01/18/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER – The old saying “it's better to win ugly than to lose pretty” fit the Sparta Bulldogs in the championship contest of the 61st annual Chester Invitational Tournament on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs started off poorly on offense and it didn't get much better for Coach Jordan Beckley's squad shooting the ball.

But these Bulldogs had some “bite” on the defensive end of the floor.

From the second quarter on, Sparta clamped down on the host Yellow Jackets.

Sparta did just enough offensively in the final three quarters, especially when they got to the foul line, to put away a 45-35 title game victory over Chester in front of a large crowd at historic Colbert Gym.

The Bulldogs, after trailing by nine-points at the end of the first frame, held Chester without a field goal throughout the second quarter and into the second half.

The 11-minute scoring drought from the floor led to Coach Chris Toledo's club to the title game defeat.

Sparta improved to 12-4 on the season and picked up a tournament championship for the second time in three seasons after winning the Elverado Thanksgiving Tournament in 2022-23.

“That is term we use (Ugly Double-U). We write it on the board and that was definitely an ugly start to the game,” said Coach Beckley. “But we were able to kick in gear and change the momentum with our effort and intensity.”

Two Bulldogs, freshman DJ Hayes and senior Jake Wesbecher scored 11-points apiece and tournament MVP senior Damian Lanton and sophomore Dariontez Monroe scored eight-points each for Sparta in the victory.

Junior guard Grant Allard (four) and freshman Camden Allard (three) rounded out the scoring in the game for the Bulldogs, who pulled away for the win from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs, after missing 6-of-7 free throws in the first half, canned 17-of-25 in the second half, 14-of-20 in the fourth quarter.

Chester fell to 10-11 overall as the club only had two players in double-figures in scoring.

Six-five senior Brendan Malley scored 13-points and senior Kolton Jany added 10 for Coach Toledo.

Trailing just 6-5 in the first quarter after a 3-pointer from freshman Camden Allard, the Bulldogs went cold from the line and the field while Chester heated up.

Malley scored twice near the basket and sophomore TaShawn Palacio added an inside basket that forced a timeout by Coach Beckley.

Sparta was just 2-of-12 from the floor in the first eight minutes, counting an 0-of-6 start.

The quarter closed with a rebound basket by Jany as the Yellow Jackets were up 14-5 at the end of the frame.

The score by Jany with :05 left in the quarter was the last field made by Chester until the Jany scored again with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

Chester missed all six of their field goal attempt in the second quarter and committed eight-turnovers as Sparta was able to rally to take 16-15 halftime lead.

“You have to put the ball in the basket. It's hard to win games that way,” said Coach Toledo about his teams' scoring drought in the second quarter. “We made one free throw in the second quarter. That's basketball. Some nights they go in, some nights they don't.”

(CONTINUED)

The Bulldogs got an important conventional three-point play from junior Grant Allard on a drive after grabbing a rebound to start the second quarter.

Then Hayes turned defense into offense on steals that resulted in two-consecutive fast break scores.

Monroe also got involved with the transition scoring as another turnover by Chester was converted into points.

Hayes added a basket on an assist by Monroe as Sparta took the lead 16-14.

A 1-of-2 trip to the foul line by Malley with just under a minute left in the half was the only Yellow Jackets' point in the second quarter as Chester trailed by a point at intermission.

“That's a pretty impressive showing by our defense in the second quarter,” said Coach Beckley.

The Jany score on a rebound, which followed two free throws by senior Davante Palacio, gave the Yellow Jackets their final scoreboard advantage.

Sparta closed out the third quarter with scores by Wesbecher and Monroe and 3-of-4 free throws by Lanton for a 25-23 lead with the fourth quarter left to play.

Lanton got the Bulldogs off to a great start in the final quarter, converting a three-point play after being fouled by Malley on shot in the paint.

This triggered an 11-1 run to give Sparta a double-digit lead.

Four-straight free throws, two each from Wesbecher and Hayes, was followed by two inside scores from Wesbecher on a drive in the land and off an assist from Monroe for a 36-24 lead with just 2:37 left.

