Chester goes flat, then splat in bowing to Woodward, Methacton

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PHILADELPHIA >> The disparity between the accomplishments of the Methacton and Chester boys basketball programs entering Tuesday night’s District 1 Class 6A semifinal game was quite large.

On one side was a Chester program making its 48th trip to the District 1 Final Four, including 38 wins in the semifinal round. On the other was a Methacton program making its first trip to the District 1 semifinals.

As it has done to many others this high school basketball season, top-seeded Methacton showed that this year it appears to be the team in a class of its own in District 1.

PHOTO GALLERY: Methacton vs. Chester, 2.25.20

From the middle of the third quarter on, the top-seeded Warriors rolled past the fourth-seeded Clippers for an 81-54 win, their third straight district victory by 20-or-more points, and earning a chance to play third-seeded Cheltenham (a 77-60-winner of seventh-seeded Bensalem) in Saturday’s District 1 championship back at Temple at 7 p.m.

Chester’s Akeem Taylor, left, is shut down by Methacton’s Jeff Woodward in the second half of the District 1 Class 6A semifinal at the Liacouras Center Tuesday. Methacton handled the Clippers, 81-54. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)

“We talked about how they have a really, really long history as a program, but their guys are in the same situation as us,” said Methacton senior Jeff Woodward, who finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds. “None of their guys had been down here yet and none of us have been down here.

“We’re the No. 1 seed in the district for a reason. We’ve played really, really well all season, and we’re looking to continue that on Saturday.”

The Warriors, who used a 17-0 run from the end of the third to the middle of the fourth to build their lead, were led by 25 points from senior Erik Timko and Woodward’s 20-20 outing.

Senior Akeem Taylor had 16 points, and junior Karell Watkins had 13 for the Clippers, who will face Bensalem at home on Friday to see who earns the district’s No. 3 and No. 4 seed in the PIAA Class 6A tournament.

Tuesday’s game was a stark contrast between last year’s district playback game when the Clippers blitzed the Warriors in the third quarter on the way to a 73-59 home win.

“They came in hungrier than we did,” Chester coach Keith Taylor said. “They came to us last year (in the playback semifinals) and we defeated them, so I knew that was on their mind. I knew they wanted to get us. They came in in a little better shape this year.

“They were able to run on us, long passes, they did everything. All up to them. We just played like crap. Sometimes you’re the bug; sometimes you’re the windshield.”

 

The Clippers, who trailed 15-9 after the first quarter and 32-26 at halftime, fell behind by double digits in the third quarter before Taylor scored two straight buckets to pull them within six, 47-41, with less than three to play in the period.

Then came the Methacton onslaught.

Senior guard Brett Eberly ended a patient possession with a three, Owen Kropp hit a three next time down and finally Timko beat the buzzer for a three off a feed from Kropp to put Methacton up, 56-41, entering the fourth.

Methacton added eight more in a row to start the fourth, building a 64-41 lead with 5:50 left in the game to put the contest all but out of reach.

“We all just keyed on trying to execute and get our right shots,” said Kropp, who finished with 12 points. “We want to be patient on offense and move the ball because we all know we can shoot the ball with confidence. Especially when another guy hits one and we’re rolling, everybody kind of seems to step up and shoot the ball a lot better.”

 

Chester slowed Woodward in the opening quarter as he had just two points in the opening eight minutes of play. But the 6-10 senior forward, bound for Colgate next year, scored 18 points in the final three quarters along with patrolling the paint on the defensive end to help the Warriors take control.

Eberly added nine points and sophomore Cole Hargrove chipped in eight for Methacton, including two big threes in the first half. Junior Fareed Burton Jr. and senior Rahmee Gilbert added seven points apiece for Chester in the loss, which marked was the largest margin of defeat for the Clippers in a district semifinal since falling to Glen Mills, 89-62, in the 1994 semis.

“The big boy (Woodward) is just a monster down there,” Taylor said. “He killed us all night long. They made the right decisions, set the right screens, made the right passes and they knocked down shots when they had the opportunity.”

 

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Owen McCue

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