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CHESTER – The chants of ‘Let’s go Norristown. Let’s go Norristown’ rocked the gymnasium at Widener College. The Eagles - who trailed by 14 just minutes earlier – had trimmed Chester’s lead to six (37-31) late in the third quarter of Friday’s nightcap at the Jameer Nelson Classic. Another Chester turnover, the fifth in succession against Norristown’s pressure defense, put the Eagles in a position to get even closer.
But a costly turnover resulted in an easy bucket for the Clippers, and although the Eagles came back to trim it to six yet again, the Clippers had regrouped.
There would be no Norristown comeback as the defending state champions once again prevailed, earning a 58-47 win in a contest that was a rematch of last year’s PIAA Class AAAA title game.
“Right now Chester has our number,” Norristown’s Khalif Wyatt said. “We wanted this one bad, but they won.
“We’re still young, but they’re young too. Right now, there are growing pains, but we’re going to be better in January and February.”
Wyatt, named Norristown’s MVP, scored a team-high 16 points, and one of several interesting subplots was the matchup of future Temple teammates Wyatt and Chester’s Rahlir Jefferson, who finished the night with 12 points but owned the backboards, pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.
“He’s real athletic,” Wyatt said of Jefferson. “He’s got heart. He doesn’t ever stop fighting. You can tell that by playing against him.”
All but lost in the shuffle of the showdown between two of the area’s premier squads – which played to a standing room only crowd – was the fact that there was a new man in charge on Norristown’s sidelines.Former assistant Julius Mack took over for Mike Evans, who stepped down earlier this week.
“Maybe it could have been a little easier assignment,” said Mack, who is in his third year with the program. “It was a good challenge. I thought our guys were prepared. It just didn’t go in our favor.”
The turning point of the game came in the third quarter. The Clippers, who led 21-19 at halftime, opened the third quarter with an 11-1 run that began with back-to-back baskets by sophomore Maurice Nelson, the younger brother of Jameer Nelson.
The run was interrupted briefly when Lorenzo Christmas sank one-of-two from the foul line. Nelson answered with a putback, and after a Norristown miss, Jefferson scored after an offensive rebound. Another Eagle miss set up a fastbreak bucket by Laquan Robinson, and just like that, the Clippers led 32-20.
“The coaching staff was saying the first three minutes is what can either make you or break you, and that kind of really broke us,” Norristown’s James Ramsey said. “We still were in the game, but that kind of pushed us too far back.
“It’s hard (to play catch-up) because they just like to keep on running, keep on running.”
A three-point play by Wyatt broke Chester’s run, but moments later, the Eagles’ gifted senior was whistled for a foul and then a technical – his third and fourth fouls of the night, setting the stage for a 5-0 run that put the Clippers on top 37-23.
“Once they get rolling and get their crowd behind them, they’re hard to stop,” Wyatt said. “We fought back, but it was a mental mistake by me.”
“Khalif plays with a lot of heart, a lot determination,” Mack said. “The bigger the game, the better he is. He really wanted to win.”
Down but not out, the Eagles staged a gutsy rally.
It began with a Ramsey bucket, and then Christmas came up with a steal that resulted in a Tom Smith basket. A Ramsey steal and layup cut the Clippers’ lead to eight, and after another Christmas steal and bucket, it was a 37-31 game.
The Clippers answered with a deuce by Learon Pray, but Smith – who had eight second-half points off the bench – scored to make it a 39-33 game.
“Tom Smith gave us a lot of energy,” Wyatt said. “He brought a lot of confidence, and that’s going to help us the rest of the year.”
A play that all but broke the Eagles’ backs came when –after Pray sank one-of-two from the foul line – Dymere Crews pulled down the offensive board of the miss and found Pray for an easy bucket and a 42-33 Chester lead heading into the final frame.
“The pressure defense is a staple of Norristown since I was a kid, so we’re never going to go away from it,” Mack said. “We thought we could pressure them into some turnovers.
“We just couldn’t get that stop or maybe that rebound off the foul line or that defensive rebound we needed.”
The Eagles would get no closer than eight the rest of the way as the Clippers rolled to the win.
“We know what they can do,” Ramsey said. “They’re similar to last year but smaller. We wanted to do the same thing as last year – get back on defense and make them run their halfcourt sets because as you see they like to do everything in transition.
“We wanted to stop their transition and just play halfcourt defense, but we didn’t get that done today.”
Early on, the Eagles actually took an early 5-0 lead after a three-point play by Jarrell Gardner and a Wyatt bucket. It was 12-12 at the end of one quarter.
The Eagles led for the final time (19-18) after a Wyatt putback late in the second quarter, but Jefferson converted a three-point play to send the Clippers into halftime with a 21-19 lead. They never looked back.
The Eagles return to action on Monday night when they will face Souderton in an opening round game of the Triangle Club Tournament.
Mack discounted the idea that – with the Chester game out of the way – this was a good time for the Eagles to ‘start over.’
“We all have the same principles we had pretty much last year,” he said. “(Former assistant coach) Binky (Johnson) did a good job of coaching. I learned a lot from him – his principles on how to play basketball and the discipline and execution, so we’re just taking it right from where we left off.”
CHESTER 58, NORRISTOWN 47
Norristown (47) – Sheldon Mayer 1 1-2 3, Khalif Wyatt 7 1-1 16, Lorenzo Christmas 3 3-6 9, Jarrell Gardner 2 1-1 5, James Ramsey 2 0-0 4, Tom Smith 4 0-0 8, Allen Yates 1 0-0 2, Jaquil Hargrove 0 0-1 0, Chris Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-11 47.
Chester (58) – Laquan Robinson 2 2-2 6, Maurice Nelson 6 2-2 16, Dymere Crews 2 0-0 6, Keyon Staples 1 0-0 2, Rahlir Jefferson 3 6-6 12, Kareem Robinson 3 2-4 8, Alvin Tinch 1 0-0 3, Learon Pray 2 1-2 5. Totals 20 13-16 58.
Norristown 12 7 14 14-47
Chester 12 9 21 16-58
Three-point goals: Khalif Wyatt, Maurice Nelson 2, Dymere Crews 2, Alvin Tinch.
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