
Chester girls coach Martin Dukes, left, shows the Clippers exactly what he wants during a break in their 59-28 nonleague loss to West Chester East Monday night. Dukes is back at the helm trying to build the Clippers into a winner (MediaNews Group photo).
By Bob Grotz
The last time Marvin Dukes threw in as coach of the Chester High girls basketball team, he was greeted with a Gatorade bath celebrating the program’s fifth Del Val League title in six seasons.
That was 13 years ago, although Dukes stayed on the job through the 2014-15 season. This year the Clippers are 2-7, the latest setback a 59-28 nonleague decision Monday night to West Chester East, which also is in a rebuilding mode, just a little more advanced.
Dukes had a long talk with his team after the game, one in which he reminded the girls they had a league game Tuesday with Chichester.
“They’re too young to remember me coaching before,” Dukes, a behavioral specialist in the Chester-Upland School District, said of his players. “They know me as Mr. Dukes in the building. But they’re getting to know me just like I’m learning what they can do on the floor. We are going to be consistent with what we’re teaching and driving home, and it’s just starting to come around. Today wasn’t their day. I’m OK with that. It’s a young basketball team. We’re going to be up one day and down the next. No excuses. No excuses at all. We come in every day looking to work hard with these young ladies. I know they’re buying in.”