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PIAA Class 5A: Chester gets revenge on Ryan in second round

03/12/2022, 2:30am EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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There’s just something about Chester basketball and Cardinal O’Hara’s gym and the date March 11. 

It was two years ago to the day that the Clippers, playing the most emotional of state playoff games a day after one of their own was shot and killed, beat Simon Gratz on an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer, the last game played before the pandemic shut the 2020 postseason down early.

The return trip wasn’t quite as dramatic — but it wasn’t far off, either. 

With seemingly the whole city of Chester packing the O’Hara gym to its gills for a PIAA Class 5A second-round game against Archbishop Ryan, the Clippers sent their supporters home happy (and likely hoarse) after a 53-48 win over the Raiders to advance to the state quarterfinals. 


Isaiah Freeman (above) and Chester got past Archbishop Ryan in a wild atmosphere on Friday night at O'Hara. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

“I love Chester, I love Chester,” sophomore guard Kyree Womack said. “Chester came out here and supported us.”

The second half of a 5A doubleheader at O’Hara, after Marple Newtown beat Mastery North in the opener to lock up the first quarterfinal spot in program history, saw the gym fill up early. In a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, which saw Ryan beat Chester by 22, the Clippers and their faithful had revenge on their minds.

There was a healthy group of Ryan supporters in the building, but they were mostly drowned out by a raucous group of Chester fans that verged on getting a little too intense, the O’Hara PA announcer having to issue continuous reminders throughout the second half for fans to stay off the baseline and away from the court. 

It didn’t work. Chester was there to support its team, and it wasn’t going to stop.

“We knew before the game that they were coming,” senior guard Isaiah Freeman. “They support games everywhere, they’re coming. We knew they were going to be here, this is like a home game for us, and we knew we had to put on a show for the city.

“We couldn’t hear Coach, we couldn’t hear timeouts, we couldn’t hear the whistle,” he added. “We were just hooping, it was loud, it was rocking, it was packed.”

Whether it was due to the crowd or Chester’s swarming pressure defense, it felt like there were seven orange and white jerseys on the floor at any given time, a relentless swarm designed to leave opponents frustrated and exhausted, working to perfection.

The Clippers forced 27 Raiders turnovers, preventing the Philadelphia Catholic League runner-ups from establishing any type of offensive rhythm. Each one brought with it a successfully louder roar from the crowd, each layup or dunk the other way made the bleachers shake.

Chester (20-3) took 56 shots. Ryan (19-8) took 31. Even though the Raiders shot better than 50% from the floor, there just weren’t enough opportunities to overcome the deficit.

“We put some pressure on them, they turned that ball over like crazy,” Chester coach Keith Taylor said. “It was a great team effort. Yeah, we were giving them directions and all, but those young guys went out there and played.”

Freeman (5) contributed seven steals and 11 rebounds, plus two assists and nine points, in Chester's win. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Freeman, Chester’s quarterback on the football field and a Lincoln University commit for his gridiron abilities, played more like a free safety, roaming the backfield in the Clippers’ full-court press and picking off pass after pass, coming away with seven steals on the evening, to go along with nine points, 11 rebounds and two assists.

“Just got to move with the ball in the air,” he said. “[Be a] ball hawk, just attack it.”

Sophomores Larenzo Jerkins and Kevin Rucker, who each popped in 11 apiece, combined for another nine picks.

Still, Ryan was ahead for much of the first three quarters, leading by eight at half and 11 with three minutes left in the third quarter. The frontcourt duo of sophomores Thomas Sorber (13 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks) and Jaden Murray (nine points, five rebounds) were able to do enough damage inside while shots weren’t falling for Chester, Sorber limiting the 6-5 Jerkins inside.

But an and-one from Rucker (off a turnover, of course) got the Chester crowd back into it, and the gap was only three going into the fourth quarter, Jerkins knocking down several mid-range jumpers. When Ryan’s Luke Boyd fouled out early in the fourth, the Raiders lost their best shooting option, and Chester clamped down even harder.


Kyree Womack (above) hit a clutch fourth-quarter 3-pointer for the second time this postseason. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Womack, who hit both the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation and the game-winning bucket in overtime in Chester’s District 1 championship win over Radnor, did it again. His 3-pointer with under three minutes left — from straightaway, banked in, just like against Radnor — followed by a layup put the Clippers up 47-43 with 1:45 to play; Freeman followed with two foul shots to extend the lead to six. 

“He likes the big shot, and he knocks them down when we need it,” Taylor said. “I don’t care how it goes in, as long as it goes in. He’s a little guy, man, with an awful lot of heart. Awful lot of heart.”

The 5-10 Womack explained it simply: “Big-time players make big-time shots.”

Ryan turned up its own defensive pressure at that point, getting back within a couple points in the final 30 seconds, but a few free throws by Womack and Freeman were enough to provide for the final margin. 

“All week, we told each other this is personal, we’re not going home,” Freeman said. “Three more games, four more games, one game at a time. We didn’t even have a doubt in our minds that we weren’t going home tonight.”

In the state quarterfinals on Tuesday, Chester will play Shippensburg (22-4), the No. 3 seed out of District 2, at a time and location to be announced. If they get past Ship, they’re highly likely to see state championship favorites Imhotep Charter in the semifinals next Friday.

This Chester squad might not have a Jameer Nelson or a Rondae Jefferson on the roster, but that doesn’t mean its players don’t have the same sense of community pride every time they put on the jersey, as if Friday night’s output wasn’t enough to show that Chester basketball is still very much A Thing.

“Coming into the season, they were saying Chester isn’t good, they’re not going to make it to this point,” Womack said, “but we’ve got heart, we’ve been playing together our whole lives.”

By Quarter
Chester:   9   |   9   |  16  |  19  ||  53
Ryan:      12  |  14  |  11  |  11  ||  48

Shooting
Chester: 18-56 FG (3-14 3PT), 14-21 FT
Ryan: 17-31 FG (1-4 3PT), 13-19 FT

Scoring
Chester: Kyree Womack 13, Kevin Rucker 11, Larenzo Jerkins 11, Isaiah Freeman 9, Qadir Lowrie 9

Ryan: Thomas Sorber 13, Jaden Murray 9, Michael Paris 8, Jalen Snead 8, Luke Boyd 5, Darren Williams 4, David Wise 1


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