Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Chester in Give-Away Mode at Clip-Joint

 By Terry Thomas

Chester falls to 4-5 after gift wrapping a 79-73 victory to the visiting Overbrook Panthers. The Clippers' turnover woes from 2022 found their way into 2023 leading to a 13-0 deficit with 5:13 to play in the opening quarter. Chester found wind in their sails behind 5 points apiece from Brieylnd White and Dominic Toy coupled with a bucket from senior Jabree Davis to close the quarter behind 26-12. 

White continued attacking the rim with floaters in the 2nd quarter and Toy continued to be a force in the paint as the Clippers continued to fight back. Sophomore Kristian Chambers came off the bench producing 5 of his young career-high of 9 points and Davis knocked down a trey adding to the effort. Sophomore Dallas Thompson came off the injury list for his first action of the season and knocked down 1 of 2 free throws and the Clippers went to intermission trailing 30-40. Chester did a better job limiting the turnovers to just 6 out of the 20 second quarter possessions.

The Clippers returned to the giving spirit (turnovers) and mid-way through the 3rd quarter found themselves trailing by double-digits, 33-47. After being held scoreless in the opening two quarters, senior Terrence Cobb finally found his mark scoring 8 points off two-treys and a bucket. Chambers added another bucket and White drained a trey to close the quarter bringing the Clippers closer 47-55.

Chester opened the fourth quarter with possession. Cobb knocked down his third trey of the game. Domonic Toy hauled in the defensive rebound and Cobb went to the line hitting 2 of 2 free throws to close the gap to 52-55 with 7:25 to play. The Panthers responded with a 5-0 run. The Clippers answered with White connecting on 2 of 2 free throws and a Cobb steal which led to an old-fashioned 3-point play from Toy to bring the Clippers back to within 3, 57-60, with 6:06 on the clock. Coach Taylor called for a timeout.

Dallas Thompson answered the Overbrook trey with one of his own to keep the margin at 3, 60-63, with 5:25 to play. A free throw from Toy closed the gap to 61-63, with 5:01 to play. With consecutive Chester turnovers, the Panthers were able to push their lead up to seven points, 61-68, with 3:15 left in the quarter. Toy once again connected on a free throw and scored a bucket on the next possession. He stole the Panters next pass which led to a bucket from Chambers and the Clippers were now within two, 66-68, with 2:35 to play. Toy erased the boards with one of his 12 rebounds and scored off an assist from Dante Atkinson, tying the score at 68 with 1:45 left in the contest. 

After a free throw from Cobb at the 1:31 mark got Chester within one, 69-70, the Clippers returned to their holiday season of gift giving turning the ball overs twice in their next three possessions. Chester was now trailing 70-77 with 30 second left in the contest. Dante Atkinson found White in the corner for a trey with 26 seconds left, 73-77. The Clippers had two more possessions before the horn sounded. They missed a shot attempt and of course ended the game with a turnover (they were called for traveling). 

The Clippers were playing without their second leading scorer in Kryee Womack due to an injury in the Lower Merion game. Senior Breilynd White and junior Dominic Toy stepped up producing career highs of 19 and 18 points respectively. Toy also finished with a double-double collecting those 12 rebounds. He also added 3 assists, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals to his stat sheet. Cobb was the third Clipper in double-digits with 15 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Jabree Davis finally added his name to the stat sheet with 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist to go along with his 7 points. Chambers was also a factor on the boards with a career high 6 rebounds. Dallas Thompson finished the night with 5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. 

Chester will return to action on Thursday, January 5, when the Penn Wood Patriots visit the Clip Joint to start Del Val League play. The JV will tip-off at 5:50 pm with the Varsity to follow.

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