Chester Clippers Capture 25th District Championship

 By Terry Thomas

It took four extra minutes for Chester (18-3) seeded #2 to claim their 25^th District-1 Basketball Championship with a 66-65 victory over the #1 seeded Radnor Raptors (21-3). Sophomore Kyree Womack banked in a trey at 4.7 seconds tying the score at 58 forcing overtime and hit a floater with 7.1 seconds on the clock for the win. Kyree finished the game with a career and team high of 20 points. Today's win is number 95 for Coach Taylor (95-25) which moves him into 7^th place on Chester's All-Time Win List. It also marks Back-2-Back District-1 Championships for his Clippers.

The first quarter was an indication of how the game was to played. There were three lead changes and two ties in a closed contested 8 minutes of play. Sophomore Kevin Rucker led the way with 5 of his 11 points and the back-court of Womack and senior Qadir Lowrie contributed 3 and 2 points respectively. The quarter ended with the score tied at 10. 

The second quarter was another nail-biter with four lead changes. The Raptors held their largest lead of four points 14-10 at the 6:25 mark and the Clippers biggest lead of three points occurred three times at 4:30 (17-14), 3:10 (19-16) and at the half time, 26-23. Six of the seven Clippers that played in the second quarter put their names in the scoring column to produce their 16 points to hold off the Raptors. Womack (4), senior Isaiah Freeman and Rucker each contributed treys while single buckets were made by junior Breilynd White, Lowrie and sophomore Larenzo Jerkins. 

Both teams played a more deliberate game in the third quarter and each were able to find their range. The Clippers managed to hold the lead the entire 8 minutes with their largest margin coming with 6:20 to play and a score of 31-25. Chester did an outstanding job protecting the three-point line. They held Radnor without a made three-pointer until 5:50 in this period; their trey made the score 31-28. It was the only trey in the quarter for the Raptors. White and Freeman each knocked down a trey and a deuce while Lowrie, Rucker and Jerkins added a bucket. Chester led 42-39 going into the final quarter. 

Chester switched to one of their patented presses to begin the fourth quarter and speed up the pace of the game. Unfortunately for the Clippers the increased defensive effort took away the accuracy of their shots. The Raptors were able to stay close and coming out of a Chester timeout at 4:06 to play, Radnor took its first lead of the second half with their second trey (and last) of the game. Radnor-51, Chester-50 with 3:30 left in the contest. The Clippers went scoreless on their next three possession but their defense kept the Raptors in check. With 2:04 on the clock, Womack connected on two free throws to tie the game at 52. The Clippers fell behind by four points until Larenzo Jerkins completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 24.6 seconds to play bringing Chester within one, 55-56. Radnor went 2 of 4 from the line on their next possessions and Chester trailed 55-58. With under 10 seconds to play, the Clippers worked the clock before Womack pulled up from the top of the key and banked in the trey forcing overtime. 

The four-minute overtime became a battle between Chester's Womack and Radnor's Cooper Mueller. Mueller scored first; Radnor led 60-58. Jerkins scored on Chester first possession to tie the score at 60. Mueller scored on their next possession, Chester committed a turnover and Mueller hit 1 of 2 free throws. Radnor led 63-60. With 2:07 to play, Womack went 2 of 2 from the line. Chester trailed 62-63. Larenzo Jerkins trapped a Raptors shot on the glass which Womack converted into a bucket putting Chester in front 64-63. Radnor answered with a bucket regaining the lead 65-64 with 50 seconds left in the contest. Chester missed a lay-up (40 seconds on the clock), Radnor rebounded the ball but was called for traveling; ball back to Chester with 37.7 seconds left. Coach Taylor calls for a time-out. Out of the time-out, the Clippers worked the ball and the clock and at 7.1 second Womack dropped a floater down the land giving Chester the lead 66-65. Chester called another timeout. The Clippers pressured the in-bounder, once the ball was in play it was a desperation heave that fell short.

Congratulations to the players and coaches on the hard-fought win.

The Clippers will begin the State Tournament on Tuesday, March 8 at the Clip Joint. They will take on Exeter Township, the #7 seed out of District-3. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Let's fill the Clip Joint. The State Tournament is a single elimination event. Win or your season is over - there are no second chances. The team can use all the support they can get.