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PIAA Class 5A: Chester moves three wins from state title

03/16/2017, 8:15pm EDT
By Tyler Sandora

Jamar Sudan (above) and Chester are three wins away from their ninth state championship. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Tyler Sandora (@Tyler_Sandora)
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Jamar Sudan has been around the Chester basketball scene for many years.

Attending the games as a youngster, being a varsity player as a freshman, and now the star of the Clippers, Sudan has seen what it takes to win.

The one thing Sudan has yet to experience is a state championship.

Chester, an eight-time PIAA champ, won its most recent title in 2012, when Sudan was a seventh-grader.

Sudan got a taste of the state tournament as a freshman, and now he is doing all he can to bring home a title to cap off his high school career.

The 6-foot-6 senior was able to extend his career for one more night as the Clippers defeated Hershey High 61-51 on Thursday night at Pottstown’s Strom Gymnasium.

“I’m playing with chip on my shoulder,” said Sudan. “We lost in the final four my freshman year, and we haven’t been back since.”

The southpaw accounted for nine points and eight rebounds in the victory, 12 of which came in the first half.

“Last year I was the defensive spark, this year I’m an all around player,” he said.

Chester, the No. 5 seed out of District 1, jumped out to a 13-3 lead to end the first, but the lead slowly slipped away and Hershey was able to knot up the score at half, 22-all.

The second quarter meltdown was not what Chester was hoping for, but they had just the counterattack to retake the lead; the full court press.

“We needed to act like we want to be playing another game. We got up 13-3 and our guys got relaxed,” said coach Larry Yarbray. “The press is traditional stampede, when we need some buckets and a stop we put it on thm. They fell asleep a few times and we were able to get the lead back on them.”

The press proved successful, as the Clippers jumped out to a 10-point third quarter lead, an advantage it maintained throughout the fourth.

Brian Randolph III, a 6-foot-2 junior, chipped in 15 points, eight of which came on fast breaks in the second half.

“Jamar and Brian played like they wanted to play another game,” Yarbray said. “Brian played big defense and hit some key free throws.”

Chester also got some big efforts from senior guard Ahrod Carter and sophomore Michael Smith, as they combined for 13 points.

Chase Wallace, a junior guard, was a spark plug for Hershey in the second half, as he added 10 points and sent his team to the locker room all tied up. Junior Jake Wilson scored 17, and continued to bring his team back when Chester would extend to a big lead.

Hershey will ride back to chocolate land, finishing the season with a record of 14-14, as it beat the District One champ Penncrest in the first round of states. The Trojans came into the district tournament as the 15 seed. A very young and scrappy team, expect to see the Trojans in the state tournament in years to come.

Chester, who lost to Reading in the quarterfinals of states last season -- it was the Class AAAA tournament then -- will advance to take on either Abington Heights or Martin Luther King in the quarterfinals this time around.

The Clippers lost to Upper Merion in the district tournament, and dropped the Del-Val league title, but are still in the running for a state title, which is their main focus. After coming out sluggish in the first half, Chester knows what it will take to pick up three more wins in the 5A state tournament.

“Round three up next, we have win five rounds to win it all,” Yarbray said. “Our next opponent’s a different team so we have to be prepared.”

“Stay focused, keep young guys focused, keep up intensity in practice, and play hard,” Sudan agreed.


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