By: Matt Chandik
It’s the same recipe that has carried it to its 22 District One championships and a state-best eight PIAA Class AAAA championships.
Regardless of who the coach has been, the Clippers have always prided themselves on being a defensive stingy unit, making teams earn every single point. Gritty, in-your-face defense has always been the calling card of the orange and black-clad beast of Pennsylvania basketball. Larry Yarbray will be the first to remind his players that when your shot isn’t falling, defense is always going to be there for you.
And for a group that features all of one returning varsity player from last year, it’s pretty obvious that the defense is leaving a lot to be desired for Yarbray and the Clippers faithful. In Sunday night’s marquee game of the Pete & Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University, defending Catholic League champion Neumann-Goretti took Chester to school, upending the Clippers 73-55 and exacting revenge on them for a nationally televised beatdown in the 2012-13 regular-season finale.
So, is it safe to say that the defense isn’t up to Yarbray’s standards?