Chester rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to knock off Herculaneum 67-61 Saturday morning in the Heartland Hoopfest at the Perry Park Center in Perryville.
Zach Lochhead scored 11 of his game high and new shoot-out record setting mark of 30 points in the fourth quarter to spark the rally.
“We got off to another slow start and our early turnovers really hurt us,” said Chester coach Robert Bell. “We kept switching up our presses and I think that really tired out the other team. We were able to get in their heads a little bit and rallied for the win. Zach made a number of huge shots for us in the game. I have been preaching him to take the ball to the rim first, which will open up his deep shots. He really led this team to the win. He hit a couple of big shots in the end that really ignited us.”
With the game tied at 5-5, Herculaneum finished the first quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 16-5 advantage.
Lochhead was whistled for three fouls in the quarter and the offense couldn’t get things going as the team was just 2-of-12 from the field with nine turnovers.
Herculaneum increased its lead to 16 points in the second quarter, but Chester rallied for a 7-3 scoring run to end the half trailing 34-22.
Despite his early foul trouble, Lochhead notched nine points in the second quarter to help spark the late rally.
“I had no choice but to play him (Lochhead),” added Bell. “Our offense was stagnant, and we were hitting shots. We needed him in there to handle the ball and to score.”
Herculaneum opened the second half with a 7-2 scoring run to push its lead to 17 points, 41-24.
However, Chester would outscore Herculaneum 16-6 to cut the deficit to seven points late in the third quarter.
Herculaneum would steal the momentum back after nailing a last second jump shot for a 49-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Lochhead tossed in seven points in the quarter to pace the Chester attack, while Carlo Marconi added six.
The duo of Lochhead and Marconi was affective once again early in the fourth quarter as they each scored two baskets to spark an 8-2 run to cut Herculaneum’s advantage top just three points.
Chester would continue to battle with Herculaneum down the stretch, until a huge block by MJ Hamilton seemed to turn the tide towards the Yellow Jackets.
“MJ has good height and length,” added Bell. “He is very athletic and he plays his tail off. He can also create turnovers.”
Hamilton’s block prevented Herculaneum from taking a six-point lead and Chester’s offense responded quickly as Lochhead nailed back-to-back trifectas to give his team the lead for good 59-57 with 1:30 left to play.
Brett Barthol scored six points late in the frame to help Chester seal out the 69-61 victory.
Marconi finished with 13 points, while Barthol added 11.
With the win, Chester improved to 2-5 on the season.