The Chester High School Lady Jackets Basketball Team had a rough week Jan. 7-11 with losses to Goreville and Christopher. Both were on the road and were Black Diamond Conference games in the West Division.
The Jackets returned to the friendly confines of Colbert Gymnasium and started the week with a win over Steeleville.
Goreville 61; CHS 48
Chester trailed 18-10 after the first quarter and was outscored, 14-11 in the second period to trail 32-21 at halftime. CHS outscored Goreville 14-10 in the third, to close the gap after three quarters of play.
The Blackcats prevailed in the fourth period outscoring Chester 19-13 to win the game by 13 points.
In the loss, Chester only had four players score. Destiny Williams led with 22 points, followed by Reese Chandler (12), Kendall Williams (9), and Josie Kattenbraker (5).
The Blackcats were led by Sopczak with 19 points followed by L. King (17), Ray (8), Stait (8), Bernard (6), and Licka (3).
The Jackets grabbed 12 rebounds led by Chandler (4) and Kattenbraker (4). Destiny Williams and Reese Chandler each had one assist; Alyssa Seymour and Kendall Williams each had a steal. Kailyn Absher and Josie Kattenbraker each recovered two loose balls. Destiny Williams blocked a shot. For the game the Lady Jackets made 9 of 10 free throws and shot 16 of 53 from the field.
Christopher 59; CHS 43
The Bearcats outscored the Lady Jackets 14-6 in the first quarter and outscored Chester 14-12 in the second, and so led 28-18 at the half.
In the third, Chester came out stronger. They outscored the Lady Bearcats 16-13 behind the offensive play of Destiny Williams (6), Alyssa Seymour (7) and Reese Chandler (3). Christopher still led by seven, 41-34, going into the final period.
Coach Pat Knowles had ideas of making a run on the Lady Bearcats down the stretch, but Christopher had other ideas. All but Destiny Williams went cold in the fourth quarter and just two players were able to add to Chester's point total.
Destiny added 7 points on a 3-pointer, a field goal and a pair of free throws. Kendall Williams had a field goal. Christopher outscored Chester, 18-9 to win the game by 16.
The loss was Chester's third in a row and dropped the Lady Jackets to an overall record of 12-10 and held Chester winless in the Black Diamond Conference with a record of 0-5.
In the loss Destiny Williams paced the Jackets with 23 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot and two turnovers. Alyssa Seymour led the team in rebounding with nine. She also had eight points.
Reese Chandler added six points, a turnover and a steal. Kendall Williams recorded five points, one rebound, two deflections, one loose ball recovery and a turnover. Josie Kattenbraker had a slim night offensively with just one point, however, she had five rebounds, a steal and three turnovers.
For the night CHS made 10 of 19 free throws. From the field the Jackets shot 14 of 38).
Christopher was led by Hoppers (19) followed by Miller (18), Henson (13), Dejeor (4), Williams (3), and Parks (2). They made 15 of 21 free throws.
CHS 62; Steeleville 44
It was nice to get back home to Colbert Gym on Jan. 14 and the Lady Jackets responded with 62-44 win over cross-county rival Steeleville.
The Jackets flew out of the hive with an unwelcoming stinging, 15-11 after one quarter of play. Alyssa Seymour got things off to a good start by scoring down low just 24 seconds into the game.
Steeleville did not lay down, and answered with a basket of its own. Destiny Williams scored on a drive to the basket to put Chester up, 6-4 and Reese Chandler hit one of two free throws to up the score to 7-4 with 4:10 remaining.
To close the quarter, Destiny Williams, Josie Kattenbraker and Rese Chandler combined for six more points to take a 15-11 lead.
Kendall Williams started the second quarter by draining a 3-pointer and Alyssa Seymour hit the bench right away with her third foul of the game. That's where she would stay the rest of the half, but Audrey Hopper came off the bench and did a great job.
Kendall Williams got hot in the second period and scored 13 points on a 3-pointer, four 2-pointers and 2-of-2 shooting from the free throw line. Williams also came up huge defensively with two big steals and a fantastic assist to Destiny Williams.
The Jackets weren't done yet. Destiny Williams hit back-to-back free throws. With just 57 seconds left in the half, Steeleville's Chloe Gordon hit one of two free throws to give the Lady Warriors 17 points.
Chester got the ball with 30 seconds left and decided to hold for one shot. That shot was no good but Kendall Williams got the rebound and was fouled on her shot attempt with just seconds remaining. She connected for both free throws and Chester led, 33-17. With just a few seconds to play, Steeleville was able to get the ball down the court and fire up a shot. That attempt was good and cleared the rim at the buzzer to bring the Warriors within 14 points, 33-19.
Alyssa Seymour spent most of her third quarter on the bench after getting her fourth foul. Josie Kattenbraker got into the act right away scoring on a power play just 29 seconds into the third quarter. CHS led, 35-20, and would go on a nice 5-0 run to extend its lead to 40-20 at the 5:27 mark.
Audrey Hopper grabbed two huge rebounds and got the ball to Destiny Williams who scored on a free throw. Hopper then drew a foul and made both free throws.
Steeleville responded with a great 8-2 run of its own to get within 12 points with 2:07 remaining in the third period. But Destiny Williams executed some of her famous dribble-drives to the basket and scored two points and CHS extended its lead to 44-30.
Williams then found Audrey Hopper on the next CHS possession and Hopper banked in a shot with just 50 seconds to go. Steeleville answered with Kylie Ernsting's 3-pointer. Josie Kattenbraker got a huge steal, drove the length of the floor and laid it in at the buzzer to give CHS another basket to lead, 48-33 at the end of three periods.
Destiny Williams opened the fourth with a field goal. Steeleville, however, went on a 6-0 run. Meanwhile, Alyssa Seymour, playing with four fouls, landed wrong on her ankle and had to leave the game under the power of Chester coaches Rick Powley and Jennifer King. With just 3:55 left, Destiny Williams stole the ball, drove the length of the court and scored. After a Chester timeout, Williams found Hopper open near the basket and fed her the ball. Hopper immediately hit the short shot and Chester led 54-41 at the 3:15 mark.
Not quite finished with a great game of her own, sophomore Josie Kattenbraker then went on a 6-0 tear by herself. First, she got a huge rebound and put it back for a score. Then she took a great, unselfish outlet pass from Destiny Williams, drove the length of the floor and scored on a driving layup with 1:51 remaining. She still had time for another basket to give CHS a 60-43 lead with under a minute to play.
Destiny Williams made another drive to the basket with 1 minute to play and CHS led 62-43 with 38 seconds left. Williams committed her fourth foul and left the game with Chloe Gordon of Steeleville at the free throw line. Gordon made one free shot to close out the Lady Warrior offense at 44 points.
In the game, the Jackets were led by Destiny Williams with 22 points. She was followed by Josie Kattenbraker (13), Kendall Williams (13), Audrey Hopper (8), Reese Chandler (4), and Alyssa Seymour (2).
Steeleville was paced by 5-11 forward Karley Kothe who banged in 24 points all under the basket. Kothe was followed by Kylie Ernsting (7), Chloe Gordon (4), Kelsey Cowan (4), Alli Wagner (4), and Jenny Wedemeyer (1).
Josie Kattenbraker led the Jackets on the boards with 8 rebounds and Reese Chandler added six. Kendall Williams and Destiny Williams each had three assists apiece and Destiny led in steals with four.
The win broke a three-game losing streak for Chester and improved them to 13-10 overall.
