Smith joins Chester’s 1,000-point club in districts loss

WEST NORRITON — There are myriad ways to qualify how impressive the 1,000-point club at Chester High School is. Michael Smith’s preferred method highlighted the last person to enter the pantheon before Thursday night.

With 21 points, Smith joined that elite brotherhood, despite the Clippers falling in the District 1 Class 5A fifth-place game, 67-60 at Norristown.

“It’s a real big accomplishment because there’s a lot of people that made it, but there hasn’t been a lot of people that made it since Rondae,” Smith said. “So it’s a big accomplishment for me because I’m that next one.”

Point of fact: Smith is the first Clipper to score 1,000 points since Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a 2013 grad, two-time Daily Times Player of the Year and a current Brooklyn Net. Both Mahir Johnson and Tyrell Sturdivant in 2014 scored their 1,000th points with Chester, but most of their scoring came at high schools in Delaware. Smith is the next one after an all-everything legend to do it, which makes him the answer to a trivia question in living rooms all over Chester for decades.

The point guard, an All-Delco last year, stalled slightly as he neared the mark. He scored eight points in the first nine minutes but struggled to hit shots as the milestone neared. The Clippers derailed with him.

It wasn’t until Smith scored with 3:20 left in the third, on a solo sortie to the goal, that the Clippers started to awaken. But by they point, they trailed by 21.

“It’s just about how hard you work and not thinking about it,” said Smith, who admitted he thought a little about it while rushing shots. “When you think about it, you think, ‘oh I’m close to 1,000 points,’ you won’t get it because you’re trying too hard to get it. If you just play your game, it’ll come to you easier.”

There it is for Michael Smith, point no. 1000 of his career. pic.twitter.com/6UnbWq8Ep5

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) March 1, 2019

Norristown, the fifth seed in District 1, led by as many as 17 in the first half. The Eagles stretched the edge to 23 before the Clippers got going and cut the deficit to five.

Smith had eight points in the third, as Chester finished the frame on an 8-0 run. Karell Watkins, who missed the playback semifinal with Methacton and most of the first half Thursday by coach’s decision, scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Javan Graham had a season-high 10 points.

Norristown spread the scoring. Nizer Kinney scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter, and Xavier Edwards added 10 as all seven Eagles who played scored at least four points. But it was a pyrrhic victory, with Mickeel Allen (18 points) ejected in the fourth for his second technical foul, which will keep him out of the state opener.

Norristown gets the loser of the District 12 championship, between the Pub’s Boys Latin and PCL champ/reigning PIAA 6A champ Roman Catholic. Chester awaits the loser of the District 11 final, either Parkland or Allentown Allen, and a westerly trip through the bracket.

But Thursday was about Smith, who led the charge back into the game, with a message that he hopes will lead to more wins (and, by extension, more points).

“It shows that if we put our full effort as soon as the game starts, we’ll win by a lot,” he said. “But when we dig ourselves into holes and we try to fight back, it’s too late.”