Sunday, March 19, 2017

Chester Boys Basketball season ends in Bethlehem



Report by Terry Thomas

The 2016-2017 Chester Clippers (22-7) season comes to an end after falling 65-61 in double overtime to the Abington Heights Comets at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. The Clippers were not themselves in the first half of the ball game and found them were in a 18-29 hole at intermission. Chester found their defensive footing in the 3rd quarter holding the Comets to just 6 points but offensively would only produce 10 to cut the deficit to seven points 28-35 at the end of the quarter. In the 4th quarter, the Clippers continued their defensive hold on the Comets holding them to 6 points while senior Ahrod Carter knocked down two treys and senior Jamar Sudan dropped in 6 points to tie the game at 41 with 1:45 on the clock. On Chester's next possession, senior Jordan Camper put-back on Brian Randolph III's shot gave the Clippers their first lead at 43-41 with 40 seconds remaining in the contest. Abington Heights called for a timeout with 33.7 remaining and scored to tie the game at 43. Chester called a timeout with 14.5 seconds remaining but Carter's shot fell short - on to Overtime. Carter started the overtime with a trey to give the Clippers the lead 46-43 (3:46). After the Comets tie the game, sophomore Michael Smith answered with a trey to put the Clippers back in front 49-46 (1:59). Abington Heights would counter with bucket but Smith would respond with another trey for a four point Chester lead 52-48 with 1:15 remaining. Sudan would connect on 1 of 2 free throws for a 53-51 Chester lead with 52.6 seconds remaining. After the Comets tied the game at 53, the Clippers called for a timeout at 0:09.8 to setup the last shot. Once again the shot fell short - on to Double Overtime. On the Clippers third possession, Carter knocked down and trey followed by two free throws from Sudan and Chester was in front 58-57 with 2:11 remaining. The Comets would produce a 5-0 run to take the lead 58-62. Carter would get fouled shooting a trey and calmly knocked down all three shots to draw the Clippers with one 61-62 with 31.7 remaining. The Clippers would force a turnover but committed a traveling violation returning the ball to the Comets. At the free throw line the Comets connected on 1 of 2 shots but retrieved the rebound and was fouled. This time they made both shots for a 61-65 lead with 15 second left. The Clippers got a good look at the basket, they missed the shot, recovered the rebound but forced a bad pass and their 2016-1017 season came to an end. This marks the second consecutive year the Chester Clippers reached the State Quarter-Finals only to come up short.

Senior Ahrod Carter had another special afternoon with a team high 23 points including 6 treys. Senior Jamar Sudan ending the season the way he started it with a double double consisting of 19 points and 13 rebounds. He also led the team with 5 assists matching his career high. Senior Jordan Camper finished his Clipper career with 7 points, 10 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. And senior Larry Yarbray Jr. ended his time in the Orange & Black with 3 points. Sophomore Micheal Smith completed the team's scoring with 9 points; he also added 3 assists and 1 rebound to his stat sheet.
*Thank you Terry for all your great reports this season.

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