If one were to look at the rosters for the 2024-25 CHS basketball team and compare it to the 2025-26 yellow jackets, one would assume that, on paper, the latter would be in almost every way superior to the former.
The 25 Jackets had 4 seniors in their starting five. The team had 5 players over six feet tall, with two of these being Brendan Malley at 6 ‘5 and Evan Dunning at 6’ 4. They had multiple sharp shooters off the bench, players who have excelled in high pressure moments across multiple sports, and had been met with nothing but pure optimism from the community.
On the other hand, the Jackets current starting five contains just as many seniors as sophomores, one each. The average height of the team is 6 ‘0. Their tallest player, a sophomore center, stands at just 6 foot 3 inches. The bench is made of almost entirely sophomores, the boys had struggled in previous tournaments, and they were consistently underestimated.
All these assumptions were flipped completely on their head during the 62nd annual Chester Invitational Tournament. The Jackets, led by a historic performance from Trey McCartney, was able to win the CIT for the first time this decade, easing the bitter memory of last year’s loss to our regional rival, the SHS Bulldogs, and defeating all traditional high school expectations of what a championship caliber team looks like.
Traditionally in years past basketball teams, especially high school teams, have relied on one or two extremely athletic and talented players in order to win games, such as the Ball brothers for Chino Hills, Zion Wilson for Spartanburg, or Jason Williams and Randy Moss for Dupont. Chester has had no sort of incredible talents that have single-handedly changed the outcome of whole seasons.
As for this team, however, all players on the varsity roster, senior or sophomore, made substantial impacts in each round respectively. Whether it was via elite fishing around the rim, lethal shooting from beyond the arch, clutch perimeter defense, or leadership on the bench, a case could be made that the tournament would have ended sustainably differently if any member for the Jackets.
