Chester Clippers 2020-21 Season Summary

 

By Terry Thomas

The 2020-2021 basketball season was definitely one for the history books. To begin, the start of the season was delayed until January 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions were finalized and implemented. All the Del Val League teams did not participate. Academy Park elected not to field a team thus shortening the League schedule to six games instead of eight. Travel restrictions caused the cancellation of games resulting in Chester’s ten game regular season schedule. 

This season also marked several firsts: 1) Chester High played Chester Charter Scholars Academy for the first “City Championship” game since St. James High School back in 1986-87; St. James Catholic High School closed in 1993. 2) The District Tournament was limited to the Top 10 teams based on their Power Rating and all games were play on the home court of the higher seed including the Championship game. 3) The State Tournament consisted of only the District Champions with games played at the home court of the higher seed with the exception of the Championship game.

The Clippers opened the season winning their first four games before losing a close one to Imhotep Charter. The loss snapped the Clippers 7-game win streak and their 21-game win streak at the Clip Joint. They bounced back and won their remaining five regular season games. Along the way capturing the Del Val Championship, their fourth consecutive undefeated Championship. Goal #1 – Accomplished.

Next up – the District Championship. The Clippers entered the Tournament as the #2 Seed. Chester won their Quarter-finals contest easily and when #1 Seeded Upper Moreland was upset it meant the Clippers would host the Championship game. Chester took advantage of the limited fans at the Clip Joint and sailed to the school’s 24th District Championship. Winning the Championship on the Fred Pickett Gym floor made that much special. Goal #2 – Accomplished.

Chester entered their record setting 49th State Tournament as the #1 seed and thoughts of two wins at the Clip Joint and it’s on to Hershey. It took an extra 4-minutes of play for the Clippers to put away a determined District-2 Champion Crestwood Comets team. Unfortunately for the Clippers, a bad shooting night coupled with a hot District-12 Champion Archbishop Ryan Raiders team brought the Clippers season to a close. Goal #3 – Not Met. 

Congratulations to Coach Taylor, his players and staff for a successful season especially under the circumstances (playing in masks, temperature checks and quarantine) they faced. A 4th undefeated Del Val Championship, winning the school's 24th District Championship and reaching the school's 29th State Final-Four appearance. Both the District and State fetes are the first since the 2014 season; that's a long drought by Chester's standards. 

Next season, the Clip Joint will have a different feel without the likes of #1 Fareed “Skip” Burton Jr and #30 Karell “Wopo” Watkins. 

Fareed was a 3-year Varsity player who finished with 506 career points, 170 rebounds, 148 assists and 112 steals. He currently sits at #20 on the Assist List between Randy “Bam” Maultsby and Nasir Robinson. Please be aware, this is NOT an All-Time List; these statistics begin with the 1992-1993 season. 

Karell was a 4-year Varsity Play who stepped in as a freshman off the JV season and made his presence felt from day-one. Karell was a double-double waiting to happen. He completed his career with 1,424 points; #11 on the All-Time List sandwiched between the legendary Emerson Baynard (Class of 1961) and Raymond Carroll (Class of 1995). In the State Semi-finals, his final rebound of the night gave him a career total of 781 which places him at #1 surpassing Rondae Jefferson’s total of 780 in 2013. Karell’s career average of 10.28 rebounds per game marks just the 2nd Clipper since the 1992-93 season to have a career average over 10 rebounds. Tyrell Sturdivant average 10.29 rebounds in his only season as a Clipper in 2013-14. Watkins also managed 123 steals and 103 assists. During his senior season Karell became just the 3rd Clipper since the 1992-93 season to average more than 20 points per game. He averaged 22.4 ppg placing him #1 on the list ahead of Chester Hall-of-Famers Jameer Nelson’s 21.0 ppg in 2000 and Raymond Carroll’s 20.5 ppg in 1995.

We say farewell and a big "Thank You" to all our seniors Fareed Burton Jr, Jameel Burton Jr, Nasir Madison, Naeem Scott Jr, Keenan Warren and Karell Watkins. Your work at practice was an integral part of the team’s success on game day and did not go unnoticed. You left your mark at the Clip Joint and provided the fans moments that will be remembered for a lifetime. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic your senior season was played sort of in a bubble. Good Luck and God Bless You as you move forward in your collegiate careers.

1-2-3 CHESTER ... 4-5-6 FAMILY.

(Thanks Terry for your reports!)

Clippers finished at the Clip Joint

 

By Terry Thomas

The Chester Clippers (13-2) season came to a crashing end after a 63-84 defeat at the hands of the Archbishop Ryan Raiders at the Clip Joint. The loss in the State Tournament Semi-finals snapped the Clippers eight game win streak and their hopes for a ninth State Championship.

Chester was looking up at the Raiders from start to finish. The Raiders opened the contest by saving the ball from going out of bounds and capped the play off with a back-door alley-oop. Chester trailed 9-15 at the end of the first quarter. They were frigid from outside shooting 2 of 13 including 0 of 5 from behind the arc. Karell Watkins led the Clippers with 4 points.

