Chester’s pressure too much for Phoenixville
CHESTER » When all was said and done, it was impossible to believe the Chester High Clippers trailed three times in their runaway 73-40 District 1 Class 5A semifinal victory over Phoenixville Friday.
At the end of the day, the Clippers (11-1) had a lot of energy left while their opponent had to be wondering how you can play so hard and fall behind by such an astronomical number.
The full court press had a lot to do with that, and few teams in the history of Pennsylvania High School basketball do it like the Clippers, who tow a seven-game win streak into the District 1 title game against West Chester Rustin, which rolled to a 68-57 success over Unionville in the other semifinal.
“The beginning of the game, we wanted to recognize who the shooters were,” Clippers coach Keith Taylor said. “That (Mike Memmo) was killing us. He hit some big-time shots. Pulling up for three-pointers on the fast break, that’s tough to defend. And they played hard the whole game. Whether they were up or down, they just played hard. Credit to my guys for constantly putting pressure on them. They just wore them down in the second half. I looked up one time and we were only up like six. And then I turned around and looked up and went, ‘dang, we’re up 30.’ My guys played well.”
Jameel Burton led the Clippers with 21 points, the senior taking a seat to applause with his team pulling away from the Phantoms. Burton has a silky shot with a big arc that snaps you to attention. Like his teammates, he knows how to play defense.
The Phantoms (11-6) got 3-point shots from Zavier Mayo and Memmo, who had 19 points, on their first two possessions to take the early leads. They hung tough, staying within three points entering the second quarter and trailing by just eight at the intermission.
“We had to play our game,” Burton said. “They couldn’t handle the press. They had a lot of turnovers. And their game was sort of a slow game – shoot the three. When we started speeding it up they didn’t know what to do. You can see by the way they dribble the ball. They just want to make sure they get it over the (half-court) line. The pressure makes them think. Usually, they’re just making clean passes. Now, with the press they’ve got to think about it. That’s not what you want to be doing.”
Karell Watkins supplied the Clippers with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Fellow big Shaquan Horsey added 11 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
In the fourth quarter, Watkins could have taken the ball to the hoop and dunked but instead delivered a pass to Burton, who scored and had a chance for the and-one.
“That’s my guy,” Burton said. “He’s looking out for me. That’s our team. The chemistry is perfect.”
Fareed Burton, Jameel’s cousin, distributed five assists for the Clippers. Isaiah Freeman added seven boards and two points.
The Clippers’ patience, their hard work and their will is coming together at the time right time. All they need is for Jameel Burton to be a little more selfish.
“He means a lot to us,” Taylor said. “He gives us another person to attack the basket and also bring the ball up when we need it. For me, I need him to be more aggressive with the basketball because he can score. He takes a backseat to some of the other guys on the floor when he doesn’t have to. I want him to be more aggressive with the basketball. And he can do it. And I want my guys to play defense. I want them to play the right way. And that’s what they’ve been doing. They’ve been playing smart, playing together. We’ve got bring dreams this year. We’ve got six seniors and we want to send them off right. It’s now or never.”
Almost lost in the season-ender for the Phantoms is a year of overachieving. This team always will be special to coach Eric Burnett.
“I can’t say enough about the seniors,” Burnett said. “They really battled through adversity this year. Not a lot of people were talking about us this year going into this season and to have a chance at a league title and here we are in the districts, the final four, and having a chance to come here and play is really special. Especially for our senior leaders.”