01/14/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER - You don't always have to play well to win championship games.

Sometimes you just have to play well enough.

Or as former Raiders' owner Al Davis would say; “Just Win, Baby.”Saturday night in the title game of the 59th annual Chester Invitational Tournament, the Waterloo Gibault Hawks did just enough of the things they needed to do well to win.

Coach Dennis Rueter and his club won their second consecutive CIT with a second half rally to win 41-39 in front of a large contingent of fans at Colbert Gym.

The Hawks, who are ranked #5 in the latest 1A Associated Press poll, improved to 17-3 on the season with the win.

Six-three junior Gavin Kessler paced the Hawks with 19 points, the only Gibault player in double figures.

Junior guard Kanen Augustine and senior guard Kameron Hanvey added seven points each while senior Kaden Augustine ended up with five points.

Senior Owen Mechler hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter for Gibault, his only points that rounded off the winning total for the Hawks.

“It's good to get a win in a situation like that. You're obviously playing Chester at the Chester Tournament. They have momentum and the crowd behind them,” said Coach Rueter. “We didn't shoot the ball well and we didn't play particularly well in some aspects but I thought we guarded better as the game went on. We were fortunate that they (Chester) didn't shoot it as well as they have in the past few games.”

The host Yellow Jackets and second year head coach Chris Toledo saw their mark slip to 9-12 overall after a heartbreaking defeat in which they had multiple leads and multiple chances to win the game.

Five-seven senior guard Gavin Schroeder and 6-4 senior Trace Fricke scored 10 points apiece for Chester and teammate 6-1 senior Chance Mott tossed in nine points.

Six-three sophomore Davante Palacio added seven points for the Yellow Jackets while Kolten Jany, a 6-0 sophomore, scored three points.

“A big night like tonight, a championship night, we just wanted to come out and compete. You have to give credit to Gibault. They “D” you up and they don't give you anything easy on the offensive end,” said Coach Toledo. “One thing we talked about is that as good as Gibault is, they don't have a lot of size so we thought crashing the offensive boards. We've been struggling to score all year.”

Fricke and teammate Schroeder set the early tone for the hosts as the each scored in the first quarter.

Fricke scored three times in the lane and Schroeder canned a 3-pointer from the left wing that banked home.

The duo combined for six straight points to close the quarter.

Fricke scored two more times in close while Schroeder converted a reverse lay in on a back door cut to the basket as the Yellow Jackets were on top 12-7.

The 6-4 senior scored to open the second quarter to give Chester its largest lead of the game before Gibault made its biggest scoring run.

The Hawks, behind consecutive 3-pointers from Kaden Augustine and Kessler and two scores from Kanen Augustine.

The second Augustine score was a conventional three-point play that finished an 11-0 run.

Following a 3-pointer from Mott, Kessler responded for Gibault with two more baskets that forced a Chester timeout with 3:31 left in the half with the Hawks holding their largest advantage at 22-17.

Chester closed the half with an 8-0 run with Palacio scoring six of the points.

All three of his field goals came in the lane, one on a nice assist from Schroeder, and Fricke added another inside basket as the Yellow Jackets emerged with a 25-22 halftime lead.

Chester hit 6-of-9 shots in the quarter, its best offensive run of the game for a three-point lead at intermission.

Gibault was fortunate to only be down three at the break after struggling offensively in the first 16 minutes, hitting just 9-of-23 shots overall and committing six turnovers.

While the offensive was MIA, the defense stepped up in the second half to keep the Hawks in the contest.

Gibault managed to get 12 points on the board in the third quarter.

Kessler scored on a pair of drives to the basket and he added a pair of free throws in the quarter.

Both Augustine's and Hanvey scored in the frame with Kanen converting a drive in the lane in the final seconds as the Hawks scored the last six points to even the score at 34-all heading to the final quarter.

Chester, after a hot second quarter, cooled down a bit in the third hitting just 4-of-10 from the floor and committing four costly turnovers.

Hanvey opened the fourth quarter scoring with a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Back-to-back scores by Jany and Schroeder gave the Yellow Jackets their final lead at 38-37 with 2:59 left.

With his team needing a score, Kessler stepped up.

He took an inbounds pass and scored in the lane while being fouled by Mott.

His made free throw gave the Hawks back the lead at 40-38 with 1:49 left.

