Chester goes to State Finals

by Terry Thomas,

Chester's balanced attack was too much for the St. Joseph Prep Hawks as the Clippers advanced to the State Championship game with the 62-52 victory. The game was played before a standing room only crowd at Coatesville Area High School. 

With the win Chester will get the chance to defend their championship against a common opponent, the Lower Merion Aces who earned their way in by defeating an undefeated New Castle (30-1) team.

 Darius Robinson got the Clippers on the board first with a trey and after Prep responded with a trey of their own, the Clippers ran off five unanswered points forcing Prep to call their first timeout at 4:28 now trailing 8-3. The Prep responded with a trey to cut the lead to 8-6 when Chester countered with another five unanswered points and again Prep called another timeout at the 1:49 mark trailing 13-6. Prep drained two more treys and Darius Robinson hit a floater in the lane and Chester led 15-12 after one. The back-court of Conrad Chambers and Darius Robinson combined for eight points while Rondae Jefferson and Richard Granberry added the other seven. In the second quarter Chester did a better job of defending the three point line by not allowing Prep any open looks and thus no treys. The end results was a 13-7 Chester advantage and a 28-19 halftime lead.

The Clippers used five players for their points and only allow two Hawks to enter the scoring column in that same period. The Prep's Notre Dame bound Steve Vasturia began to find his mark in the third connecting on three treys for 9 of his game high 19 points. Once again the Clippers restricted the Hawks scoring to two players while repeating the performance of five players in the scoring column. The end result was a 14-12 quarter for Chester as they now led by 11 points going into the final quarter. Chester - 42, St. Joseph's Prep - 31. 

Chester's inside strength proved too much for the Prep in the final quarter as Richard Granberry dominated inside scoring 8 of his 14 points. Although he didn't score a bucket, Jefferson connected on 6 of 8 free throws hauled 7 of his 12 rebounds to finish with a double double with his 18 points. Conrad Chambers connected on 4 of 6 and Darius Robinson knocked down both of his free throws as the Clippers controlled the game by connecting of 12 of 16 free throws in the 4th. Chambers and Robinson each finished with 12 points giving the Clippers four players in double figures. Isaiah Warren came off the bench to score a trey in the 2nd quarter for his three points, Rashan DeJarnette turned a steal into bucket and reserve James Kirksey hit on 1 of 2 free throws to complete the scoring for the Clippers. 

On Saturday, March 23rd, Chester will be making their 18th Championship Game appearance and their 7th since 2000. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm and the game will be televised via PCN-TV.