Chester finishes fourth at DTHC

<span>A forced turnover and two big free throws by Jackson Brand at the end of the ball game helped Pinckneyville hold off Chester on Tuesday night at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic, as the Panthers took home third place with a 50-46 victory.</span>

<span>The Yellow Jackets led by as many as eight points in the first half, but the Panthers came out of the break and scored the first eight points to take a lead the never let go of.</span>

<span>"We made some adjustments at halftime," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner. "We told our guys we were too tentative shooting the ball, we've got to work it inside out.</span>

<span>"Our post guys had to be a little more assertive to find the open man, and once we got it in and then kicked it out it's an easy three, it's a high-percentage three, and we hit them. Give Clayton Houghland a lot of credit. He came in there and shot it well and got us started there in the second half."</span>

<span>Houghland had a quiet tournament up until that point, but showed up big with 13 points to lead Pinckneyville against Chester. He buried a pair of three-pointers during the Panthers' third quarter push to get PCHS up by as many as seven.</span>

<span>"It's what your senior player is supposed to do," said Waggoner. "We needed him at that time."</span>

<span>The two teams played relatively evenly in the first half until a pair of three-point plays - one the conventional way, one from long distance - by Chester's Jacob Golding helped the Jackets go up 22-16 in the second quarter before leading 22-18 at the break.</span>

<span>Following the intermission, the Panthers started to heat up. Grant Jausel and Sam Simpson each put in two to start the run, and J.C. Moll hit the first of three Pinckneyville triples in the period moments later.</span>

<span>PCHS led 32-25 after Houghland's second three, but Chester fought back to within two after Jason Schwartz - who was later named to the all-tournament team - beat the third quarter buzzer to make it 33-31.</span>

<span>Kyle Luke sank the Panthers' fifth three-ball of the night to start the fourth, and later in the period Pinckneyville had built another seven-point cushion following two free throws by Grant Jausel, but the Yellow Jackets still had some life left in them.</span>

<span>Schwartz hit two threes to cut the lead to one with 2:48 to play, and with under 15 seconds to go, Pinckneyville led 48-46 with the ball in Chester's possession.</span>

<span>Schwartz got trapped near midcourt, however, and traveled to turn the ball over the Panthers with 13.5 seconds to play.</span>

<span>"We were going to double the ball screen, and we hadn't done it all game, we'd jammed or went under," said Waggoner. "We decided at the end of the game we were really going to rotate hard, get into their best player and make somebody else make a play. Instead, he got caught up in it and traveled and that was the ball game."</span>

<span>Brand was then fouled and calmly sank both free throws to make it a two-possession game.</span>

<span>"Jackson's clutch, he's a tough kid," said Waggoner. "Free throws, he has a lot of confidence. I knew if he got in he'd knock them down, and guys executed and got him the ball."</span>

<span>Houghland's 13 points led Pinckneyville, Grant Jausel added 12, Simpson and Moll each had 7, Alex Howard 5, Luke 4 and Brand 2. Houghland also grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.</span>

<span>Schwartz led Chester with 17 points, while Jack Weir finished with 16. The Yellow Jackets were scheduled to travel to Zeigler-Royalton on Tuesday before hosting their own Chester Invitational Tournament Jan. 11-16.</span>

Carterville 51, Chester 45

<span>In the semifinals of the Gold Bracket, Carterville used 17-4 run to start the game, but had to fight off a furious Chester rally to send the Yellow Jackets to the third place game against Pinckneyville.</span>

<span>Chester kept chipping away at its deficit, trailing by eight, 27-19, at halftime and only trailed 38-34 entering the fourth quarter.</span>

<span>The Yellow Jackets later cut Carterville's advantage down to two, but could not capture the lead.</span>

<span>Jack Weir led Chester with 15 points, while Jason Schwartz added 13 points.</span>