After Kessler hit 1-of-2 free throws, as did Palacio, the Yellow Jackets sent Kessler back to the line for a 1-and-1 with :20.8 left.

He missed the first shot and Palacio grabbed the rebound.

After a Chester timeout, the Yellow Jackets had a chance for the win.

Palacio had and open look for a 3-pointer but it was just off of the mark.

Hanvey corralled the rebound and was immediately fouled with :01.9 left.

The senior guard also missed the free throw but after Fricke touched the ball on the rebound time expired before the Yellow Jackets could get off a shot.

As the buzzer sounded Gibault had escaped with a narrow victory for their second CIT title in succession.

It wasn't pretty, but the Hawks will take it.

Gibault ended up just 16-of-40 from the field, 4-of-13 from 3-point distance.

“We have to understand that we can't rely on shooting the ball well every night. We do shoot the ball well but we didn't tonight,” said Coach Rueter. “We needed that kind of game tonight but if we're going to meet our expectations we have to do better than that. Good teams overcome that.”

They were thoroughly pounded on the boards as the Yellow Jackets held a 32-17 advantage.

However one of the key factors that led to the victory was taking better care of the ball in the second half.

Coach Rueter's club committed seven turnovers but only one in the second half.

Chester was in the same boat shooting the ball on Saturday.

Coach Toledo saw his crew connect on just 17-of-43 from the field, 2-of-16 from long range.

The two point margin came from Gibault hitting 5-of-8 free throws compared to 3-of-6 for the Yellow Jackets.

There won't be much time to celebrate the win as the Hawks head right back into action on Monday when they play at the Okawville Invitational Tournament.

Chester will host New Athens on Tuesday.

Waterloo Gibault (41) – Kaden Augustine 1 1 0-0 5, Hanvey 2 1 0-1 7, Kanen Augustine 3 0 1-1 7, Mechler 0 1 0-0 3, Kesler 6 1 4-6 19, Schaefer 0 0 0-0 0, Altes 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-5-8, PF-9.
Chester (39) – Jany 1 0 1-2 3, Schroeder 3 1 1-2 10, Mott 3 1 0-0 9, Palacio 3 0 1-2 7, Handel 0 0 0-0 0, Steele 0 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Fricke 5 0 0-0 10.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-3-6, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

JACKSON (MO.) SAXONY LUTHERAN 48, NEW ATHENS 47
Saxony Lutheran outlasted the Yellow Jackets when 6-4 senior Aaron Zoellner scored with :24 left to take the final lead and the Crusaders survived a last second shot to hold on for a third place victory.

Coach Justin Callahan and his club improved to 6-8 on the season with the win behind 17 points from 6-6 junior Luke Eggemeyer and 12 points from junior John Hartman.

The Crusaders got six points each from seniors Max Richey and Landon Ochs.

Ochs drove the lane in the final seconds and got the ball to Zoellner near the basket for the final points of the contest.

New Athens saw their overall record slip to 10-9 on the season despite 18 points from 6-3 senior Gannon Birkner and 12 points from sophomore Isaiah Lintker.

Saxony Lutheran got 3-pointers from Hartman and Eggemeyer (five points each in the quarter) for a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

A pair of Birkner scores in the paint and a tip-in from senior Owen Tolson tied things at 15-15 before Saxony pushed a 10-0 run on the Jackets.

Ochs scored all six of his points in the first half and a couple of baskets in the run to give his club the biggest lead of the game.

His fast break score off an assist from Richey made it 27-17 with 2:35 left in the second quarter.

The half closed with New Athens getting points from Tolson and junior Jack Alfeldt who hit a 3-pointer as the Yellow Jackets were down jut 29-24 at the break.

On the strength of a three more baskets from Eggemeyer and a driving lay in by Hartman, the Crusaders led by nine at one point in the third quarter.

New Athens then cut into the deficit with both Birkner scoring inside and Lintker nailing down two 3-pointers as they trailed just 38-35 heading to the fourth quarter.

Saxony appeared to have put the Yellow Jackets away early in the final frame with a 3-point bomb from Hartman and a pair of free throws by Richey.

The Crusaders led by as many as eight in the four quarter before Coach Conrad Widdersheim's crew rallied to take the lead.

Birkner scored twice in the lane and Lintker converted a fast break lay in after making a steal to give the Yellow Jackets a 47-46 lead with :59 left.

