a physician for diagnosis and consultation.</span>
<span>The verdict was that McMath would need season-ending surgery to treat and/or correct the situation.</span>
<span>To fill the void, Coach Pat Knowles moved freshman Carlee Weir to full-time varsity service. That left JV coach Luke Lochhead shorthanded with only one substitute.</span>
<span>The JV recently lost one junior player who left the team unexpectedly and sophomore Jessica Kattenbraker is still on the disabled list due to a leg injury she suffered during cross country season.</span>
<span>CHS led at the half by 15 points, 37-22, and Chester took a 42-25 advantage into the fourth quarter.</span>
<span>Goreville started off the fourth quarter with a vengeance with a 7-0 run behind a three-pointer by made Brenni Tripp and field goals by Schylar Messmer and Ashlyn Darnell.</span>
<span>Chester didn't score till 4:25 left to play when Emily Tudor calmly sank a pair of free throws to give Chester a 51-47 lead.</span>
<span>Lady Yellow Jacket Kaitlyn Dillow was then fouled and missed both free throws with just 1:01 to play. </span>
<span>Goreville called a timeout with 50 seconds left and scored on a Tehya Payne field goal to cut Chester's lead to 55-53. </span>
<span>Chester got a huge stop and the ball with just 6.4 seconds left. Tudor was fouled and swished both shots to extend the Lady Yellow Jackets lead to 59-53.</span>
<span>Chester's starting five played the entire game. Offensively, Dillow was huge with 26 points.</span>
<span>Haley Middendorf also scored in double figures with 10 points. Logan Colvis added nine and Tudor contributed eight points. </span>
<span>Weir led the Jackets in rebounding with seven boards, followed by Colvis (7), Dillow (5), Middendorf (2) and Tudor (1). </span>
<span>Chester also added three assists by Colvis (1), Dillow (1) and Weir (1). Middendorf led in steals with seven. Carlee Weir, Emily Tudor and Logan Colvis also contributed two steals apiece. The Lady Jackets recorded only seven turnovers for the game.</span>
<span>As a team, CHS shot 56 percent (14-of-35) from the field in the first half and 30 percent (6-of-20) in the second half for a game total of 36 percent.</span>
<span>Goreville was led by Darnell, who scored 14 points. Other Blackcat contributors included Breanna Stout (11), Schylar Messmer (9), Brenni Tripp (7), Nona Luke (6), Tehya Payne (3), Shayna Elms (2) and Kyla Pulley (1).</span>
<span>With the win, the Chester Lady Yellow Jackets improved to an overall record of 8-4 and a Black Diamond Conference record of 3-1. It is the first time since the 1998-99 season that Chester enters the Christmas break above .500.</span>
<span>The JV game was also a close call. Chester led 21-12 after one half of play. But Goreville made adjustments and the locker room and tied the game at 28 with 1:07 to play.</span>
<span>For Chester, Lauren Welge led the offense with 14 points and Maddie Hoffman and Katy Hoffman each scored eight points apiece to account for Chester's 30 points.</span>
<span>Goreville was led by Schylar Messmer, who scored 10 points. Other scorers were Kyla Pulley (7), Nona Luke (7), Summar Albright (6), Katie Cox (3), Tehya Payne (2) and Breanna Stout (2). </span>
<span>"I think we just ran out of juice at the end of the game," said Chester JV coach Luke Lochhead. "We also were lax on defense and we didn't rebound well tonight.</span>
<span>"It was a good game, but we let down at the end when it counted. We ran out of gas at the end." </span>