Monday, January 16, 2017

Chester Clippers Defeats Harrisburg Cougars




Report by Terry Thomas

Chester 67, Harrisburg Cougars 54

The Clippers (9-2) enjoyed a successful road trip to Harrisburg but it took an overtime period to put away the Cougars (10-3) 67-54. All five starters entered the scoring column in the first quarter and defensively they were in sync as they held the host to 9 points to hold a 15-9 lead at the end of the quarter. With sophomore point guard Michael Smith saddled with 2 quick first quarter fouls, fellow sophomore Jaimhy Evans took the helm in leading the Clippers in the second quarter. The Clipper reserves took over the scoring in the 2nd quarter scoring 8 of the team's 12 points lead by senior Jah'meir Springfield with 5 of his 7 points. Evans floated in a bucket and Rahmaad DeJarnette connected on 1 of 2 free throws. Junior Brian Randolph III added 4 of his 10 points and senior Jamar Sudan finished the scoring with a bucket. Neither team had an advantage in the 2nd quarter and Chester took the same 6 point margin into intermission. Chester - 27, Harrisburg - 21. Smith returned to action in the 3rd quarter and made his presence felt scoring 8 of his season/career high of 15 points. Sudan chipped in with 6, Randolph dropped in 4 and big man Jordan Camper dunked in 2 off a missed shot by Smith. However, the Cougars found their range to the tune of 21 points and cut Chester's lead to 5, 47-42 at the end of the quarter. The Clippers allow the pace of the game to get away from them in the final quarter and with limited possessions and their inability to keep possession of the ball, they were only able to put 5 points on the board with allowed Harrisburg to tie the game at 52. The Clippers put up an outstanding defensive front as the Cougars had the ball with 1:12 on the clock and were unable to score. The Clippers were able to gain control of the ball with 0:03 on the clock and after calling for a timeout elected to let the clock run out and take their chances in overtime. The capacity crowd would get their money's worth on this Saturday night.

The Clippers gained possession of the ball off the tip and began their parade to the foul line. First, it was Sudan who connected on two, then Smith connect on two which turned out to be the winning points. Sudan completed an old fashioned three point play followed by a bucket by Camper off a feed from Smith. After the 9-0 Chester run, Harrisburg finally scored their only basket in the overtime before calling timeout at the 2:02 mark. As the crowd began to exit the gym, the Clippers with what appeared to be fresher legs knocked down 4 more free throws and Camper accented the victory with a dunk off a feed from Randolph. The Clippers were able to put up 15 points in the 4 minute overtime including hitting all 9 of their free throws.

Camper completed the game with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. He also added 5 blocked shots and 2 steals to the stat sheet. Sudan was the fourth Clipper with double figures with a game high of 18 points. Evan filled the role of facilitator very well with a career high of 4 assists off the bench.

The win gave Coach Yarbray the 201st of his career which made him the 4th winningest Coach at Chester High.

The Clippers will continue their road trip playing their 4th game in 7 days when they travel to North Philadelphia on Monday, January 16 to take on Mastery Charter North for a 5:00 tipoff.

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