They are known, simply, as “The High.”
And this morning, “The High” is back in their normal perch. Yes, the Chester Clippers are once again kings of Pennsylvania basketball.
The Clippers held off a determined bunch from Mount Lebanon Saturday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College. The game went to overtime when Chester stepped on the gas pedal and rolled to a 72-60 win. That final score is deceiving. Mount Lebanon had a chance to win with the final shot in regulation. Didn’t happen. And Chester looked like a team possessed in the overtime.
The Clippers captured their unprecedented seventh state title, and the first for Coach Larry Yarbray, who follows in the footsteps of local legends Fred Pickett and Alonzo Lewis.
It is sometimes said that Mayor Wendell Butler does not have the toughest job in the city. Instead that label goes to the man directing the Chester High boys hoops program. Anything less than a state title is something of a disappointment.
For that reason you have to feel good for Yarbray.
Me? I have my own reasons for loving the Clippers’ story.
They were stated best by two women who posted comments on our Facebook page shortly after news hit that the Clippers had won.
“It’s better to be on the front page all bold just like all the bad news you constantly report on the city of Chester and its residents,” said Crystal Chandler.
She’s right. The city of Chester – and its young people – very often get portrayed in a negative manner in the pages of this newspaper and website. That is one of the reasons we put all those smiling faces on Sunday’s front, right next to that huge No. 1.
Hopefully Ashley Bazemore noticed. She chimed in shortly after Chandler filed her post. “You couldn’t have said it better! Not all bad things come out of Chester. It’s a whole lot of good too,” she said.
I hope she picked up the paper this morning. There she would again find Chester kids doing good splashed all over today’s front page.
That does not mean that Chester will not be back on the front page in a negative light in the future. What it does mean is that there is another side to that coin, and it’s incumbent on us to show those images as well.
All hail the Chester Clippers, kings of Pa. basketball.
You’ve done Delaware County proud.
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