But after the Zoellner bucket gave back the lead to Saxony, Birkner missed on two consecutive free throws after being fouled with :03.7 left.

The second missed foul shot ended up in the hands of New Athens' Andrew Wynn, but his off-balanced shot missed the mark as the buzzer signaled a Crusaders' win.

Neither team managed the basketball well on the night as the two squads committed a total of 26 turnovers with Saxony coughing it up 15 times.

Saxony hit 18-of-37 from the floor compared to 19-of-37 from NA.

But the difference ended up being the foul line with the Crusaders out scoring the Yellow Jackets hitting 7-of-11 while NA was 5-of-8.

New Athens (47) – Lintker 2 3 0-0 13, Marzriego 0 0 4-4 4, Wynn 0 0 0-0 0, Alfeldt 0 1 0-0 3, Tolson 4 0 1-2 9, Mulholland 0 0 0-0 0, Range 0 0 0-0 0, Birkner 9 0 0-2 18.
2FG-15, 3FG-4, FT-5-8, PF-15.
Jackson (MO.) Saxony Lutheran (48) – Richey 2 0 2-2 6, Hartmann 3 2 0-0 12, Ochs 2 0 0-2 6, Buchheit 1 0 0-0 2, Eggemeyer 5 1 4-5 17, Zoellner 2 0 1-2 5, Kiehne 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-7-11, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Kim Haywood's club completed their fourth tournament of the season by going 2-1 and are now 9-7 overall.

Five-ten senior Pierre Lucas paced Lovejoy with 22 points on Saturday while teammates' Shantez Holliday and 5-9 senior Michael McCallum added 15 points apiece in the win.

Six-four Jamal Brown added seven points and 6-1 sophomore Jeremiah McLorn added a basket for two points in the Wildcats' win.

Valle Catholic (7-4) got 17 points from senior Chase Fallert and 14 points from senior Harry Oliver in the loss.

Seniors Clayton Drury (eight) and Sam Drury (six) added to the totals for the Warriors.

Lovejoy connected on 5-of-8 free throws in the final minutes to hold off Valle Catholic.

Ste. Genevieve (MO.) Basler 0 0 0-0 0, Okenfuss 0 0 0-0 0, Gegg 1 0 2-2 4, Tucker 2 0 0-0 4, C. Drury 1 2 0-0 8, S. Drury 2 0 2-2 6, C. Fallert 4 1 3-4 17, N. Oliver 0 0 1-2 1, H. Oliver 6 0 2-4 14, E. Fallert 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-10-14, PF-12.
Lovejoy (61) – McCallum 2 3 2-4 15, Holliday 6 0 3-4 15, Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah McLorn 1 0 0-2 2, Jeremy McLorn 0 0 0-0 0, Lucas 8 2 0-2 22, Brown 3 0 1-2 7, Monk 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-20, 3FG-5, FT-6-14, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Blythe hit 14-of-16 from the foul line in his offensive output and he got help from a pair of teammates who ended up with 11 points each (5-8 sophomore Jake Cissell and 6-9 senior Andrew Terbrak).

Six-six junior Grant Smith added eight points for Coach Brett Hale's club.

Valmeyer got a game best 39 points from 5-11 senior Harrison Miller and 10 points from 5-10 senior Elijah Miller.

Perryville (2-13) could have put the game away earlier but they were just 24-of-40 from the foul line, 7-of-16 in the final eight minutes.

Five players fouled out in the slug-fest that opened the final day of the tournament.

Perryville (MO.) (67) – Hotop 1 0 4-12 6, Cissell 1 3 0-0 11, Ussery 0 0 1-4 1, Blythe 8 0 14-16 30, Smith 3 0 2-3 8, Terbrak 4 0 3-5 11. 2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-24-40, PF-24.
Valmeyer (62) – E. Miller 1 0 8-10 10, Crossin 0 0 2-2 2, Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Roy 1 0 2-2 4, Blackwell 1 0 2-6 4, H. MIller 6 7 6-8 39, Frierdich 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-9, 3FG-8, FT-20-28, PF-28.
Fouled Out – Cissell, Smith, Terbrak - Perryville (MO.); Roy, H. Miller - Valmeyer.
Technical Fouls – Blythe - Perryville (MO.).