YellowJackets are runners-up in 61st Annual Chester Invitational Tournament; Kolton Jany and Brenden Malley are selected to All-Tournament Team
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The 2025 Chester Invitational Tournament, better known as the CIT, is over and the Chester High School YellowJackets just missed claiming the Championship by 10 points. The Jackets are, however, the “Runners-Up” of the 61st Annual event and had two players, Kolton Jany and Brenden Malley, earn a position on the 10-man “All-Tournament Team”.
Chester won Round 1 with a 49-18 win over the Valmeyer Pirates to advance to the Semi-Final Round 2. In Round 2, the YellowJackets managed to beat the New Athens Yellowjackets, 50-37, to earn a trip to the 2025 CIT Championship. In the Championship, Sparta won, 45-35, to earn the 2025 CIT Championship.
Round 1: (Monday January 13) Chester 49 – Valmeyer 18
The Jackets opened the tournament with a 49-18 win over Valmeyer. Chester roared out to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Kolton Jany led that first quarter bashing with 8 points and Tray Peters drained two three pointers. Evan Dunning added two field goals and Devante Palacio hit a bucket.
Chester outscored Valmeyer, 9-6 in the second quarter to lead, 29-8 at halftime. Devante Palacio and Evan Dunning each scored a pair of field goals and Zane Eggemeyer made one free throw in that quarter.
After halftime, CHS returned to outscore the Pirates 10-8. Peters, Devante Palacio, Jany, and Trey McCartney each hit field goals and Brenden Malley sank a pair of free throws in Chester’s 10-point outing. After three quarters, Chester led Valmeyer, 39-16.
In the fourth quarter, the YellowJackets closed the deal by outscoring the Pirates, 10-2. Devante Palacio (3), Kolton Jany (2), Trey McCartney (2), Evan Dunning (2), and Tallen James (1), completed that 10-point run to win the game, 49-18.
In the win, the Jackets were led by Kolton Jany who had 16 points. He was followed by Devante Palacio (11), Tray Peters (8), Evan Dunning (6), Trey McCartney (4), Brenden Malley (2), Zane Eggemeyer (1), and Tallen James (1). The Jackets were 7-of-14 from the free throw line (50%). The also hit 18 two-point field goals and a pair of 3-pointers.
Valmeyer was led by Aiden Crossin who recorded 10 points. Landon Roy added five points and Chase Snyder had three points. The Pirates were 3-of-7 from the line (43%). They made three 3-pointers and three 2-pointers.
With the win, Chester improved to 9-10 overall and advanced to the Semi-Finals. The Pirates moved to the Consolation Championship side of the bracket.
Round 2: (Wednesday January 15) Chester 50-New Athens 37
The Chester vs New Athens game was a game in which there was a “guarantee” that the YellowJackets would win! It was just uncertain whether the Chester YellowJackets or the New Athens Yellowjackets would win!
Chester flew out to an 8-1 lead after one quarter. It appeared that perhaps Chester was going to control the contest. In the first quarter Devante Palacio and Brenden Malley scored all of Chester’s points with four apiece. Tommy Dutkanych made a free throw for New Athens’ lone point.
In the second quarter, New Athens outscored Chester, 10-9, to trail by six points, 17-11. Evan Dunning paced CHS with four points. Devante Palacio and Brenden Malley added field goals and TaShawn Palacio made a free throw for Chester’s nine points.
Six of New Athen’s points came at the free throw line. Will Mullholland and Tommy Dutkanych each hit field goals and the rest came from free throws.
It appeared that at the halftime break, New Athens began a new defensive approach. The rest of the game, the New Athens Yellowjackets played an extremely physical game. A very close, tight, man-to-man defense was employed and an aggressive style of play was engaged. Both teams had to fight to even get a decent shot off and the free throw line was a very familiar place for Chester.
The level of aggressiveness got even worse in the second half. Chester went to the line four times in the first quarter and twice in the second quarter for a total of six times. After halftime, Chester went to the line 16 times in the third quarter and 10 times in the fourth quarter for a total of 32 trips to the line in the game. Add to that, an additional seven other New Athens fouls that were not shooting fouls and Chester was fouled by New Athens, 39 times!
The battle raged throughout the entire third quarter with Chester outscoring New Athens, 19-16, to lead by nine points, 36-27, after three quarters of play. Of Chester’s 19 points, 13 were from free throws. Kolton Jany hit one field goal and Brenden Malley hit two. Otherwise, Jany drained six free throws, Malley made four free throws, TaShawn Palacio hit a pair of free throws, and Devante Palacio made one free throw.
New Athens made six of its 16 points at the line. The physicality of the game showed by the extreme number of free throws being shot. In that frame, Sawyer Sullivan stepped up for New Athens and drained a pair of field goals. Mulholland, Isaiah Lintker, and Dutkanych each hit baskets to complete the 16-point effort.
In the fourth quarter, Chester was kept alive by Brenden Malley who made two field goals and a free throw for five points. Evan Dunning popped a trey and Kolton Jany made a basket. Tray Peters was hammered several times and sent to the line making 3-of-6 free shots. Cayden Brunkhorst made 1-of-2 to help keep the Chester margin safe.
Down the stretch Chester held on to win the game but not without a fight. The play was fierce and aggressive right up until the end. In the fourth quarter there were 10 New Athens fouls that sent Chester to the line and New Athens went to the line five times. In the final seconds Tray Peters (3) and Cayden Brunkhorst (1) hit key free throws to keep the YellowJacket lead intact.
