Chester High Boys Basketball rebounds against St. Georges Tech

By Terry Thomas

The Clippers (4-3) got back on the winning side with 47-46 win against the St. Georges Tech Hawks 14th Annual Pete/Jameer Nelson Holiday Classic on the campus of Widener University. Junior Akeem Taylor Jr. and sophomore Karell Watkins led the charge in the first quarter for the Clippers scoring 6 points apiece as Chester enjoyed a 14-6 lead to close the period. St. Georges's senior Nah'shon Hyland after being held scoreless in the opening stanza scored 10 of his game high 20 points in the 2nd quarter to cut into Chester's lead. Chester junior Rahmee Gilbert joined Watkins with 4 second quarter points, senior Michael Smith added 3 and Taylor used a thunderous dunk off a missed Smith shot to close the scoring for the Clippers. Chester led at the half 27-24.

After the Hawks failed to score on the opening possession of the 3rd quarter, Watkins scored on a put-back to give the Clippers a 29-24 lead. St. Georges responded with a 7-0 run capped by a Hyland three pointer that gave the Hawks their first lead of the night 29-31 at the 5:10 mark. Chester called for a timeout and the Clippers responded with an 8-2 run to regain the lead 37-33 with 2:30 remaining. The teams exchanged buckets before Smith stole a Hawks pass and dished to Gilbert for a layup that gave the Clippers a 41-35 margin with 1:33 on the clock. Watkins completed the 3rd quarter scoring with dunk and Chester's lead remained at six points, 43-37. Gilbert, Taylor, Watkins and senior Rahmaad DeJarnette each contributed 4 points for the Clippers in the quarter.

The Clippers started the 4th quarter scoreless on the first six possessions and the Hawks took advantage with a 9-0 outburst to gain the lead 43-46 at the 3:20 mark. Senior Javan Graham came off the bench for the Clippers and scored off a missed Watkins shot to finally stop the run at 2:49. Chester - 45, St. Georges - 46. Watkins rebounded the Hawks next shot but the Clippers failed to score - Time: 1:56. On the Hawks next possession, Graham came up big once again with a blocked shot that was rebounded by Gilbert and resulted in a Michael Smith basket that put the Clippers in the lead 47-46 with 1:14 remaining. Watkins hauled in another missed St. George's shot and Chester called for a 30-second timeout with 47.1 seconds remaining in the contest. After missing the front end of a 1 and 1 at the 42.9 seconds mark, junior Rahmee Gilbert stole the ball and the Clippers failed to ice the game at the free throw line. After missing another 1 and 1 opportunity with 26.3 seconds on the clock, Chester's defense held its ground to secure the win stopping the Hawks on two occasions during the last 26.3 seconds.

Three Clippers scored in double figures led by Watkins (14), Taylor (12) and Gilbert (10). Watkins garnered his sixth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and Taylor completed his first double-double with his season high 11 rebounds. Taylor also finished with 2 assists, 1 steal and his season high of 3 blocked shots. Michael Smith had 5 points, DeJarnette contributed 4 and Javan Graham's 2 points completed the scoring for the Clippers.

Chester will return to action on Sunday afternoon, December 30th, for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off against the Penncrest Lions of the Central League. The game will be played at Widener University in the final day of the Pete/Jameer Nelson Holiday Classic.