YellowJackets finish third in 58th CIT
The 2022 Chester Invitational boys basketball tournament is in the books. The host Chester YellowJackets finished third, and Chester's Jared Landeros was selected to the all-tournament team.
In spite of a shaky beginning, the eight-team, 12-game event was able to be completed in its entirety on time and without any major disruptions. COVID issues and potentially snowy, icy weather threatened to create difficulties, but Mother Nature cooperated and all teams remained COVID-free.
In the end, Waterloo Gibault Catholic defeated Saxony Lutheran to earn the title of 2022 C.I.T. Champion. Chester beat New Athens 69-67 to place third, followed by Lovejoy, Valle Catholic, Valmeyer and Perryville.
The all-tournament team included Logan Pruitt of Saxony, Chase Fallert of Valle, Aiden Heberlie of Valle, Gannon Birkner of New Athens, Shantez Holliday of Lovejoy, Wilson Lodge of Saxony, William Eldridge of Saxony, Jared Landeros of Chester, and Kaden Augustine of Waterloo Gibault. Augustine was also selected as the Most Valuable Player.
<b>Waterloo Gibault 55, Perryville 21</b>
Gibault led throughout this opening game - 22-6 after one quarter, 43-16 at halftime, 66-20 after three periods and 76-28 to win the contest. The Hawks were paced by Kaden Augustine (19) and Jude Green (17). Perryville was paced by Andrew Terbrak (10) and Grant Smith (6).
<b>New Athens 89, Valle Catholic 67</b>
This high-scoring affair had New Athens leading 24-18 after one quarter of play, 42-30 at halftime, 66-50 after three periods and 89-67 to win the game. New Athens was led by Cody Boone (30), Gannon Birkner (28), and Gauge Birkner (16). Valle Catholic was paced by Jeremy McLorn (32) and Michael McCallum (15).
<b>Saxony Lutheran 67, Valmeyer 29</b>
The second night of the tournament featured Saxony Lutheran and Valmeyer. The Crusaders stormed out of the gate and never looked back.
The Crusaders were led by four players in double figures: Wilson Lodge (16), William Eldridge (15), Aaron Zoellner (10) and Logan Pruitt (10). Valmeyer was paced by junior Vincent Oggero with 16 points.
<b>Chester 51, Lovejoy 47</b>
Chester hosted Lovejoy in a very competitive second game of the night.
The Jackets drew first blood, but Lovejoy followed with a basket just seconds into the first quarter. The Wildcats led three times in the opening frame, 4-3 at 5:59, 6-5 at 4:50, and 10-5 with just 26-seconds remaining in the first quarter. With 12 seconds left Chester's Trace Fricke hit a free throw, and at the buzzer Jared Landeros popped a trey to bring the Jackets within 1 point.
The second quarter remained competitive and featured three lead changes and one tie. Chester took a brief 11-10 lead at 7:16 on a Landeros bucket. Eight seconds later Lovejoy's Shantez Holliday retook the lead, 12-11.
Chester tied the game 14-14 at 3:03 on a Landeros 3-pointer, and Shantez retook the lead, 16-14, at 1:59 with a 2-pointer. Down the stretch the Jackets outscored Lovejoy 7-2 to lead 21-18 at halftime.
Chester dominated the opening 6:22 of the third quarter to build their biggest lead of the game, 33-23. Most of that stretch featured Landeros, who hit four free throws and back-to-back baskets for 8 points. Cooper Eggemeyer and Ethan Stumpe added 2 points apiece.
In the final 1:18 Lovejoy shut down the Jackets and went on a 7-0 run to get within three points, 33-30, to end the third quarter.
The fourth quarter continued to be a battle royale with three lead changes and two ties. In the opening 3:20, the Wildcats outscored the Jackets 7-2 to take back the lead, 37-35. Chester tied the game 37-37 on Chance Mott's bucket at the 3:38 mark.
Forty seconds later, Luis Mazariego drained a 3-pointer to retake the lead 40-37 with 2:59 to play. Mott hit a free throw at 2:35 and Landeros hit a 2-pointer at 1:59 to tie the game at 40.
Three seconds later, Cooper Eggemeyer hit a free throw and started a barrage of YellowJacket players marching to the free-throw line to end the game. During that stretch, Landeros went 4-for-4, Cooper Eggemeyer connected for three, and Mott hit another pair. Chester hit 12 free throws in the final 2:35.
Lovejoy wasn't finished, however, and added another 7 points down the stretch, but it was too little, too late. Chester won 51-47.
In the win, Chester was led by Landeros, who scored a game-high 31 points, followed by Cooper Eggemeyer (7), Mott (5), Stumpe (4), Lucas Thompson (3), and Fricke (1). The Jackets were 20-of-26 from the line (77%).
Lovejoy was led by Wiley Damen (19) and Jamal Brown (11).
<b>Valle 72, Perryville 54</b>
Wednesday began Round 2 of the tournament. Valle Catholic faced Perryville on the consolation side of the bracket. The Warriors led throughout the game, 20-17 after the first quarter, 40-19 at halftime, 56-29 after three quarters and 72-54 at the final buzzer. Valle was led by Aiden Heberlie, who had 34 points. Carson Tucker added 11 points. Perryville was paced by three players who scored 12 points apiece: Grant Smith, Jackie Truong, and Andrew Terbrak.
<b>Gibault 53, New Athens 21</b>
This Round 2 matchup between Gibault and New Athens turned out to be a Gibault romp. The Hawks led 15-5 after the first quarter, 24-10 at the half, 47-14 after three periods and 53-21 for the win. The Warriors were led by Augustine (17) and Green (12). New Athens was paced by Boone (9). With the loss, New Athens moved to the third place game and Gibault to the championship game.
