PIAA STATE TOURNAMENT Quarterfinals Boys AAAA

Chester has its hands full with Penn Wood but advances to fourth straight state semifinal
By Gorden Blain
VILLANOVA -- At last, those who publish national high school basketball rankings have figured out what Pennsylvania high school basketball fans have known for a long, long time.

Earning its long, overdue respect, those national publications ranked Chester among the top three teams in their national rankings this past week.

But on their friendly home turf at Villanova University on Saturday afternoon, their Del-Val League rival Penn Wood (23-9) was hardly in awe of the mighty Clippers (31-1) in their PIAA State AAAA quarterfinal.

The Patriots, who had lost all three games with Chester this season by an average of 26 points, flirted with an upset of mammoth proportions throughout most of the game before the Clippers subdued their pesky rival 68-60 to advance to yet another state semifinal.

On Wednesday night at University of Pennsylvania’s historic Palestra, Chester will face another District 1 challenger Pennsbury. This is Chester’s fourth straight state semifinal and 24th all-time. Pennsbury (30-2) has never advanced this far in the state tournament.

Pennsbury capped off a state quarterfinal tripleheader at Villanova by holding off Ridley 45-40. In the middle game, Norristown easily defeated the Public League’s Southern 71-44.

Norristown (31-1) will face Moon (23-7) in the other state semifinal on Wednesday at a site in western Pennsylvania. In an all-WPIAL quarterfinal, Moon defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic 61-41 in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Penn Wood led 17-11 late in the first half before Chester awakened with one of its trademark defense-driven flurries to take a 23-22 lead at halftime. But the Patriots refused to fold under the Clippers’ constant defensive pressure.

Trailing 30-26, 6-7 freshman Shawn Oakman, who had 14 points and eight rebounds, scored on a put back and Tyree Johnson had back-to-back-to-back baskets to put PW back on top 34-30 with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

That’s when Chester’s flashy and talented point guard Karon Burton, struggling throughout the game with a bruised knee he suffered in the first quarter, decided to single-handedly right the ship for the Clippers. He caught fire burying four long three-point shots over a two-minute span to give the Clippers a 42-34 lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

“I was worrying about my knee for most of the game,” said Burton. “I wanted to get ice on it when I could. I wanted to keep it moving. It was stiffening up.

“Late in the game, we’ve never been in that situation with the game that close in the third and fourth quarters this year. Down the stretch, I’ve got to hit some big shots. I’m not going to stop shooting. Good shooters keep shooting. I hit the big ones.”

Burton, who finished with a game-high 25 points, made just seven of 24 shots. Of those 24, he made four of 10 three point shots. The rest of the Clippers were also struggling with their shooting. They made just 23 of 70 shots while Penn Wood made 23 of 50 shots.

“(Burton) has a big heart,” said Chester coach Fred Pickett. “They were giving (the three-point shot) to him. He took it. If you’re going to give it to him, he’ll say, ‘Take this.’ That’s his attitude. It’s always been his attitude since he was a sophomore.”

But Penn Wood refused to fade. Austin Smith scored five straight points to tie the score at 49-49 with 3:31 left to play in the game. Pitt recruit Nasir Robinson, who was the glue all day for the Clippers scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, sank a free throw to put Chester back on top 50-49. Then he won possession on a rebound after a PW miss.

Burton took the inbounds pass and bolted down the court for a layup to push the margin to 52-49.

Tyree Johnson, who led PW with 18 points, answered for PW when he finished a drive to the basket and the Patriots trailed 52-21 with 2:10 left in the game. But the Patriots’ upset hopes fizzled.

They would get no closer as the Clippers, who made just four of their first 15 free throws in the game, made 12 of 16 free throws down the stretch. Burton made five of six.

“It was a physical game,” Pickett said. “We’ve got kids beat up. They had to dig down to win it. They were wishing for a miracle. They knew we were the better team. I’m always cautious of the fact that it’s hard to beat a team four times. They slowed the game down. The opened the floor. They were big, physical, wanted to push. But we’ve got good resilience. We don’t quit.”

For Chester, Kevin Green-Germany also scored 14 points and Russell Johnson only scored four points but had 16 rebounds.