Junior High Boys Basketball
Chester-East Lincoln 8th graders headed to State

[February 08, 2024]   

The Chester-East Lincoln 8th grade boys basketball team is headed to the IESA State Tournament for the first time since 2015.

The Panthers defeated Normal Epiphany 28-25 to win the 8th Grade Sectional Championship on Monday night in Greenview.

The Panthers led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.

At the half the Panthers were up 15-9.

The Panthers continued to hang on to a 22-19 lead after three quarters of action.

Ayden Ferguson led the Panthers with 12 points as the team held on to win 28-25.

Jacob Long pulled down a team high 11 rebounds.

Following the win, Coach Josh Komnick said, “We played extremely well for the third game in a row and it has resulted in the play of our best basketball this year. We are limiting teams to one shot and the guys are really rebounding the ball at a high level. We look forward to playing on Saturday.”

CEL (16-7) will play Pontiac St. Mary’s (22-2) at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday in the 8th Grade Class 1A State Tournament at Warrensburg-Latham High School.

Congratulations, Panthers and good luck at State!

CEL scoring

Ayden Ferguson 12
Kane Komnick 7
Grady Rutledge 5
Cruze Komnick 3
Jacob Long 1

[Teena Lowery with photo provided by CEL]