skip navigation

Fred Picket Classic: Forrest shines, Taylor coaches first game at Chester

12/10/2017, 2:15am EST
By Owen McCue

Jack Forrest (above, in February) and Lower Merion downed Chester on Saturday evening. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
--

The fourth annual Fred Picket Classic took place at Chester High School on Saturday night. Grady (N.Y.) took down Simon Gratz, 58-53, in the first game. Lower Merion took control out of the gate and held off a late Chester run to pick up a 57-52 victory in the second game.

Here are some storylines from the event:

----

Lower Merion’s Forrest ready for new role

Jack Forrest knew things would be a bit different this season.

With Terrell Jones and Noah Fennell gone from last year’s 21-win team, Forrest would have to go from a complementary player to a go-to guy for Lower Merion (see more).

On Saturday night against Chester, Forrest proved he is ready for the challenge. The junior guard scored 21 points in the Aces’ win against the Clippers.

“Last year, we had Terrell Jones and Noah Fennell leading the team and me and Steve (Payne) kind of as secondary players,” Forrest said. “Now, junior year, me and Steve are really taking on the role as main guys for this team.”

Forrest did a little bit of everything for the Aces on Saturday night. He started the game off hot by knocking down two threes in the first quarter. He added another three and a pair of free throws to go into halftime with 11 points.

“You can’t leave him open,” Chester coach Keith Taylor said. “If you leave him open, you see the results of that. We left him open quite a bit.”

After the break, Forrest showed off his ability to attack the basket, finishing through contact and getting to the line seven times.

The 6-foot-5 guard also displayed some defensive prowess.When junior forward Josh Davis fouled out of the game, Forrest was tasked with manning the paint. While playing the “5”  for Lower Merion, he grabbed a critical rebound with 53 seconds left.

He also went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach when Chester was trying to put together a fourth-quarter comeback.

“We were challenging him to bolster his strengths and address his weaknesses,” Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer said. “We’ve worked a lot on his left hand, we’ve worked a lot on his defense. We’ve challenged him to be a better passer, and he’s working incredibly hard and meeting a lot of these challenges in his journey to become a complete player.”

Things started to really come together for Forrest this summer when he played for the Jersey Shore Warriors.

He said he elevated his game when he was surrounded by Division I talents like Bethlehem Catholic’s Ryan Young (Northwestern) and Archbishop Wood’s Andrew Funk (Bucknell).

“I had a really good summer with the Jersey Shore Warriors and playing with them is really what I think evolved me into a better player,” Forrest said.

Forrest has found himself watching quite a bit of ACC basketball this year as he looks for new ways to improve his game.

Duke’s Grayson Allen and Virginia’s Kyle Guy are two college players he tries to emulate on the court.

“I like how they can shoot and score in a lot of different ways,” Forrest said. “And not just shoot, but get to the rim and really jump and shoot off the move and not just a stationary shooter.”

Chester’s Taylor coaches first game

Keith Taylor kept his cool throughout most of the day.

He walked into Fred Pickett Jr. Gym on Saturday evening jitter-free.

But when he started watching the game between Simon Gratz and Grady (N.Y.) before his team was set to play, that’s when it hit him.

Taylor was about to coach his first game for Chester High School (see more).

“At the beginning of the game it felt like I was ready to play,” Taylor said. “I wanted to go out there and play. It is what it is, a little adrenaline. I was OK before I got in here, but once I got in and saw the other game going on, I just got real emotional, and I was ready to play.”

Taylor didn’t really think of coaching the Clippers when he was a 1,000-point scorer at Chester in the 1980s. Even when he came back to help coach the guards under former coach Alonzo Lewis, it wasn’t a top priority.

When he eventually took over the school’s middle school program, he realized coaching the high school team might be something he’d like to do in the future.

“I had my own program to run,” Taylor said. “I got to build it the way I wanted to, do the things I want to and that’s when I started to like it.”

Taylor had a tough test in his coaching debut. He and the Clippers faced a very talented Lower Merion squad  in a rivalry game.

Chester trailed by as many as 17 in the second half. Junior guard Michael Smith, who scored 16 points on Saturday, and sophomore guard Rahmee Gilbert, who had all six of his points in the fourth quarter, helped inspire a Clippers’ come back. However, the late run fell short as Chester ran out of time.

“I told my AD,  I said ‘Y’all are trying to get me fired before we get started,” Taylor said of facing Lower Merion in his first game. “But it turned out well for us.”

Taylor had a guest list of 30 people set to attend his coaching debut. In-laws, nieces, nephews, the whole family came out. He said the Clippers’ entire 1987 class was also in attendance.

After the game, the group waited outside the locker room. When Taylor emerged he was greeted with a round of applause and a bombardment of handshakes and hugs. Despite the loss, they knew how long he had waited for this moment.

“It took a long time, but it’s here,” Taylor said.

Gratz’ senior Flowers needs to take over for Bulldogs

Simon Gratz coach Lynard Stewart sees a lot of potential in one of his seniors.

Guard Jaron Flowers had 18 points in Gratz’ loss to Grady (N.Y.) on Saturday, but Stewart said he could have had 25 or even 30 if he wanted to.

Flowers was a bit passive on the offensive end in the first half, scoring just six points. After a pull-up jumper in the second quarter, Stewart yelled out to him  from the bench, “That’s what we need.”

The senior guard was more aggressive over the final 16 minutes, finishing with 12 points in the second half. He was named one of the game’s MVPs along with Grady guard Cornell Stewart, who finished the game with 16 points.

Stewart hopes Flowers can start to take over games as Gratz progresses through its season.

“I told him, you’re probably one of the most skilled players I’ve seen in awhile, but you don’t have the go to take over,” Stewart said. “That’s what we’re asking for from him. We need you to be dominant… I think he just takes a back seat too much.”


CoBL Merchandise

CoBL Merchandise is now for sale! Support the site, and look awesome while doing it. Click above to visit our store!

HS Coverage:

Recruiting News:

Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Owen McCue  Lower Merion  Chester  Simon Gratz