Delco Madness: Chester girls give fans more reasons to cheer

A day earlier, in a tradition that began decades earlier, fans of Chester High basketball roared in approval as the 1983 Nether Providence Bulldogs reached the Elite Eight of the Delco Madness tournament to reveal the greatest girls basketball team in county history.

In the other game of that Sweet 16 doubleheader, the Nether Providence fans lent their support for the 1981 Clippers. That was not unlike that 1983 night when the Nether Providence girls and Chester boys both won PIAA championships and Delaware County pride filled every corner of the Hersheypark Arena.

Nothing lasts forever. In the most recent case, there was just too much at stake when the 13th-seeded 1981 Clippers and the No. 5 1983 Bulldogs met in the quarterfinals of the mythical tournament at the Palestra.

On that list: Revenge.

Aware that they’d lost to the Bulldogs in the 1980 Del Val League championship game, the Clippers were ready to even the score Sunday at the Palestra. As it happened, the score-evening was rampant in what would become Chester’s 59-58 overtime win, for every one of the four regulation quarters ended with the score tied: 14-14, 30-30, 41-41 and, when Bulldog Lisa Cano drained a triple at the regulation horn, 54-54.

Even then, the Clippers were confident.

“A great team,” said All-Delco Fredia Gibbs. “We played to win.”

After Donna Bowers slashed inside for a bucket and the famed N-P press forced a steal, Barb Yost hit a 10-footer in the lane for a four-point lead with 2:30 showing.

But with 30 seconds left, Lorian “Hot Shot” Conyers took three steps across midcourt and rattled in a WNBA-length triple, bringing the Chester fans to an uproar. As the Bulldogs tried to kill time waiting for the Clippers to foul, Gibbs intercepted a pass and kicked into a floor-length sprint. With her eye on the clock and mindful that Chester legend Emerson Baynard had always encouraged her to use the backboard, Gibbs raced the length of the floor and gently banked in the game-winner as time expired.

Gibbs led Chester with 19 points, and Teresa Govens added 18. Cano (24) and Yost (16) topped Nether Providence.

So once again, the 1981 team had given Chester girls basketball fans a reason to cheer after so many decades of struggle.

“You’ve got to have another Fredia Gibbs out there,” Gibbs explained. “Plus company. And we had plenty of company.”

The Clippers will have a different kind of company on the floor Friday, when they face top-seeded Archbishop Carroll (1979) in the Final Four at the Wells Fargo Center.

Maybe some Nether Providence fans, mindful of the tradition, will show up to lend some support.

In other second-round action Sunday:

No. 1 CARROLL (1979) 56, No. 9 O’HARA (1997) 55 >> In improving to 30-0, Muffet McGraw’s Patriots did what they’d always done best: Find a way.

Down 16 at halftime, the Patriots thrived with an effective box-and-one defense on Kristen Clement and drew within 55-54 on an old-fashioned three-pointer from Sandy Ranieri with 10 seconds left.

After a timeout, the Lions’ long inbound pass was intercepted near midcourt by Jessi Dunne, who laced a pass to a cutting Ann Troyan for the game-winning drive with a second to play.

Clement had 29 points for O’Hara. Troyan led Carroll with 19 points and 16 assists.

No. 14 PRENDERGAST (1985) 44, No. 6 O’HARA (1969) 40 >> In an old-style, Catholic League, ball-control tussle, the Pandas completed their unlikely run to the Final Four behind 22 points from Chris Marro.

Theresa Shank completed her legendary O’Hara career with 22 points and a dozen rebounds.

No. 2 O’HARA (1993) 80, No. 10 COLLINGDALE (1979) 75 >> The Colls, who were within 15-15 after the first quarter, battled before succumbing to the Lions’ many weapons.

Marnie McBreen tabbed a game-high 34 as O’Hara remained on track for a possible championship-game showdown of unbeatens against No. 1 Carroll. Jill McKone’s 19 topped Collingdale, the last remaining mid-major in the field.