It's a new season for the Chester boys basketball team and another new coach as the Yellow Jackets have their third new skipper in three years.
After spending two years at Century and two years at Hardin County, Robert Bell is headed to Chester to try and build up a boys basketball program that has been dormant for years.
However, Chester has no returning starters from a team that went 3-23 on the season and 0-10 in the always tough SIRR Mississippi Division.
Bell will rely on guards Zach Lochhead (6’2 junior) and Aaron Grah (6’2 senior) for most of the team’s scoring. Both Lochhead and Grah have experience on the varsity level.
“We will run a lot of sets for those two guys,” said Bell. “They can both shoot the ball well and are tall for guards.”
Seniors Brett Barthol (6’0) and Dan Adams (6’2) are also expected to see a lot of time on the perimeter for the Yellow Jackets.
In the post, Matt Chandler (6’7 junior) will give the team much needed size, while Carlo Marconi (6’4 senior), Justin Woodward (6’1 junior), Branden Young (6’2 sophomore) and MJ Hamilton (6’3 senior) will all also see plenty of minutes this season.

“All of our post players can put a body on someone and fight for rebounds,” said Bell. “They know how to rotate over and help on defense. We also have good depth in the post that should help us late in the game.”
Bell is excited about the chance to build a program up from the ground level, but he knows the road won’t be easy.
“Our main focus is getting these guys in shape so that we can play proper defense,” added Bell. “We need to put better pressure on the ball. For us to be successful, we need to play good man-to-man defense and rebound well. If we can’t guard people, we won’t win. I am happy with the effort of the team and that the kids are buying into what we are doing. We will be patient, because turning things around will be a slow process. We shouldn’t have trouble scoring, but we have to have good ball movement. We will run a lot of different offensive sets depending on how the other team is playing us.”

This season will be the last for the Jackets in the SIRR Mississippi Division. Chester is swapping with Carterville and heading to the Black Diamond West next season.
“The Mississippi Division is always one of the toughest leagues in the state,” said Bell. “Du Quoin is the favorite, followed by Nashville, Pinckneyville, Anna-Jonesboro, Sparta and then us. Most of these teams already have established programs in place. Our goals are to get double digit wins, be competitive as much as possible, and not finish last in the conference.”
Bell is Chester’s seventh coach this decade as he takes the place of Mark Riley, who coached one season for the Jackets.
Chester opens up the season at the Okawville Post Turkey Tournament Monday, November 30.