Clippers Victorious on Senior Night

                                                                      Picture by Athletic Director Bell
  

By Terry Thomas

Chester (8-1) celebrated "Senior Night" with a thrilling 63-60 victory over the visiting Math-Civics-Science Charter Elephants. The win gives the Clippers a 4-1 record in the series against the Elephants. Prior to the start of the game the seniors from the Boys and Girls Basketball teams along with the Cheerleaders were honored. This marked the first game where fans were in attendance as the parents got to see their children perform. A "Thank You" to the Superintendent for lifting the ban on this special day.

The teams exchanged baskets to start the game when junior Qadir Lowrie passed a dime to senior Karell Watkins at the 4:00 mark to give the Clippers the lead 6-5. This marked the fourth lead change. The Elephants ran off eight straight points for a 13-6 advantage. Freshman, 5'10" guard Kyree Womack rebounded the missed MCS shot and feed Watkins who completed an old-fashioned three-point play to stop the bleeding at the 1:29, Chester now trailed 9-13. Womack stole the next MCS possession and senior Jameel Burton Jr got an offensive put-back moving the Clippers closer, 11-13, with 1:00 left in the opening quarter. The teams exchanged baskets and senior Fareed Burton Jr put on up just inside the half-court line just as the buzzer sounded - "Swish" - Clippers up 16-15 after one. Wakins led the way in the first quarter with 11 of his game high 23 points.

The teams used the second quarter as a filling out process with Chester gaining a slight advantage outscoring MCS 13-10 for a 29-25 half-time lead. The Clippers used 6 different players to produce their points. Womack led the way with 3 and 2-points each was scored by Fareed Burton, Isaiah Freeman, Nasir Madison, Watkins and senior Shaquan Horsey.

Out of intermission the see-saw affair continued in the third quarter neither team being able to gain any significant separation. The Elephants fought back to tie the score at 39 around the 2:45 mark and took the lead 41-39 just under 2 minutes left in the quarter. The Burton cousins combined for three points with Jamell rebounded a missed MCS shot and going coast to coast as the Clippers regained the lead 42-41 with 1:20 remaining. The once again exchanged baskets to close the quarter with Chester ahead 46-45. Jameel and Karell guided the Clippers with 6-points apiece in the quarter.

The Clippers started the fourth quarter with a trey from Fareed followed by consecutive baskets from Watkins for a 7-0 run and a 53-45 lead with 6:22 on the clock. It was just what the partisan "Clip-Joint" crowd was waiting for - that typical "Clipper Run". With Chester now pressuring the ball not allowing the Elephants to get their offense going, MCS called for a time-out at the 6:15 mark. MCS scored on their next to possession to close the deficit - 53-49. Jameel answered back scoring on 2 of Chester's next 3 possession pushing the Clippers lead back to 8 points, 57-49 with 3 minutes remaining. The Clippers went scoreless on their next four possessions including missing the front-ends of two 1-and-1's. With 40.1 seconds remaining Chester lead was down to 59-56. MCS would score on the next possession, Chester - 59, MCS - 58. Fareed Burton knocked down a bucket with 21 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a three-point cushion - 61-58.

On MCS's next possession, the Clippers were called for a foul putting the Elephant's 6'5" Miami signee, Nisine Poplar on the free-throw line for two shots with 18.1 seconds remaining. He connected on the first - Chester 61, MCS - 59. The horn sounded for a Chester substitution. While the Clipper's switch was in process the officials allowed the shooter to shoot, he missed and the confusion began because while he was shooting Chester ended up with six players on the floor. The officials huddled and came to the table with their decision. The shooter would get to reshot his second shot, Chester would be given a Technical Foul resulting in MCS getting two additional shots and the ball. Reminder there is still 18.1 seconds remaining. Poplar connected on the first free-throw. Chester - 61, MCS - 60. He failed to connect on either technical free-throw. Fareed stole the inbound pass and raced the length of the court to score for the final margin.