New Athens had four players foul out in the 4th quarter including Tommy Dutkanych, Isaiah Lintker, Carson Lauer, and Will Mulholland. Chester had two players, Kolton Jany and Devante Palacio, foul out.
For the game, New Athens was called for 28 fouls and Chester was called for 21 fouls, for a total of 39 fouls with six players fouling out of the game. Chester held on to win, 50-37.
In the hard fought win, Chester was led by Brenden Malley who scored 19 points. He was followed by Kolton Jany (10), Devante Palacio (7), Evan Dunning (7), Tray Peters (3), TaShawn Palacio (3), and Cayden Brunkhorst (1).
Chester was 21-of-32 from the free throw line (66%). The Jackets made 13 two-point field goals and just one three-pointer.
New Athens was led by two players who each scored 13 points apiece, Isaiah Lintker and Tommy Dutkanych. Will Mullholland scored six and Sawyer Sullivan had four points. Cam Taylor topped off the scoring with one point. The Yellowjackets were 17-of-25 from the line (68%) and they hit 10 two-pointers.
With the win, Chester improved to 10-10 on the season and advanced to the Championship game. New Athens would play in the 3rd Place game.
Round 3: Championship Game (Saturday January 18) Sparta 45 – Chester 35
Chester faced Sparta in the championship game. The Jackets led, 6-0, after three minutes of action in the first quarter. To close out the final five minutes, CHS outscored the Dawgs, 8-5, to lead 14-5, after one quarter of play. Kolton Jany and Brenden Malley each scored four points in that frame. Tray Peters and TaShawn Palacio each hit field goals and Malley sank two free throws.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs outscored Chester 11-1 to lead 16-15 at halftime. During that devastating period Malley hit a free throw for Chester’s only point. The score was tied, 14-14, with 2:47 to play in the first half when CHS called a timeout. Sparta ended the quarter on a 2-1 run to lead, 16-15.
Sparta was paced by DJ Hayes who scored six points. Grant Allard hit a bucket and made a free throw and Dariontez Monroe hit a field goal.
After halftime, Sparta outscored Chester, 9-8, to lead, 25-23, after three quarters of play. Chester took a 19-18 lead at 4:30, but Sparta answered with a bucket by DJ Davis to retake the lead, 20-19. To close out the third period, the Dawgs outscored Chester, 5-3, to edge CHS by two points, 25-23.
Sparta’s Monroe led with four points, followed by Damian Lanton (3), and Jake Wesbecher (2). Chester was paced by Brenden Malley who had four points. Devante Palacio hit a pair of field goals and Kolton Jany made a 2-pointer.
Another big quarter killed the YellowJackets as Sparta outscored Chester, 20-12, in the final quarter. Sparta’s Damian Lanton kicked things off with a 3-pointer to extend the Dawg’s lead to 28-23. CHS scored one point on a Kolton Jany free throw 12-seconds later and Chester trailed by just four points, 28-24.
During the next three minutes the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 12 points, 36-24. Chester’s Kolton Jany answered with a 3-pointer a minute later to get the Jackets back within nine points with 2:09 remaining in the game.
In the next minute, Sparta added another five points at the free throw line as Chester was having to foul to stop the clock. That 5-0 run had the Dawgs leading by 41-27 with 1:05 to play in the game.
To close out the game, Chester’s Devante Palacio and Trey McCarty each drained a 3-pointer apiece and Brenden Malley hit a 2-pointer to give the Jackets another eight points. Sparta, however, went to the line three times as CHS had to continue to foul to stop the clock. The Bulldogs made four free shots to give them four more points to win the game, 45-35.
In the win, Sparta was led by two players with 11 points apiece, including DJ Hates and Jake Wesbecher. Damian Lanton and Dariontez Monroe each scored eight points apiece. Grant Allard added three points and Camden Allard scored three points.
Chester was led by Brenden Malley who had 13 points and Kolton Jany who added 10 points. Other contributors included Devante Palacio (5), Trey McCartney (3), Tray Peters (2), and TaShawn Palacio (2). The Jackets were 7-of-9 from the free throw line (78%). They also made two 3-pointers and 11 two-pointers. The loss dropped the YellowJacket’s overall record to 10-11, and it placed Chester in the runner-up spot in the 2025 CIT.
Chester’s Brenden Malley (34) gets bready to make a move on Sparta’s Aidan Hernandez (22) in the Championship game of the 2025 Chester Invitational Tournament. Malley was selected for the “All-Tournament Team and received a medal for his work in the three-game event. He scored a total of 34 points and played key defense in the three games of the tournament. Jim Beers Photo
Kolton Jany (13) a 5’11” senior guard for the YellowJackets drives around Sparta’s Grant Allard, a 5′ 10″ junior guard for Sparta in the Championship game of the 2025 CIT. In the 3-game tournament Jany scored a total of 36 points for Chester and was a continuous spark plug for the Jackets. For his efforts, Jany was selected as a member of the 2025 CIT “All-Tournament Team”. Jim Beers Photo
The Chester High School Pep Club, better known as “THE HIVE,” was on hand throughout the 61st Annual Chester Invitational Tournament to support the Chester YellowJackets. Their efforts apparently helped as the Jackets beat Valmeyer and New Athens to advance to the 2025 Championship game against Sparta. In the final, Chester fought hard and played the Bulldogs till the bitter end, but lost, 45-35, the finish in 2nd Place. Jim Beers Photo