Chester’s Karell Watkins, looking a big fired up here in a playoff game last year against Plymouth Whitemarsh, helped lead a second-half Clippers comeback Tuesday en route to a win over Academy Park. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
The Chester locker room wasn’t the happiest of places at halftime Tuesday evening. But any displeasure carried a substantial caveat.
Yes, Chester had shot barely north of 30 percent in the first half. Yes, it had frittered away 11 turnovers against an Academy Park team that hadn’t even thrown its best full-court pressure the Clippers’ way. And yes, the Clippers’ three starting guards had as many points as fouls (six) in allowing the Knights to grab a four-point intermission edge.
But the Clippers have proven to themselves this season that they are capable of more than they showed in the first 16 minutes Tuesday. And in the second half, particularly one scorching stretch of it, they proved it to AP as well.
Chester unleashed a hellacious run after the break, scoring 48 points in 10 minutes, 34 seconds to turn a deficit that was as large as seven into an 82-56 victory to clinch the Del Val League title.
Chester (14-3) has won all six of its Del Val contests. With AP (12-6, 4-3) and Penn Wood carrying three losses each in the league, Chester can’t be passed, since the five-team conference plays only eight games in its first season without Glen Mills.
Webmaster’s note: Tomorrow, January 30th, Chichester visits Chester for our Game-of-the-Week broadcast. Our broadcast begins at 7:15 PM.