Jameel Burton Jr and Fareed Burton Jr joined Watkins in double figures with 14 and 13 points respectively. Jameel also finished with 6 rebounds, 2 assist and 1 steal. Fareed added 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Isaiah Freeman finished with 4 points and 7 rebounds. Kyree Womack added 3 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a career high 5 assists. Qadir Lowrie, Nasir Madison and Shaquan Horsey each with 2 points. Off the bench, 6'5" freshman Larenzo Jerkins contributed 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.

The Clippers will play their final regular season game on Monday, March 1st when they travel to Boothwyn to take on the Chichester Eagles in Del Val League action.

JV GAME SUMMARY

Chester's JV improved to 8-1 with a 66-59 win over the MCS Elephants. Freshman Kevin Rucker led with a game high 21 points connecting on three treys. Fellow freshman Kyree Womack and Larenzo Jerkins also scored in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. The Clippers led 19-10 after the first quarter and never relinquished their lead. Also scoring for the Clippers was Hamza Clay-Goudelock (7), Dante Payne (7), Yinka Itabiyi (3), Andre Brown (2) and Dominic Toy (2). The team shot 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Clippers sailed pass the Interboro Buccaneers

 By Terry Thomas

Chester remained undefeated in Del Val League action with a convincing 81-43 victory over the visiting Interboro Bucs. The win put the Clippers at 7-1 overall and 5-0 in league play. Senior Karell Watkins led the way with a career high 43 points. He pulled down rebounds bring his career total to 706 moving him ahead of Rahlir Jefferson (705). Meanwhile, senior Fareed Burton Jr had a career day posting his first triple double with 17 points, and career highs of 12 assists and 11 rebounds. He also tied his career high of 5 steals. The twelve assists give him a career total of 121 tying him with Kevin "Yes God" Thomas. Along the way he leaped over Jamar "Solo" Shaw, Justin Jones, Damien "Twin" Hunter, Akeem Taylor Jr, Brahin Pharr and Brian Randolph III.

Tonight's contest was a fast-paced game with very few stoppages for fouls. In fact, there were only 20 fouls call for the game, 13 of which came in the first half. Watkins and Fareed established themselves in the first quarter combining for 16 of Chester's 18 first quarter points. The Clippers led 18-11 at the end of the period. The Clippers let their guards down for a few possessions in the second quarter allowing the Bucs to drain a couple treys while on the offensive end Watkins was putting up 16 points and Fareed dropping in 9. Isaiah Freeman connected on two free throws, freshman Larenzo Jerkins also added two points and fellow freshman Kyree Womack went 1 of 2 from the charity stripe as the Clippers outscored the Bucs 30-12 to take a 48-23 at the half.

Jameel Burton Jr used his court awareness in the third quarter to pick off a career high 4 steals leading to his 4 points. Freeman meanwhile was doing work on the boards and dishing dimes. He finished with 7 rebounds and a career high of 6 assists. His rebound and assist to Watkins at the 5:36 mark gave the Clippers a 56-25 lead invoking the "Mercy Rule". The game was moving so fast the table was being asked "Why is the clock still running when the ball is out of bounds?" They didn't realize Chester was up by over 30 points that early in the 3rd quarter. The quarter ended with Chester ahead 67-36.

With the clock running in the fourth quarter, it resulted in very few possessions. Reserves Yinka Itabiyi and Naeem Scott Jr were able to add their names to the scoring column with a buck apiece. Senior Shaquan Horsey saw limited minutes in his first action since injuring his back on January 28th after a dunk in the win over Penn Wood. Welcome back "Cap".

The team finished with 25 assists on 27 made baskets. The last time Chester recorded 25 assists was January 12, 2008 when the Clippers defeated Ocean Lakes (VA) 95-52 on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Larenzo Jerkins gave a sign of what's to come as the freshman tallied 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists on the night.

Chester will play their final regular season home game on Saturday, February 27th against Philadelphia Public League's Math-Civics-Science Charter. The JV tip-off will be at 1:00. We will be acknowledging our "Seniors" prior to the start of the Varsity game which is scheduled to tip-off at 3:00 p.m. The games will be streamed live via YouTube and Facebook at CMPRadio.net.

