Chester Falls in Opener

By Terry Thomas

It was an emotional night at Chester High School to begin the 2022-23 season. There was a special recognition and presentation to celebrate the life of former head coach Larry Yarbray Sr. Following a moment of silence, a beautiful black banner with Yarbray’s photo and the words “Service of Excellence” in orange letters was unfurled on the wall above the entrance to the Chester locker room. It will hang inside of the Fred Picket Jr. Gymnasium forever.

Following the heartfelt tribute, Chester then retired the jersey of Wilbur “Zain” Shaw, who played for Chester from 1988-1991, finishing his career as the all-time leading scorer in Clipper history with 1,993 points. Shaw’s foundation has always been family. It seemed only fitting that more than 30 friends and family made their way onto the court to honor with Shaw. He was presented with a black jersey with his iconic uniform No. 20 framed. As he spoke and thanked several people, he held his daughter tightly in his arms.

As the ceremony ended, Shaw slapped hands with each member of the current Clipper squad as they headed to their bench. 

(Intro provided by Rob Knox. Rob had a first-row seat during Zain's career as the team manager.  Rob began his career as a Sports Writer for the Delco Times before moving on where he has earned numerous awards such as the 2022 NCAA Champion of Diversity Award Winner and his induction into the Lincoln University (Pa) Athletics Hall of Fame. Mr. Knox currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategic Communications for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.) 

Chester (0-1) comes up short 45-47 in its season opener against the West Philadelphia Speedboys (1-0). The Clippers could not find the basket in the opening 8 minutes of the contest. Five points from junior Kyree Womack and two more from senior Terrence "TC" Cobb was all they could muster and found themselves trailing 7-11. Junior Dante Atkinson grabbed a defensive rebound and raced to the opposite end where "TC" provided the assist a Dante scored to start a second quarter run. Cobb found his mark from distance scoring the Clippers next 11 points for a 13-4 Chester spurt. Senior Nijah Carpenter feed him for that last trey giving the Clippers the lead 20-15 with 40 seconds remaining in the quarter. "TC" closed out the quarter with his fourth trey as the buzzer sounded and Chester took a 23-17 advantage into intermission. Cobb energized the team and the crowd, scoring16 of his career 25 points in the first half.

On the offensive end, the Clippers could not control their energy in the third quarter resulting in turnovers and numerous missed opportunities to put the ball in the basket. A trey from Womack, a bucket from Cobb and a free throw from senior Breilynd White were all points they produced during the period. However, on the defensive end, the Clippers managed to hold the Speedboys to ten points enabling them to maintain the lead, 29-27, going into the final 8 minutes of play.

The team exchanged baskets to open the fourth quarter. Junior Dominic Toy completed an old-fashioned three-point play followed by a bucket from Calvin "CJ" Williams off a feed from Cobb giving Chester a 37-31 lead with under 6 minutes to play.  The Clipper would go scoreless over their next three possessions allowing the Speedboys to claim the lead 38-37 with 4:20 to play. After two more scoreless possessions, Cobb hit on 1 of 2 free throws with 2:33 on the clock, tying the score at 38. The Speedboys scored on the next two possessions before Womack hit on 1 of 2 free throws to draw the Clippers closer 39-43 with 29.2 second remaining. Cobb scored an "And-1" and with 18.8 second left Chester was with two, 42-44. The Clippers defense forced a five second violation but turned the ball over on the inbounds pass which the Speedboys converted into two points. After a missed free throw, Dominic Toy hauled in his career high 15th rebound and his put-back with 7.7 left gave the Clippers hope. Chester - 44, West Philadelphia - 46. with 0.9 second left in the contest and now trailing 44-47, Kyree Womack goes to the free throw line. He makes the first, 45-47. Looking to miss the second shot on purpose with hopes of an offensive put-back to send the game into overtime; Chester is called for a lane violation - Game Over.

Kyree Womack joined Cobb in double figures with 10 points. In addition to his 25 points, "TC" contributed 5 rebounds and a team high 4 assists. Dominic Toy filled the stat sheet with 5 points, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot to go along with his 15 rebounds (10 defensive). Dante Atkinson and Calvin Williams each contributed 2 points with White completing the scoring with 1 point. White had a team high 3 steals. In limited action, senior Nijah Carpenter added 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

Chester will have a week to rebound when they travel to West Chester University on Friday, December 9th to take on Downingtown West with a scheduled tip-off at 8:30 pm.

JV GAME SUMMARY

The Chester JV opened the season with a fun filled 56-54 victory over the Speedboys of West Philadelphia. Andre Brown led the charge for the Clippers, scoring 13 of his game high 26 points in the first quarter as Chester led 20-17. Chester led 35-30 at the half and 42-35 at the end of the third. Brown scored 7 points in the final quarter including hitting 4 of 4 from the free throw line to hold off the Speedboys. Ra'Shaad Dorsey also scored in double figures with 10 points. Chester Points: Jaseir Thompson - 2, Tae'Qwann Naylor - 2, Tashon Gibson - 2, Ryan Reed - 4, Calvin Williams - 7, Germain Glover - 3.