Jackets get scoring from seven players for true team effort in close, hard-fought contest
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – Basketball season is in full swing and the CHS YellowJacket boys opened their schedule with a home game hosting former River-to-River foe Anna-Jonesboro Tuesday November 21. The Jackets got off to a great start with a hard-fought 36-35, victory over the Wildcats. On Wednesday November 22 Chester traveled to Pinckneyville to challenge the Panthers, resulting in a 56-42 loss.
Chester beats Anna-Jonesboro 36-35 to start 2023-24 1-0
The evening began at 5 p.m. with the CHS and AJ freshmen facing off for their first contests of 2023-24. The boys from Chester were strong most of the game and ended up with a convincing, 38-28, win.
The JV game was not quite as convincing as both teams fought long and hard right up until the final buzzer with Chester winning a close one, 51-50.
For the varsity game, the Wildcats led throughout the entire first half with the Jackets in close pursuit.
AJ came out with a quick 3-pointer just 30-seconds into the contest made by Evan Hall. Both teams struggled during the next two minutes and were unable to score. Wildcat JJ Girardi broke the lull with a 3-pointer at the 4:50 mark and Drew Page hit a 3-pointer at 1:58 to end a 9-0 Wildcat run.
CHS senior Gabe Steele (24) takes a jumper from the right side against Anna-Jonesboro. The Jackets won a close one, 36-35, to start the season 1-0. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s Gabe Steele got the YellowJackets on the books for the first time in the 2023-24 season with a free throw at 1:18.
With just 6-seconds left in the first quarter, AJ’s Evan Hall popped his second 3-pointer of the game giving the Cats a 12-1 lead.
Chester’s Lucas Thompson drained a trey at the buzzer for Chester’s first field goal of the season. AJ led, 12-4 after one quarter of play.
In second quarter the YellowJackets came alive and outscored the Wildcats, 16-13 to trail by only five points, 25-20, a halftime.
Kolton Jany (13) a 6’0″ junior guard for the YellowJackets looks for an open man in the in the second half against Anna-Jonesboro in the season opener for both schools. In this photo Jany was literally “wrapped up” as Wildcat, Evan Hall (1) a 5’9″ senior guard for AJ, had both hands and arms around him. Hall was called for the foul but successfully stopped the clock for AJ. CHS won the game. 36-35, and Jany was Chester’s high-point scorer with 13 points. Jim Beers Photo
Kolton Jany stated a 4-0 CHS run hitting a 2-pointer a minute into the new period. He followed with another bucket a minute-and-a-half later to bring Chester within four points, 12-8.
A 7-2 Wildcat run extended AJ’s lead to 19-10 at 3:34, after which Chester’s Korbin Jany hit a free throw and then a 2-pointer to bring Chester back within six points, 19-13 with 2:15 to play in the half. A Devante Palacio bucket got the Jackets two points closer, 15-19, with 2:09 remaining.
Chester High School varsity basketball opened its 2023-24 season against former River-to-River Conference rival Anna-Jonesboro. Pictured here Chester’s Devante Palacio, a 6’3′ junior forward, jumps against AJ JJ Girardi (11), a 6’3″ senior forward to officially start the opening game as well as the season. Chester won a hard-fought, come-from-behind game, 36-35, to begin 1-0. Jim Beers Photo
AJ’s JJ Girardi responded with a three ball, extending the Cat’s lead back to seven points, 22-15, at which time CHS Head Coach, Chris Toledo, called a time out. Coming out of the time out, AJ’s Evan Hall hit his third 3-pointer of the night giving the Wildcats a ten point, 25-15 lead.
Kolton Jany reacted with a basket at the 1:25 mark and CHS was back within eight points, 25-17. The Jacket defense held the Cats on their next possession and at the buzzer, Cayden Brunkhorst hit a near, half-court shot to bring Chester within five points, 25-20, at halftime.
Cayden Brunkhorst (1) a Chester High School junior, fires a 3-pointer in the first half of the game against the AJ Wildcats. His buzzer-beating trey to end the first half helped CHS get within five points, 25-20. Brunkhorst scored 5 points in the win and helped his team beat AJ, 36-35, in a knock-down-drag-out to open the 2023-24 season. The Jackets start with a record of 1-0. Jim Beers Photo
The Jackets maintained their momentum after halftime outscoring the Wildcats 10-8 in the third quarter to trail by just three points, 33-30 after three quarters of battle.
Once again, AJ struck first with a basket by JJ Gerardi to extend the Wildcat lead to 28-20, but Chester fired back with a 7-0 run to pull back within one point, 28-27, at the 3:32 mark of the third period.