The foul line was a great spot for the Bulldogs to in the final 1:37 of the game.

Seven times Bulldogs were fouled and the squad closed out the championship victory by canning 8-of-13.

A key offensive rebound by Wesbecher off a free throw miss led to two more free throws after a foul by Chester senior Evan Dunning.

His two charities made it 41-27 with just over one minute remaining.

Hayes (1-of-2), Grant Allard (1-of-2) and Lanton (2-of-2) finished off the Sparta scoring from the line.

A “window-dressing” 3-pointer from Chester reserve Trey McCartney closed the scoring as the Bulldogs celebrated the win.

The stats for the game were nothing to write home about.

Most nights a 13-of-37 shooting performance while being out-rebounded 33-24 will lead to a loss.

But Sparta survived by forcing 16 Chester turnovers and by out-scoring the Yellow Jackets 18-to-7 from the foul line.

Coach Beckley's team took better care of the basketball with just seven-turnovers, with just two in the second half.

Chester was just 13-of-49 from the field, 2-of-12 from long range.

“We did what we needed to do to win,” said Coach Beckley. “That was my message at halftime. This is ugly right now but lets do what we need to do.”

WATERLOO GIBAULT 66, NEW ATHENS 63
Freshman Colby Kinchloe got to live out one of those playground basketball dreams on Saturday night in the third place win over the Yellow Jackets.

With the score tied at 63-apiece in the final seconds, Kinchloe drove down the left side of the floor and found himself closely guarded just beyond the 3-point line.

The 5-10 guard spun around and threw up a left-handed shot going away from the basket.

The unlikely shot found nothing but net as the shot beat the buzzer and New Athens as Gibault took home third place honors.

Coach Dennis Rueter and his club improved to 5-12 on the season with the victory.

Sophomore Jack Holston scored 20-points for the Hawks followed by Kinchloe with 19.

Senior Payton Schaefer scored 12-points for Gibault with seven-points coming from senior Michael Wessel and six from senior Ryan Biffar.

It was a heartbreaking loss for New Athens and head coach Conrad Widdersheim.

The Yellow Jackets are now 11-6 on the season.

Senior guard Isaiah Lintker was the games' top scorer with 24-points, including five 3-pointers.

Junior Will Mulholland scored 10 while the Yellow Jackets had eight-points each from seniors Landon Shemonia and Brady Middendorf.

The Hawks outscored New Athens 23-18 in the fourth quarter to pick up the victory

Wessel scored six of his points in the final frame and Holston hit two important 3-pointers in the fourth.

Gibault took advantage of NA's foul problems as they hit 13-of-20 free throws, 3-of-4 in the final eight minutes for the win.

New Athens hit just 2-of-6 from the stripe overall.

It was the second meeting between the two clubs this season with the Yellow Jackets winning 61-53 at home on December 10th.

Perryville outscored Valmeyer in every stanza in taking home the victory to improve to 4-7 on the season.

Twelve of the 14 players from the Missouri team scored in the win, with a team-best 15-points coming from senior Carter Blechle and 14-points scored by senior Eli Schott.

Senior jake Cisell added nine-points for Perryville as they led 31-23 at halftime and extended the lead to 58-42 to begin the fourth quarter.

Coach John Wuelling's Valmeyer squad fell to 7-9 overall despite 20-points from senior Aiden Crossin and 14-points from senior Landon Roy.

In a contest where 44 personal fouls were called, Valmeyer could have stayed closer but they were just 13-of-31 from the free throw line.

STE. GENEVIEVE (MO.) VALLE CATHOLIC 58, JACKSON (MO.) SAXONY LUTHERAN 40
In the seventh place game the Warriors had three double-digit scorers to improve to 6-5 overall.

Senior Collin Henderson scored 19-points and senior Tyler Gegg tossed in 14 as Valle pulled away in the second half for the win.

Saxony Lutheran (4-10) also had three double-figure scorers.

Junior Owen Buchheit had 14-points, freshman Zach Roth added 12 and sophomore James Hope netted 10.