EDWARDSVILLE - Chase Jones is a sophomore center and forward for the
boys basketball team at Marquette Catholic High School in Alton, and is looking
o help the Explorers to a long playoff run in the IHSA Class 2A series when the
playoffs begin in the next week.
Jones had five points in an Explorer win at Father McGivney Catholic, 59-23 on
Feb. 6, 2026, improving their record in the Gateway Metro Conference to 7-0, and
taking a big step in clinching the league championship.
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In a post-game interview, Jones felt the key to the big win over Father McGivney was successfully attacking the Griffins' zone defense, finding the weak spots, and taking advantage of what was given to the Explorers.
"We had a feeling they were going to zone us," Jones said, so we were just trying to
attack the zone, find an open guy, and get after it on defense."
It was a key conference win for Marquette, and when added to a win earlier in
the week over Bellville Althoff Catholic.
"We got a big win over Althoff the other night," Jones said.
Jones also knows the playoffs won't be easy, but he feels confident that he and
"We are in a tough regional," Jones said, "But I think we can handle it. We have to
play the right way, play hard, and keep getting after it every day."
Jones' goals are simple moving forward: "I want to win a regional, of course, and try and see where we go after that. We want to just take care of the next game ahead of us."
Jones does feel that he and his teammates can take care of business during the
postseason and go on a long run.
"I think we are getting better every day, and we can win the regional, for sure."
