Chester Boys Basketball held off Bayard Rustin

Report by Terry Thomas

Chester 72, Bayard Rustin - 68

Chester improved their record to 6-2 after holding off the hot shooting Bayard Rustin Golden Knights 72-68. The Clippers starting five were responsible for all their 17 points in the opening quarter as Chester held a slim 17-14 advantage. Jamar Sudan led the way with 5 followed by junior Brian Randolph III with 4. Sophomore Michael Smith who was limited to just 2:42 of play in the first half after picking up his 2nd personal foul joined senior Ahrod Carter with 3 points apiece and senior Jordan Camper slammed home a dunk for his 2 first quarter points. Chester full court pressure in the second quarter limited Rustin's opportunities to score holding them to 11 points while lighting the scoreboard for 18 points to take a 35-25 lead into the locker room. Senior Tyrel Lennon came off the bench to knock down a trey and connected on 1 of 2 free throws to help give the Clippers some breathing room. Sudan added 8, Camper dunked 4 more and Carter added a floater to complete the scoring. Coming out of intermission, no defense the Clippers would present could stop the Golden Knights who blistered the nets for 24 points including four treys. Chester on the other hand could only manage ten points as they saw lead disappear. Sophomore Jamihy Evans came off the bench to add his name to the scoring column with a bucket. At the end of the 3rd, it was Chester 45 and Rustin 49. After trailing 50-55 with 5:12 on the clock in the fourth, the Clippers mustered up their C-Pride first offensively as Ahrod Carter knocked down a trey and after a steal off the inbound pass scored to tie the score at 55. Sophomore Smith connected on 1 of 2 free throws to give the Clippers the lead for good at 56-55. Defensively Camper used all 6'8" to control the paint where he collected 5 of his career high 10 blocked shots and hauled in 5 of his 10 rebounds enroute to his career first triple double. He finished the evening with 10 points including a two handed flush in the final quarter. Carter saved his best for that final quarter where he scored 12 of his career tying 19 points which included him connecting on 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Smith added 4 of his 9 points, Sudan dropped in 7 of his game high 22 and Randolph had a put back to finish with 6 points. The Clippers finished by tying their season high for a quarter with 27 points. Sudan also finished with a career high of 5 of the Clippers 14 assists on the night.

The Clippers will return home to the Clip Joint on Saturday, January 7th when they take on the Bartram Braves of the Philadelphia Public League for a 6:00 p.m. JV tip-off. The Varsity will follow. 

Chester vs. Bartram Boys Basketball game was cancelled due to the snow. Game is rescheduled for Saturday, February 4, 2017 at the Clip Joint. JV tips off at 6:00 p.m. with the Varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m.

 
Chester will begin Del Val League play next week when the Penn Wood Patriots visit the Clip Joint on Tuesday, January 10th.