By Jack McCaffery
Qadir Lowrie knew the time, the situation, the stakes, the history and the responsibility midway through the third quarter of Chester High’s PIAA District 1 Class 5A playoff game against visiting Marple Newtown Wednesday.
That’s when the senior point guard did what so many other veteran Clippers backcourt stars have done in an ever-growing history: He took the game over.
“You have to have confidence going into the latter part of the game,” Lowrie said after Chester had rung up a 59-50 win over the Tigers. “And I had that confidence.”
Soon after Chester fell behind, 24-23, on a Matt Cantwell drive with 4:10 left in the third quarter, Lowrie would make sure the Clippers would avoid their first postseason home defeat to a Delaware County opponent since a loss to Springfield in 1980.
Within one blast of excellence, Lowrie completed an old-fashioned three-pointer, made a steal, deposited two free throws and delivered an assist to Isaiah Freeman to give the Clippers a 35-30 lead. That control seized, Lowrie would swish all eight of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, while mixing in an assist to Breilynd White with 1:35 left for a 51-43 lead, essentially tipping 16-3 Chester into the Saturday semifinals.
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