Kolton Jany started the run with a bucket followed by a free throw by Brenden Malley. Devante Palacio then knocked down a shot for two points and Kolton Jany struck again with a 2-pointer.
AJ called a time out at that point after which Drew Page hit a 3-pointer. AJ led, 31-27 at the 1:12 mark. With .58 left to play in the third, Kolton Jany drained a huge 3-poiter to pull Chester within one point, 31-30.
With just .28 to play, AJ’s Drew Page knocked down a shot to give the Cats a three point lead, 33-30, to end the third quarter.
The table was set for a wild-and-crazy race to the finish to end the game. The first four minutes of the 4th quarter was a deadlock and neither team could score, and both defenses were playing hard.
Chester tied the game at 33-33 with 4:15 to play in the game. Coach Chris Toledo called a time out to plan the final four minutes of the game at the 2:27 mark. Immediately following the time out, the Jackets’ Cayden Brunkhorst knocked down a shot to give Chester its first lead of the game at 35-33 with 2:08 left in the game.
At the 1:22 mark, Chester’s Lucas Thompson made one free throw to extend the YellowJacket’s lead to 36-33.
With 1:10 to play, AJ’s JJ Girardi made things interesting by hitting a field goal bringing the Wildcats within one point, 36-35.
Chester then called a time out with to settle the boys down and instruct the final .51 of the game. Following the CHS time out, AJ committed back-to-back fouls with .30 and .24 to stop the clock and disrupt Chester’s game plan.
The Cats then called a time out to set up a play. At the .16 mark, AJ fouled again to stop the clock and attempt to get the ball back. Chester’s Kolton Jany went to the free throw line to attempt to give the Jackets some insurance points. Jany missed both shots giving the ball back to AJ for a final, nerve-racking possession.
With 7.4-seconds remaining in the game, AJ called two back-to-back time outs to attempt a better shot selection. When play resumed, the YellowJacket defense did not give a good shot and the Wildcats were unable to score to get the tie or win. Chester won, 36-35.
In the win, the YellowJackets outscored the Wildcats, 32-23, in the final three quarters to secure the victory; 16-13 in the 2nd, 10-8 in the 3rd, and 6-2 in the 4th.
The Jackets were led by one player in double figures. Kolton Jany scored 13 points, followed by Lucas Thompson (7), Cayden Brunkhorst (5), Devante Palacio (4), Korbin Jany (3), Brenden Malley (3), and Gabe Steele (1).
AJ had just three players score. JJ Girardi led with 16 points. Evan Hall scored 11, and Dawson Nicholas scored 8 points. With the win, Chester started the season 1-0.
YellowJackets fall, 56-42 at Pinckneyville to even record at 1-1
After a battle royal against Anna-Jonesboro on Tuesday November 21, the YellowJackets traveled to Pinckneyville on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday November 22 to challenge another former River-to-River foe, Pinckneyville.
The Panthers have been a hard team to cage over the past few decades, and the Jackets had their hands full at Pinckneyville throughout the game.
The Panthers led 16-11 after one quarter of play and outscored the Jackets 17-11 in the second period to lead by 11 points, 33-22 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Pinckneyville outscored Chester by just three points, 11-8, to lead 44-30 after three quarters. Down the stretch, both teams were deadlocked at 12-12, but the Panthers ended the game with 14 more points than the YellowJackets to win the game, 56-42.
For the second game in-a-row, Chester had had scoring from seven players, but only one with double figures. Kolton Jany scored 12 points, followed by Devante Palacio (8), Shea Menefee (6), Brenden Malley (5), Lucas Thompson (5), Gabe Steele (4), and Cayden Brunkhorst (2).
Pinckneyville had two players score in double figures including AJ Kettle (18) and K. Konkel (16). Other contributors were Ty Laur (9), R. Bauersachs (7), H. Smith (4), and B. Conway (3).
The Chester High School Dance Team, under the leadership of Head Coach Adrianne Kern and Assisted by Emily Eggemeyer and Bailey Misuraca, performed its first dance routine of the 2023-24 basketball season during halftime of the CHS vs Anna-Jonesboro basketball game. The team will perform at most boys’ varsity basketball games and will begin its 2023-24 competition season soon. Jim Beers Photo
With the loss Chester evened its record at 1-1. The YellowJackets will play in the DuQuoin Tournament Tuesday November 28 through Saturday December 2.
CHS will return to the friendly confines of Colbert Gymnasium on Rocky Bridges Court Tuesday December 5 vs Carlyle; Friday December 8 vs Okawville; and Saturday December 9 vs Christ Our Rock Lutheran.