Asparagus, Nelson lead Rustin past Chester

WESTTOWN >> Four years ago, West Chester Rustin coach Keith Cochran started a pair of freshmen, Jake Nelson and Taj Asparagus. The Golden Knights took their lumps, but anyone who knew basketball could see the potential in the pair.

Tuesday night, the pair proved it has fully grown up. Asparagus hit two free throws with 4.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Golden Knights a thrilling 66-64 nonleague win over Chester.

Nelson led all scorers with 28 points and hauled in 13 rebounds, while Asparagus added 19 points and eight boards.
Rahmaad DeJarnette led Chester with 27 points on the night, and Akeem Taylor added 14 for the Clippers (0-2).
Golden Knights freshman Ivy Pettit added 17 more for Rustin.

“They really have come along way as a pair and it was good to see them both have big games together,” Cochran said. “We knew how tough Chester is. They are tough at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year or at the end, so it was a nice win for us. We need Jake and Taj to lead us on and off the court.”

Chester started the game like it was going to blow the Golden Knights right out of their own gym, opening up a 10-0 lead after just three minutes of play. But Rustin found its legs and started running their offense and getting good looks down low for Nelson. That opened up the lanes and Rustin started hitting cutters going to the hoop.

At halftime it was a 33-30 Chester lead, but it was anybody’s game.

“It was real intense out there,” Asparagus said. “We did not get down when they took the 10-0 lead. We just needed to run our offense and clean some things up and we did that right after the start of the game.”

Chester turned the ball over 11 times on the night, three times in the critical fourth quarter, which led to two Golden Knights (2-1) runouts, which perturbed Clippers coach Keith Taylor.

“I mean we turned the ball over at crucial times,” Taylor said. “And we were winning, so we should have just pulled the ball out and let them chase us. We jumped out on them just like we did last year, but they stayed patient, started running their offense and they hit some big shots which they are known for.”

With neither team pushing its lead to more than three points the entire second half, the game was very intense and every play was critical.
Asparagus hit one of two free throws for a 64-62 Rustin lead, but Chester came right down the floor and point guard Michael Smith hit Karell Watkins under the basket. Watkins missed, but put in his follow to tie the game at 64 with 38 seconds to play.

Rustin turned the ball over to the Clippers, but Chester gave the ball right back with a turnover of its own, and Bryce Pew hit a driving Asparagus on the left wing with a nice pass. Asparagus was fouled and he hit both clutch free throws, as the Golden Knights posted a very impressive early win over a very tough opponent.

“We really battled out there tonight,” Nelson said. “And every play was contested, but we just stayed patient and ran our offense and came away with the win.”

In other nonleague action:

Academy Park 82, Neshaminy 49 >> Shermik Lofton went off for a career-high 26 points to go with 11 rebounds as the Knights suffocated Neshaminy by causing 18 turnovers.
Naseim Harley scored 14 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Tariq Marrero scored 13 points, and Abrahim Jabateh tallied a career-best eight points for the Knights (3-0).

Archbishop Carroll 78, Elmer Meyers 45 >> Luke House connected on five 3-pointers to score a game-high 21 points, part of 10 triples made by the Patriots (3-0).
Shawn Johnson poured in 15 points, Amiri Stewart added 14 points and Kiyl Mack and Tairi Ketner chipped in 10 points apiece.

Sun Valley 76, Collegium Charter 44 >> Vinny DeAngelo scored 19 points, and Isaac Kennon and Marvin Freeman added 14 apiece for the Vanguards (3-0), who spread things around with 11 players hitting the score sheet.

Phelps School 52, Episcopal Academy 51>> Alex Capitano scored a game-high 23 points, including three 3-pointers, and Matt Dade followed close behind with 22 points, but again the Churchmen couldn’t hold an advantage after three quarters, leading by three points.
Archbishop Carroll post-grad Justin Anderson scored 17 points for Phelps.

Downingtown West 61, Glen Mills 53 >> Aaron Thompson scored a team-best 19 points as the Battlin’ Bulls put together their best offensive performance of the year, but it wasn’t enough.

Jabriel Guinyard added 15 points for Glen Mills (0-3).

Avon Grove 49, Interboro 23 >> Damon Dukes scored eight points and Connor Hughes hit a pair of 3-pointers to tally six points, but the Bucs’ offense couldn’t get going, not helped by a 1-for-9 performance from the line by Interboro (1-3).

Math, Civics and Sciences 89, Chichester 45 >> Calvin Church scored a team-high 16 points to complement three assists and six steals, and Josh Hankins scored 12 points, but the Eagles (0-3) fell.

In the Bicentennial League:

Church Farm 49, Delco Christian 33 >> Tyler Rossini hit four 3-pointers and scored a team-best 18 points, but the rest of the Knights’ top scorers were muzzled in dropping their league opener.