The Chapman Irish made an appearance in a state basketball appearance for the first time since 2002, Wednesday night, in their matchup with Garnett, Anderson County at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center, site of the 4A Tournament.  Chapman the #3 seed didn’t play like the stage was too big as they blew out the #6 Bulldogs 62-38.  The Irish are now guaranteed two more games and will place at state for the first time since 1982, that year they finished 3rd.

Chapman got a dominant performance from 6’5” Senior, Izek Jackson.  He entered the game averaging 20.4 points and 10 rebounds but surpassed that with a 28 points 16 rebound effort against a Bulldog team, that had no answer.  Jackson made 14 of his 17 shots that he attempted.  He scored 18 of his points in the second half and had a stretch in the third in which he scored 10 straight points to help blow the game open.

The Irish also got double figures from Senior, Anthony Wasylk, he finished with 13 points on 5-7 shooting and was 3-4 on three-pointers.  Chapman as a team shot the ball extremely well 27-43 63%, 7-15 47% three-pointers and 1-6 17% free-throw line.  The Bulldogs struggled from the floor 14-48 29%, 3-22 14%, 7-14 50% free-throw line.

Chapman led by as many as 29 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter on their way to the 24 point victory.  The Irish improved to 19-4 on the season with the victory and Anderson County, had their season come to an end at 17-6.  Chapman will now face #7 Augusta, who defeated #2 Andale 57-43.  The Orioles improved to 17-6 on the season with the victory.  Chapman and Augusta will play in the semifinals Friday at 8:15.