Delcohoops.com

By Matthew De George

Two and a half months have elapsed since Chester, in search of its customarily rigorous nonleague slate, took the inter-district trip to Reading Dec. 23.

Both teams have evolved since that 69-57 triumph by the Red Knights at the Geigle Complex. That growth portends a compelling renewal of acquaintances in Saturday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal at Temple University’s Liacouras Center at noon.

The teams that collided back in December were both undeniably talented and figured to factor into the PIAA’s March picture, Chester first needing to banish an uncharacteristically boisterous chorus of doubters after last season’s rare failure to qualify for states. But neither squad had quite figured things out yet.

While the game failed to serve as a turning point for either, that juncture lay just around the bend.

Reading would lose its next outing against Maryland’s Clinton Christian, compounding losses to Coatesville and Archbishop Wood two weeks earlier. Since, the Red Knights (27-3) have rattled off 22 straight wins. Only twice in that streak — against Conestoga, then Carlisle in the District 3 tournament — has an opponent gotten within single digits, both in overtime contests. The next nearest scrape was an 11-point triumph over Central York in the District 3 final.

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By Josh Verlin

When the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal locations were announced, Bensalem HS didn’t seem to be the best fit to host Reading vs. Chester.

First there was the location, in Chester’s home District 1–though Bensalem is certainly nowhere near Chester.

On top of that, Bensalem’s gym didn’t seem quite big enough to hold a game between the District 1 runner-up Clippers and District 3 champion Red Knights, whose two fanbases are amongst the largest and most devoted in the state.

So within three hours of the original announcement, the venue was moved to Temple’s Liacouras Center, whose 10,000 seats could be filled with the Chester and Reading faithful on Saturday at noon.

“I’d like to thank the PIAA for making that accommodation and really acknowledging both of our followings and our communities,” Reading head coach Rick Perez said. “This gives everybody a fair chance with the least stress possible to enjoy the game, not only the people from the Reading and Chester community but people who just enjoy watching basketball.

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By Matt Smith

This was the Chester team people are used to seeing every March.

The Clippers masqueraded as something other than an unstoppable locomotive out to destroy everything in its way for long enough Wednesday and, perhaps to some extent, in earlier postseason battles. For the Clippers to improve upon their record wins in PIAA title games, they needed to embrace who they are. What the Clippers are not is a finesse team.

The real Chester team stood up Wednesday.

Led by 6-foot-6 forward Jamar Sudan’s 15-point, 10-rebound effort, Chester claimed a convincing, 74-49 victory over undersized Spring-Ford in a PIAA Class AAAA Tournament second-round game at Cheltenham High.

The Clippers will play District Three champion Reading in their 31st trip to the PIAA quarterfinals Saturday at a time and location to be determined. Reading downed District 11’s Emmaus, 71-54.

While the score doesn’t indicate it, the Rams (21-8) didn’t make things easy for the Clippers (22-8), particularly in the first half.

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By Matthew De George

With Parkland faltering at the line, Ridley got a look to tie, but Liam Thompson’s effort from the left corner rimmed out, allowing the Trojans to survive and advance to the quarterfinals against District 12 champion Roman Catholic, a 60-41 winner over Central Bucks West.

As Snyder alluded to afterward, the matchups were just too tilted in Parkland’s favor. Kyle Stout, bound for Lafayette, scored 10 of his team-best 18 points in the third quarter, stretching the lead as wide as six. He and Sam Iorio, a junior with several Division I offers who supplied 15 points, did the damage early. The two 6-foot-6 twins each corralled nine rebounds, part of Parkland’s 35-28 edge on the glass, including 12-6 on offensive boards.

“It’s very tough, because in our rotations, we had to rotate over to the 3-point shooter, and a couple of times we were late,” Thompson said. “Just having that outside shooting along with their height, it’s tough to guard.”

But Ridley adjusted, closing out more resolutely and holding that duo to just one point in the final quarter. Enter Kenny Yeboah, who was quiet offensively but operated the high-low game adeptly, kicking out to shooters when Ridley doubled in the post.

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By Stephen Pianovich

At halftime of a five-point game, Chester’s coaching staff pointed a statistic from the first 16 minutes.

“We were 1-for-11 from three in the first half,” said senior forward Marquis Collins. “So we basically said no more threes. Their tallest guy was only about 6-foot-6 and we knew we could get to the rim.”

That game plan was evident in a dominant second half for the Clippers, who pounded the ball inside, got most of their points from the paint and the foul line and pulled away for a 74-49 victory over Spring-Ford in a meeting of District 1 teams at Cheltenham High School. Chester advanced to the Class AAAA PIAA quarterfinals, where it will face Reading on Saturday.

After shooting just 35.4 percent from the floor in the first half – which included that lousy 1-for-11 mark from distance – Chester got much more high-percentage looks in the second half. The Clippers (23-7) went 17-for-28 from the floor over the final 16 minutes, and just five of those shots were from beyond the arc (two of which found the bottom of the basket).

After Spring-Ford was able to get back in the game thanks to the long ball before halftime, Chester had eventually bullied its way to a 15-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.

 

 

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By Jack McCaffery

When his basketball career is over, and that will not be before years in the college game, Wyatt Harkins plans a career in law-enforcement with hopes to someday join the FBI.

With the way he can read the clues, predict what is coming and handle a tough situation, the Delco Christian guard should be a natural.

After nearly carrying the Knights to a victory Tuesday in the second round of the PIAA Class A tournament with a fourth-quarter scoring outburst, the versatile 6-1 senior knew exactly what was coming.

“I have been box-and-one’d more times this year,” he said, “than I can even count.”

Ah-hah.

So after Harkins scored 12 fourth-quarter points to push the Knights toward fulfillment, he was hit with the usual trick defense, the game flattened, and the Knights were eliminated from the tournament with a 62-58 loss to Shenandoah Valley at Central Dauphin East High.

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