The Clippers continued their cold shooting in the second quarter and their defense provided no support as the Raiders scored at will. Watkins scored 7 of his 15 points but the team could only manage eleven 2nd quarter points as Ryan increased their lead to 13 at the intermission. Chester - 20, Archbishop Ryan - 33.

In the third quarter, the Clippers experienced a role reversal when the Raiders counter their every move and pushed their lead to 18 points to end the quarter. The Clippers had no answer for the Raiders duo of Aaron Lemon-Warren and Christian Tomasco who combined for 20 of 22 third quarter points. Warren with 12 and Tomasco with 8. The Clippers did put-up 17 points but could never close the gap. Chester trailed 37-55 entering the final quarter.

The Chester back-court of Fareed Burton Jr and Kyree Womack finally began to hit shots but it was too little - too late. They each knocked down two treys with Fareed finishing the quarter with 17 of his team high 27 points. Qadir Lowrie added a bucket and Isaiah Freeman connected on 1 of 2 free throw for Chester's 26 points. Meanwhile on the other end of the court, the Warren-Tomasco duo was at it again combining for 23 of their 29 fourth quarter points. Lemon-Warren finished with a game high 36 points and Tomasco complemented him with 26 points.

With only 5 assists in the game, this marks the third consecutive game the Clippers recorded 6 assists or less; coming off a 20-assist game against Phoenixville in the District-1 Tournament Semi-finals.

Clippers Advance to Semi-finals

 By Terry Thomas

The Chester Clippers (13-1) needed an additional 4 minutes of play to earn a trip to the Semi-finals with a come from behind 58-52 win over the Crestwood Comets (17-2). Chester will host the Semi-finals game against District-12 Champion, Archbishop Ryan on Monday, March 22nd with a 7:00 pm tip-off.

The Clippers were out of character in the first quarter, it took a put-back basket by Isaiah Freeman with 35 seconds remaining to end their drought. Between the turnovers and the missed shots, Chester found themselves trailing 2-9 at the end of the quarter. Yes, that's Chester with only two points in the quarter. The Clippers did however do a good job protecting the three-point line by not allowing any in the quarter.

The Clippers continued with their defensive plan of protecting the three-point line and began to find their mark offensively in the second quarter. Karell stole and pass resulting in a trey by Fareed Burton Jr to get the Clippers closer at 14-17 with 1:35 on the clock. Chester missed on their next three shot attempts and entered intermission trailing 15-21.

The third quarter had the Chester faithful energized with the standard Clippers run. They race out with a 13-1 run taking a 28-22 lead at the 2:06 mark capped with two free-throws from Jameel Burton Jr. A steal and lay-up by Fareed tied the score at 22 with 5 minutes to go. The Clippers went scoreless over the final 2+ minutes and the Comets responded with a 7-0 run to recapture the lead at the end of the quarter. Chester - 28, Crestwood - 29.

The Clippers opened the fourth quarter scoreless on their first two possessions. Watkins hauled in one of his defensive rebounds which led to a bucket by Fareed that tied the game at 30 with 6:30 on the clock. The Clippers turned the ball over on their next couple of possessions and now trailed 30-33 at 4:18. The teams exchanged baskets until with 58 seconds on the clock, the Clippers found themselves trailing 37-43 and the Comet fans could smell the win. But the Clippers on the other hand called to mind the old Under-Armour slogan of "I will ...protect this house" and dug deep. The Comets helped by missing crucial free-throws in the final quarter. They were a woeful 4 for 13. Trailing 40-43 with 7.2 seconds on the clock, freshman Kyree Womack was fouled on a three-pointer and calmly sank all three foul shots tying the game forcing overtime.

The Clippers sprinted out in the overtime with a 12-4 run for their biggest lead of the night at eight points, 55-47 with 1:21 on the clock. The teams exchanged leads to open the frame then Jameel Burton Jr drained a trey to give Chester the lead 47-45 with about 3 minutes to go. The Clippers would never relinquish the lead. Chester went 6 for 6 from the charity-strip, Kyree (4 for 4) and Fareed Burton Jr (2 for 2); Karell Watkins capped off the run with an assist from Jameel. Crestwood drained a trey and the Clipper responded with a free-throw, 56-50 with 1:07 remaining. After a Chester turn-over, junior Qadir Lowrie blocked a three-point attempt from the corner. Fareed walked to the free-throw line and knocked down both free throws for a 58-50 lead with 15.6 seconds left in the game.

Fareed Burton Jr led three Clippers in double figures with a game high 21 points. He also added 6 steals, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists. Freshman Kyree Womack joined him with 11 points and Karell Watkins had his customary double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jameel Burton Jr and Isaiah Freeman were the final two Chester scorers with 5 and 2 points respectively. They each had 5 rebounds.