By Terry Thomas
The
Chichester Eagles discovered a healthy Chester Clippers is the wrong team to schedule for Senior Night. The
Clippers interrupted the party to the tune of 107-75 completing a sweep of the
Del Val at 10-0 and an overall regular season record of 16-6. The Eagles
DaQuann Granberry scored 11 of his team high 15 points in the opening quarter
but it was not enough to offset the 13 points from Michael Smith and the 30 points
the Clippers put-up on the scoreboard. The 30 points were the highest the
Clippers at scored since the 4th quarter in a 52-57 loss to Lower Merion back
on December 9, 2017. The Clippers used 7 players to produce their 1st quarter
output. Joining Smith was Brian Randolph III (5), Rahmee Gilbert and Rahmaad
DeJarnette with 3 apiece, Timothy Johnston, Karell Watkins and Kylair Blackston
added 2 each. With the return of DeJarnette, the energy from the 1st quarter
carried over into the 2nd. DeJarnette last donned the Clippers uniform in game
action on December 22, 2017 that was 17 games ago and his teammate cheered
"Welcome Back Maady" after each bucket. DeJarnette first made his
presence felt on the defensive end as he was responsible for holding Granberry
to just 2 points in the 2nd quarter. At the same time offensively, DeJarnette
accounted for 10 of his career high 17 points. Smith meanwhile remained
unstoppable scoring from all over the floor with 11 more points. With the
abundance of fouls being called, freshman Karell Watkins stepped in to produce
6 of his 10 points. And after buckets from Blackston and sophomore Malik
Langley who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury the Clippers had a
new season quarter high of 31 points. At intermission it was Chester - 61,
Chichester - 40. The Clippers entered the 3rd quarter determined not to let the
Eagles back into the contest. Once again they limited Granberry to a mere
bucket which turned out to be his last points of the night. On the other hand,
Randolph led the Clippers with 7 of his 12 points, Blackston dropped in 6 of
his 10 and Smith added the last 5 of his game high 29 points. DeJarnette added
another bucket and Johnston's putback accounted for his 4th point on the
afternoon. Javan Graham and Rahnel Sparks each knocked down a mid-range jumper
to add their names to the scoring column. The Eagles were able to muster 14
points but they could not get out of the quicksand. At the end of the third it
was Chester - 87, Chichester - 54. With two free throws from freshman Watkins
capping a 7-0 run to start the 4th quarter, Chester had invoked the "Mercy
Rule" at the 6:25
mark with a 94-54 score. The only question that remained is who would put the
Clippers over the century mark. That honor went to junior Rahnel Sparks after
knocking down another mid-range jumper to give the Clippers points 100 and 101.
Senior Isaiah Schmidt became the 6th Clipper in double figures on the afternoon
with 10 points in the quarter.
The
Clippers continued to share the ball accounting for 20 assists on 37 made
baskets. The Clippers were also very economical scoring an average of 1.34
points on each possession. Defensively, they protected the paint with 9 blocked
shots. It was a totally dominating performance. "Welcome back,
Maady".
The
last time the Clippers passed the century mark was back on February 3, 2011 in
a 109-42 win against, yes, the Chichester Eagles. In the last 25 years, Chester
has scored over 100 points on 8 different occasions and Chichester has been on
the receiving end three times.
Today's
game marks the end of the regular season. The District-1 Class 5A Tournament
begins on Wednesday,
February 21st. The team's opponent will be announced after the
District 1 Seeding Meeting on Sunday, February 11th.
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