BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER –

It was more like a free fall off a tall building.

Nothing went right for the hosts in the second half of its game against the Pirates.

After gaining a 29-20 halftime lead against their rivals from across the river and scoring the first basket in the third quarter, Chester had a horrific stretch in the second half that doomed the Yellow Jackets for the second consecutive year in the semis.

Missed shots, missed free throws, missed passes and missed opportunities added up to a stunning 70-55 loss.

Coach Brad Norman saw his club commit seven turnovers and go just 4-of-12 in third quarter that allowed the Pirates to right their own ship.

Mental errors added to the anguish as Chester saw its overall mark slip to 12-5

The Pirates improved to 11-3 on the season and will play Jackson (MO.) Saxony Lutheran on Saturday night in a rematch of last season's title game, won by Perryville, 59-54.

For Coach Justin Dryer, a switch in defensive strategy of increasing pressure helped not only to disrupt the Yellow Jackets but also aided the tempo.

His club responded with a big second half offensive surge, outscoring the hosts 50-26 for the win.

“We came out and we had to try something different. Our focus wasn't good and they were outrebounding us so we tried to press them and pick up the tempo,” said Coach Dreyer. “We wanted to try and get some easy buckets because we only had 20-points at halftime. The pressure really helped us get back into the game.”

Senior guard Conner Stark led the Pirates with 17-points while three other teammates posted double-figures.

Josh Robinson, a junior forward, added 12-points for Perryville while Nathan Noland and Aaron Mueller tossed in 11 and 10.

A spark plug of a lefty-guard, Mueller helped get the second half run going with a pair of 3-point bombs from the left wing.

When his second shot found the mark, the Pirates had cut an 11-point deficit to a single point.

Two free throws by Noland and a fast break score from Stark put the Pirates up for the first time since the opening period, 37-34 with 2:06 left.

“We made some big plays and Aaron (Mueller) hit some big shots. He is hustler. He has one speed and that is a hundred miles an hour,” said Coach Dreyer. “Tonight he got some steals for us, hit some 3's for us.”

One of the few bright spots on the night for Chester was the play of junior 6-foot-1 junior guard Jack Wier.

Wier led all scorers with 21-points while teammates Jason Schwartz and Jason Golding added 11 and 10.

Wier followed a Golding tip-in with a 3-pointer for a 39-37 lead with :51 left in the third frame.

But the Pirates again were the recipients of a gift in the form of a mental error.

Chester junior guard Demontae Martin, who scored six-points for the Jackets, was assessed a technical foul after committing a personal foul on Perryville's Stark.

Stark knocked down his initial free throws from the foul and Noland hit 1-of-2 technical free throws for a 41-39 Pirates lead at the end of the quarter.

A drive to the basket by Wier turned into a three-point play and Chester's final scoreboard advantage of the night.

An 8-0 run, which was closed with a four-point play, switched the momentum back to the visitors.

Robinson scored on back-to-back drives to the basket and Stark nailed a long trey from the left wing while being fouled by Savion Smith.

Stark also picked up a technical foul after making the shot.

However he converted the free throw and watched as Schwartz made just 1-of-2 of the technical free throws.

This made it 49-42 Pirates.

“As a coach you try and burn timeouts in those situations. But we feed off of Schwartz and tonight he is battling some sickness and it showed tonight. When he doesn't play well it is really hard for us to score,” said Coach Norman. “And Perryville wanted to get out in the open floor and score points. They exploited that with us tonight.”

If the first three and a half quarters were a free fall, the last 4:21 was the wreckage from the landing.

Perryville slammed the book shut with an 11-1 move in just over two minutes, with Noland scoring twice on drives to the basket.

His second bucket while being fouled by Golding turned into another conventional three-point play.

Another fast break goal, this time by Robinson, finished the run as Perryville was in complete command at 60-46.

Following two additional scores from Robinson and senior Austin Mueller, Coach Dreyer emptied his bench.

The Yellow Jackets started the game well, but they didn't get enough distance between themselves and the guests in the first half.

Chester struggled from the foul line in the game, hitting just 13-of-29.

Nine of those missed foul shots occurred in the first half.

Had they converted a few more of those, the lead would have been double-digits at the break.

Chester finished with 21-turnovers, ten of those in the first two quarters when they could have pulled away.

Coach Norman's squad ended up 19-of-44 from the field, but just 4-of-17 from the arc.

The Pirates, after a cold shooting first half (missing 16-shots) caught fire in the second half.

The club ended up 24-of-47 overall (51 percent) and 4-of-6 from the 3-point land.

But they were a blistering 17-of-24 in the second half (70.8 percent) from the field.

The guests held a slight 25-24 rebounding edge in the victory, which leads them into Saturday night's championship contest.

The Yellow Jackets will play Cobden on Saturday night in the third place game.

The Appleknockers lost to Saxony Lutheran 58-55 Wednesday night in the tournaments' other championship round semifinal.

“i think the pressure hurt us tonight. We have a couple of guys who can handle the ball but their pressure sped us up,” said Coach Norman. “We don't like to play that fast. The next thing you know you are down ten and you are trying to claw your way back.”