JV GAME SUMMARY

The Chester JV also improved to 7-1 on the season defeating the Bucs 63-35. They set the pace for the evening by having the Mercy Rule come into play in their contest. Freshman Dominic Toy led the way in the first quarter with 5 of his 9 points. Freshman Dante Payne started the 2nd and 3rd quarters and that was all the time he needed as he scored all 19 of his points during that time span. His scoring included draining 5 treys, 1 buck and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. The Clippers led 53-22 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Chester scorers: Yinka Itabiyi (7), Kyree Womack (2), Andre Brown (6), Samaad Powell (6), Vince Coleman (2), Larenzo Jerkins (6), Kevin Rucker (4) and Marquis Bowman (2).

Clippers won over the Braves at the Clip Joint

 

By Terry Thomas

Karell Watkins celebrated with the "Game Ball" in his locker as his 30-point, 19 rebound performance led the Clippers (6-1) to the easy win over the visiting Bartram Braves, 72-34. His 19 rebounds give him a career total of 702 rebounds becoming just the third member of the 700 club at the high since records have been maintained beginning in the 1992-1993 season. He surpassed Russell Johnson (693) and is three shy of Rahlir Jefferson (705) both members of the 2008 State Championship team. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sits atop the list with 780 rebounds. Watkins was dominate at both ends of the court finishing the contest with 2 assists, 1 blocked shot and a career high 4 steals. Congratulations on a job well done.

With the Clippers hitting from the outside in the opening 8 minutes, Jameel Burton Jr knocked down a couple jumpers and Qadir Lowrie connecting on a trey, it opened the lanes for Watkins to go to work producing 8 points. The Clippers were 3 of 4 from the free-throw line for their 18 points. Chester - 18, Bartram - 13.

Chester picked up their defense in the second quarter limiting Bartram to 7 points on 2 field goals while putting up 22 points of their own. Watkins led with way with 22 points followed by 4 points from Fareed Burton Jr, and two points each from Jameel Burton, Nasir Madison and Larenzo Jerkins. Freshman Kyree Womack rebound a missed Bartram shot and passed a dime to Fareed to cap a 10-0 run at the 3:50 mark, Chester now led 28-13. After the Braves scored, the Clippers would go on an 8-0 run to lead 36-15 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter. At the intermission, it was Chester - 40, Bartram - 20.

The Clippers did not let up coming out of intermission, the back-court of Lowrie and the Burton cousins combined for 8 points and Watkins added another 8 points. Chester's defense remained relentless holding the Braves to a mere 6 points enacting the "Mercy Rule" at the 2:24 mark leading 54-24. The quarter ended 56-26.

Junior Yinka Itabiyi came off the bench in the fourth quarter scoring his first Varsity points, he drained a trey followed by a short jumper. Naeem Scott Jr also came off the bench to put his name in the scoring column with trey from the right corner. Kyree added 4 points to the total and finished with a career high 4 assists and 7 rebounds. The Clippers once again held the Braves to less than double digit scoring as they doubled them 16-8 for the victory.

The team finished with 14 assists on 27 made baskets and 10 of the 11 players who saw action entered their names in the scoring column. Jameel also matched his career high of 5 rebounds.

Chester returns to league play on Thursday, February 25th with Interboro pays a visit to the Clip Joint for a 5:30 JV tip-off.

JV GAME SUMMARY

With Bartram not fielding a JV team, the Clippers penciled in the Chester Charter Scholars Academy Sabers for the afternoon. The Clippers routed the Sabers to the tune of 71-40. It was a complete team victory as 11 of the 13 players scored in the contest. The freshmen led with Larenzo Jerkins and Kevin Rucker each scoring 13 points and Dante Payne joined them in double figures with 10 points. Kyree Womack added 5, Andre Brown chipped in with 4, Dominic Toy and Vince Coleman each put up 6 giving the "Freshman" a total of 57 points. Yinka Itabiyi chimed in with 8 points, Samaad Powell and Karon Wilson each knocked down a free-throw. Sophomore Tahkwel Walker completed the scoring with 4 points.

The Sabers are coached by Clippers Alum Tahir Lowrie a member of the 1994-1995 Back-to-Back Del Val and 1995 District-1 Championship teams. One of his team-mates is the current Chester JV Coach, Kenny Tate.