<b>Lovejoy 67, Valmeyer 51</b>
In the consolation side of the bracket, Lovejoy hosted Valmeyer. The Wildcats led throughout the game, 22-7 after one quarter of play, 39-17 at the popcorn break, 57-38 at the end of three periods and 67-51 for the win. The win gave Lovejoy the chance to play in the consolation championship game.
<b>Saxony Lutheran 52, Chester 38</b>
The CHS YellowJackets battled the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders in the semifinals for the right to advance to the championship game. The Jackets led 2-0 in the opening 1:45 of the game, but Saxony answered with a Luke Eggemeyer 3-pointer to take a quick lead.
William Eldridge followed with a 3-pointer of his own, and Saxony led 6-2 at 5:13. Eldridge popped another trey at 4:28 to complete a 9-0 run to lead 9-2. In the final 2:55 the Jackets scored 2 points on a Cooper Eggemeyer basket and two more on Landeros' back-to-back free throws. Saxony led by 7 points, 15-8 after one quarter.
The Crusaders opened the second quarter with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 19-8. Stumpe broke the YellowJackets' silence with a 3-pointer at the 5:00 mark. Chester finished the half on a 7-6 run, but the Jackets still trailed 25-15.
Each team traded baskets throughout most of the third quarter, with the Crusaders adding 12 points and Chester adding 8, all by Landeros. Saxony led by 14 points, 37-23, at the end of the third.
Each team scored an additional 15 points in the fourth quarter. Chester did so by two field goals by Jared Landeros, a 3-pointer and a free throw by Chance Mott, two baskets off the bench by DeVantae Palacio and a 3-pointer by Thompson.
The final score was Saxony 52, Chester 38.
In the loss Chester was led by Landeros with 16 points, followed by Chance Mott (6), Cooper Eggemeyer (4), Palacio (4), Stumpe (3), Thompson (3), and Fricke (2). For the night the Jackets made 12 2-pointers and three 3-pointers. They shot 83% from the free-throw line (5-of-6).
Saxony was paced by three players double figures: John Hartman (11), William Eldridge (11), and Logan Pruitt (10). The Crusaders made 19-of-32 free throws (59%).
With the loss, Chester moved to the third-place game. Saxony Lutheran advanced to the championship game.
<b>7th place: Valmeyer 59, Perryville 37</b>
The Valmeyer Pirates fought the Perryville Pirates for seventh. Valmeyer led throughout the contest, 21-9 after one quarter, 38-20 at halftime, 49-24 after the third quarter and 59-37 to end the game. Valmeyer was led by three players in double figures: Vincent Oggero (21), Jordan McSchooler (14), and Aidan Crossin (13). Perryville was paced by Jackie Truong (13).
<b>Consolation Championship: Lovejoy 59, Valle 45</b>
The first half was close with Lovejoy leading 9-4 after one quarter of action and 22-16 at the half. Down by just 6 points going into the third quarter, an 18-11 Wildcat advantage put Lovejoy up by 13 points, 40-27. A huge fourth-quarter put the game away for Lovejoy as the Wildcats outscored the Warriors 19-18 to win 59-45.
<b>Third place: Chester 69, New Athens 67</b>
The third-place game featured Chester vs. New Athens. It was certain that the YellowJackets would win since both teams had the YellowJacket mascot.
This was a close, very competitive game that was exciting and challenging. Chester led 17-9 after a first quarter that saw Landeros and Fricke shine with 10 and 7 points, respectively. Landeros hit three field goals and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. Fricke drained a trey and two 2-point shots.
For New Athens, Boone hit a trey, Gannon Birkner sank a pair of buckets and Andrew Wynn hit a shot. New Athens trailed by 8 points, 17-9, after the first quarter.
New Athens outscored Chester 17-13 in the second but still trailed by 4 points, 30-26, at the end of the first half.
Gavin Schroeder paced Chester with 6 points, Mott drained a 3, and Landeros and Fricke each hit shots to give CHS 13 points.
Isaiah Lintker of New Athens hit his second, third and fourth 3-pointers of the game, Boone hit a three ball, Gauge Birkner hit a field goal and a free throw and James Range sank a bucket for New Athens' 17 points.
New Athens stayed hot after the popcorn break and outscored Chester again, 22-16, to take a slim 48-46 lead after three quarters. Fricke led Chester with two field goals and a 3-pointer.
Boone paced New Athens with 7 points on a trey and a pair of field goals. Gauge Birkner added 5 points, as did Gannon Birkner.
Down the stretch Chester outscored New Athens to win, 69-67. The game came down to the wire, with both teams battling until the final second. Chester came out on top and claimed the third-place title.
<b>Championship: Gibault 50, Saxony 43</b>
The Gibault Hawks jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter behind the work of sophomore Augustine (4), Kameron Hanvey (4) and Green (2). William Eldridge scored Saxony's only points.
The Hawks continued to fly in the second frame, outscoring the Crusaders 16-11 to take a 26-13 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the halftime break, the Crusaders returned to challenge the Hawks and outscored them 16-4 to come within 1 point, 30-29 after three quarters. In that successful run, Saxony's Luke Eggemeyer led the charge with two field goals and a 3-pointer for 7 points. John Hartman added a trey and Wade Eggemeyer, Wilson Lodge and Logan Pruitt each scored 2 points apiece.
With a 1-point lead, Gibault went to work in the fourth quarter to sustain their control of the outcome. The Hawks outscored the Crusaders 20-14 down the stretch to win the tournament.