All of the top seeds advanced out of the first round of the 49th annual Chester Invitational Tournament.
The host Yellow Jackets dismantled Joppa 73-44, while Marissa-Coulterville’s upset bid fell short against top-seeded Perryville. Other first round winners included New Athens and Saxony Lutheran.
Chester 73, Joppa 44
Seniors Zach Lochhead and Justin Woodward combined for 35 points to lead Chester past Joppa 73-44 Tuesday night.
With the game tied 8-8, the Yellow Jackets took control of the game by finishing the first quarter with a 9-1 scoring run for a 17-9 advantage.
Lochhead had nine points over the opening eight minutes.
Woodward and Lochhead each added eight points in the second quarter, as Chester dominated the offensive glass, to outscore Joppa 28-10, for a commanding 45-19 halftime lead.
The Jackets pulled down eight offensive rebounds in the quarter, which turned into 11 points.
Chester put the game away early in the third quarter by scoring the first eight points of the frame.
The Yellow Jackets would go on to outscore Joppa 12-10 in the third and 16-15 in the fourth for the 29-point decision.
Perryville 63, Marissa-Coulterville 53
The 2011 Chester Invitational nearly started off with a huge upset as the tournament’s top seed, Perryville, found all it could handle Monday night against the Marissa-Coulterville Meteors.
Despite its clear disadvantage in size, Marissa-Coulterville used good perimeter shooting and tough defense to stay with Perryville.
But in the end, Perryville used a 11-2 run to end the game with a 63-53 victory.
Both teams got out to a slow start as the Meteors were 4-of-11 from the field in the opening quarter with four turnovers, while the Pirates were just 6-of-14 with five turnovers. The much taller Perryville team, which features a 6’8 and two 6’5 players, held a 13-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Marissa-Coulterville senior Joey Martin had four points in the opening frame.
The undersized Meteors actually out-rebounded Perryville in the second quarter as they went on to outscore the Pirates 18-14 to tie the game 27-27 at the intermission.
Junior point guard Joey Smith exploded for 10 points in the period, while Bryce Weibracht had eight points for Perryville. Marissa-Coulterville made four three-pointers in the second quarter.
Smith stayed hot, scoring nine points in the third, but as a team the Meteors cooled off a bit going just 5-of-15 from the floor.
Perryville scored the final five points of the quarter to claim a 44-39 advantage heading into the fourth.
Perryville’s lead was short-lived, as Marissa-Coulterville opened the fourth with an 8-2 scoring run for a 47-46 lead.
Unfortunately for Marissa, Perryville responded with a 6-2 scoring run to take the lead for good.
Smith finished with a game-high 29 points, while Martin added nine in the loss.
Weibracht had 25 points for Perryville, while 6’8 Jake Dobbelare had 11.