Chester Edges West Philadelphia

By Terry Thomas

Chester (3-1) escapes West Philadelphia with a 58-55 win over the host Speed Boys. Dominic Toy and Calvin Williams led the Clippers with 13 points apiece and sophomore Daron Harris also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Dallas Thompson scored 5 of his 7 points and Calvin Williams connected on a trey giving the Clippers an 8-0 lead at the 5:55 mark. The team exchanged buckets and the lead was reduced to 13-6 with 3:41 to play. Chester began to play give-away thus allowing the Speed Boys to tie the game at 13 with 1 minute to play. Daron Harris's basket with 40 seconds on the clock gave the Clippers the lead 15-13. The Speed Boys answered and the quarter ended tied at 15.

Chester used a 21-12 second quarter surged to take a 36-27 lead into intermission. Daron Harris scored 7 of his 10 points in the quarter. Toy scored 5 of his 13 and Jalen Harris scored 4 of his 8 in the quarter. The Clippers used a 10-0 run to convert a 16-19 deficit into a 26-19 lead with 2:57 remaining in the quarter. After a Speed Boys basket made the score 26-21, the Clippers responded with an 8-2 blast for a 34-23 advantage at the one-minute mark.

Chester played give-away in the third quarter. Maybe it was the orange and white West Philadelphia jerseys, but the Clippers seemed to pass the ball more to the Speed Boys than themselves. This act of kindness resulted in the Speed Boys capturing the lead 42-40 with just under three minutes to play. Calvin Williams tied the score at 42 with 1:10 on the clock and connected on 1 of 2 free throws giving the Clippers the 43-42 edge at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter was a see-saw affair with 4 ties and 5 lead changes. With 1:34 to play, Dominic Toy made 1 of 2 free throws, giving Chester the lead for good. Toy contributed 5 points; Jalen Harris chipped in with 4 and Williams dropped in 3 points. Dallas Thompson and Daron Harris added 2 and 1 points respectively for a crucial 15-13 Chester edge which secured the victory.

The Clippers will return to action on Tuesday, December 19, as they will host Lancaster's La Academia Charter School for a Varsity only contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

JV GAME SUMMARY

Chester's JV also sits at 3-1 after a 47-39 victory over West Philadelphia. Ra'Shaad Dorsey led all scorers with a game high of 16 points. Kameron Wilson also scored in double figures with 11 points. Tae'Qwann Naylor just missed double figures with 8 points. They led 12-4 after the first quarter and never relinquished the lead. Dominique Gilyard (6), Ryan Reed (4), Shadrach George (1) and Hamza Payne (1) completed the scoring for Chester.

The JV team will return to action on Saturday, December 23, at home against Lancaster Mennonite. It will be a 1:00 pm tip-off with Varsity to follow.