Chester knocks off undefeated Benton at Hoops Classic
Chester found a special kind of magic in Duster Thomas Gymnasium on Monday, the first day of the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic.
Jason Schwartz banked in a game-winning 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to beat Benton (56-54) in triple overtime, and Jack Weir's bucket with 16 seconds left gave the Yellow Jackets a one-point win (40-39) over Olney-East Richland.
Schwartz's one-handed, off-balance jumper won a contest that took nearly two games' worth of time to complete, despite photo evidence that showed the ball was still in his hand with zeroes on the clock.
"I looked over and saw the whole bench yelling at me to shoot," Schwartz said. "I kinda looked up real quick and saw the time and just threw it up."
Schwartz finished with a game-high 22 points against the Rangers, who saw their nine-game win streak (Benton's best start since the 1970-71 season) end in controversial fashion.
"That's regardless," said Benton coach Ron Winemiller of climatic play. "We didn't make enough breaks and I though Schwartz made all the breaks tonight, so he probably deserved to get one there at the end.
"If that's what you're banking on, then that's just the way the ball bounces."
Schwartz finished with 22 points on 6-of-15 shooting, while Jake Golding added 14 points and Jack Weir contributed 13.
"We'll take it, that kid deserves it," said Chester coach Brad Norman of Schwartz's shot. "He's definitely one of the best players in this tournament and he proved it.
"If nobody's noticed him, they should because he's a good kid."
Benton (9-1) had a five-point lead, 48-43, with 2:33 left to go in the first overtime, but Schwartz tied it at 48 on a conventional 3-point play with 1:11 remaining in the frame.
The teams were tied again at 52 to end the second overtime after Benton's Derek Oxford hit the game-tying jumper with 3.4 seconds left.
"You have so many highs and lows in those three overtimes, even at the end of regulation, we had a chance to get it there," Norman said. "You just hope that you get a chance at the end and I think, if I had to look at film again, I'm probably going to say as the game started it's going to be whoever has the ball last."
Chester (10-2) moved on to the Gold Bracket semifinal game, where it was scheduled to play Carterville at 1:30 p.m.
The winner was to face the winner of Pinckneyville and Gibault at 8:30 p.m., while the loser was to play at 7:30 p.m. for third place.
Chester 40, Olney 39
Jack Weir and Jake Golding combined for 24 points and Chester rallied past Olney in its morning session contest.
The Yellow Jackets trailed by six with 6:14 left in the fourth quarter.
"The Olney game was just a lot different," Norman said. "It was more scrappy, it was more guys-on-the-floor, get-your-points-at-the-free-throw-line-and-finish-at-the-rim or else."
Jason Schwartz and Demontae Martin added five points each for Chester, which led 11-4 after the first quarter and 20-14 at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Yellow Jackets 14-8 in the third frame to tie the game at 28 heading to the fourth.
"We did not play very good against Olney," Norman said. "They're the type of team where they want to work you hard on the inside and they did that and we finally matched the intensity late in the game."