Sunday, March 13, 2016

Chester Boys Basketball quest for 9th State Championship ends



Chester - 64, Reading - 73

Report by Terry Thomas

The Chester Clippers (22-8) quest for their 9th State Championship came to an end at the hands of the Reading Red Knights (28-3) 73-64 at Temple University's Liacouras Center. The Quarter-Finals contest was originally scheduled for Bensalem High School but was moved when the PIAA realized the venue would be too small to handle the large fan bases interested in the contest.

The Clippers used their size advantage in the first quarter led by Delaware State recruit Maurice Henry with 6 points and four other Clippers scored as Chester trailed by 15-16 after the first period. Foul trouble would plague Henry the rest of the contest limiting his production before eventually fouling out of the contest. The Clippers bad shooting woes continued into the second quarter both from the field and the foul line which restricted their point production to a mere 8 points with senior Khaleeq Campbell scoring 5 and Chester looking at a 23-30 hole at the intermission. Junior Jamar Sudan tried to keep Chester close in the 3rd quarter with 6 of his 11 points but it was not enough to offset Reading's offensive production including a trey at the end of the quarter by junior Lonnie Walker Jr. Chester - 34, Reading - 46. The Red Knights started the 4th quarter with a 9-4 run forcing a Chester timeout at 5:23 and trailing 38-55. With the season on the line, the Clippers showed the pride that is Chester basketball. Khaleeq Campbell began to get hot in the final minutes of the contest with 14 of his team high 22 points and senior Stanley Davis chimed in with 7 of his 11 points which cut the deficit to seven points at 64-71. But it was not enough as Reading, the District-3 Champions, connected on 16 of 22 free throws in the final quarter to hold off the Clippers and advance to the Semi-Finals where they will face Allerdice (26-1) the District-8 Champions. Lonnie Walker Jr led all scorers with 30  points.

Chester Boxscore: Campbell (22), Davis (11), Sudan (11), Henry (6), Carter (5), Collins (5), Hinson (2), Colbert (2)

*Thank you Terry Thomas for your awesome reports!

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