Chester Basketball Team Rebounds from Opening Night Loss

Report by Terry Thomas

The Chester Clippers evened their record at 1-1 with a come from behind 60-56 thriller over Philadelphia's Martin L. King Jr. Cougars (0-1) at the Scholastic Play by Play event on the campus of Widener University. The Clippers appeared to still be run aground in the opening period of the contest as the Cougars jumped out to a 24-6 lead. Chester finally began to move in the 2nd quarter led by senior Khaleeq Campbell's six as they put four other players in the scoring column and outscored MLK 16-12 to inch closer and trailed 22-36 at the half. The Clippers increased their defensive intensity and executed offensively in the 3rd holding the Cougars to a mere 8 points while producing 18 of their own. The quarter ending with the Clippers only trailing by four points 40-44. Senior Marquis Collins led the way with 7 of his 11 points. Chester kept their focus in the final quarter outscoring their opponents 20 - 12 for the win. Khaleeq scored 10 of his team high 19 points in the final period including connecting on 7 of 8 free throws. Junior forward Jamar Sudan contributed 5 of 10 points to join Campbell and Collins in double figures. At the 6:10 mark in the 4th, it was Sudan's short jumper that tied the score at 47. The Clippers found themselves once again trailing by 3 points when Sudan once again tied the game at 53 with an old fashioned three point play. Coach Yarbray notified the referee he wanted a time out after Sudan made the free throw with 1:44 on the clock. On their next possession, Dymon Colbert passed to Campbell who drained a trey and Chester captured the lead for good at 56-53 with 1:05 on the clock. Campbell with 4 for 4 down the stretch to secure the win for the Clippers and earned Game MVP honors.

Chester will return to action on Saturday, December 12th when they travel to Lancaster to take on the J. P. McCaskey Red Tornadoes who are coached by former Clipper Steve "Bird" Powell.

The Clippers next home game will be on the following Saturday, December 19th when William Penn York visits the Clip Joint for a 6:00 JV tip-off, varsity will follow.