Chester High junior Rondae Jefferson was named PIAA Class AAAA Player of the Year, by vote of the state's sportswriters.

Three other players also were honored.

Jefferson, the Daily Times Player of the Year who averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.7 blocked shots and 2.5 steals, helped Chester (32-0) last month win its second consecutive state crown and eighth overall.

I caught up with Jefferson as he heard the news.

"I'm so hyped right now. I'm about to pop," he said. "It means a lot. I don't even know what to say."

Chester's Larry Yarbray was named the Class AAAA Coach of the Year.

Chester's Darius Robinson, a junior, and Erikk Wright, a senior, made the all-state second team in Class AAAA, while Archbishop Carroll's Yosef Yacob, a junior, made the all-state second team in Class AAA.

Here's how the Class AAAA and AAA all-state teams look:

CLASS AAAA
FIRST TEAM
Rondae Jefferson, Chester, 6-7, jr, 12.1 ppg
B.J. Johnson, Lower Merion, 6-5, jr, 15.8 ppg
Haiishen McIntyre, Harrisburg, 6-2, sr, 24.2 ppg
Devin Thomas, Central Dauphin, 6-9, sr, 23.8 ppg
Geno Thorpe, Shaler, 6-3, jr, 21.4 ppg
Steve Vasturia, St. Joseph's Prep, jr, 21.8 ppg
SECOND TEAM
Nolan Cressler, Plum, 6-3, sr, 25.7 ppg
Shep Garner, Roman Catholic, 6-2, so, 15.9 ppg
Miles Overton, St. Joseph's Prep, 6-4, jr, 15.0 ppg
Jordan Reed, Wissahickon, 6-3, sr, 23.7 ppg
Darryl Reynolds, Lower Merion, 6-7, sr, 10.6 ppg
Darius Robinson, Chester, 6-1, jr, 11.8 ppg, pictured
Erikk Wright, Chester, 6-4, sr, 11.4 ppg
THIRD TEAM
Greg Bobal, Emmaus, 6-3, sr, 11.5 ppg
Quindell Brice, Pocono Mountain West, 6-4, sr, 16.2 ppg
Malik Draper, Scranton, 6-4, sr, 15.3 ppg
Nate Snodgrass, Butler, 6-0, sr, 21.3 ppg
Jahad Thomas, Williamsport, 6-2, jr, 14.5 ppg
Sheldon Zablotny, Erie Cathedral Prep, 5-11, jr, 17.4 ppg
Mike Zangari, Red Land, 6-10, sr, 21.4 ppg

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Rondae Jefferson, Chester
COACH OF THE YEAR: Larry Yarbray, Chester


CLASS AAA
FIRST TEAM
John Davis, Neumann-Goretti, 6-4, jr, 12.9 ppg
Donovon Jack, Berks Catholic, 6-9, sr, 17.0 ppg
Brendan Kilpatrick, Malvern Prep, 6-5, sr, 15.8 ppg
Micah Mason, Highlands, 6-2, sr, 28.7 ppg
Ja'Quan Newton, Neumann-Goretti, 6-3, so, 15.8 ppg
Maurice Watson, Boys Latin Charter, 5-10, sr, 21.8 ppg
SECOND TEAM
Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Allentown Central Catholic, 6-4, so, 17.7 ppg
Andrew Andreychik, Danville, 6-0, sr, 23.0 ppg
Jaymon Mason, General McLane, 6-2, jr, 18.4 ppg
Jamal Nwaniemeka, Conwell-Egan, 6-2, sr, 21.8 ppg
Derrick Stewart, Neumann-Goretti, 6-5, sr, 8.7 ppg
Devin Wilson, Montour, 6-4, jr, 10.0 ppg
Yosef Yacob, Archbishop Carroll, 6-0, jr, 14.6 ppg
THIRD TEAM
Shawn Anderson, New Castle, 6-3, jr, 18.8 ppg
Dwight Andrews, Johnstown, 6-5, sr, 18.7 ppg
Charles Cooper, Octorara, 6-1, sr, 17.3 ppg
Ted Hinnenkamp, York Suburban, 6-6, sr, 21.0 ppg
Marquis Marshall, Berks Catholic, 6-4, sr, 15.4 ppg
J.C. Show, Abington Heights, 6-2, so, 17.1 ppg
Cornell Yarde, Schuylkill Valley, 6-2, sr, 21.2 ppg

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maurice Watson, Boys Latin Charter
COACH OF THE YEAR: Adam Kaufman, Montour

(Times staff photos / ERIC HARTLINE)

Chester High's Rondae Jefferson is the 2011-12 Daily Times Player of the Year.

Jefferson averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.6 steals per game for the Clippers (32-0), who won back-to-back PIAA Class AAAA titles and finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today.

Three other notes on Jefferson: His 21 rebounds against Lower Merion in the District One Class AAAA championship established a school record. He totaled 14 double-doubles of points and rebounds. And he nearly had a quadruple-double in the regular-season finale, totaling 15 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.

Rounding out the 2011-12 All-Delco team are: Chester senior forward Erikk Wright; Glen Mills senior center Raheem Harvey; Penn Wood senior guard Malcolm Richardson; Ridley senior Shawn Church; and Archbishop Carroll junior guard Yosef Yacob.

Barring breaking news and college commitments, this likely will be the final blog post here for a while. Check back regularly, just to be sure, and thanks for your consistent readership this season. It's been a fun one.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Three more to go.

Chester needs to win three more games to successfully defend its PIAA Class AAAA crown. Next up on the docket: Coatesville.

The Clippers (29-0) will face the Raiders Saturday in a PIAA quarterfinal game tentatively slated for 3 p.m. at Norristown High School. (Those details are according to Chester High sources and are pending PIAA approval.)

Per Chester AD Randy Leggette, tickets to the game can be purchased at the high school athletic office Thursday and Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. either day.

Chester defeated visiting Coatesville, 79-66, Dec. 9 on the first night of the season. Darius Robinson scored 19 points, Shanier Cottman dropped 12, Erikk Wright had 11 and Richard Granberry totaled 10.

The Clippers last played the Raiders in the PIAA tournament in the semifinal round of the 2002-03 season. Chester won the game, 61-55, before falling to State College in overtime of the championship game.

Another game, another (convincing) win. But don't ever accuse Chester High of failing to put on a show.

Chester got a highlight-reel slam in the final minute of Saturday's blowout win, an 86-43 defeat of J.P. McCaskey in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA tournament. Junior Diamonte Reason, who's developed a reputation as one of the Clippers' high-flying dunk artists, threw down a one-handed slam off a feed from Darrell Nicholson. Needless to say, it was the exclamation point on Chester's rout.

By the way, it's worth mentioning that Reason spent the season with Chester's junior-varsity team and earned a call-up only at the start of the postseason.

"Diamonte always says, 'I learn from the best,' and I'm proud of him," Chester senior Erikk Wright said. "I know he's talking about me, because I do a lot of dunking in practice. But it could be any of our bigs.

"Diamonte, he's got another year left, and a lot of catching up to do, but he gets out of the gym. If you throw it up there, he'll go get it."

Chester will face Norristown Wednesday in the second round of the PIAA tournament, at a site and time to be determined.

(Video by Daily Times staff writer Dennis Deitch)

The day after Chester's big win over Lower Merion, in the District One Class AAAA championship game, here's another glimpse of the action through the lens of Daily Times staff photographer Robert J. Gurecki:


Chester's Darius Robinson drives the lane for a second-quarter layup.


Chester's Rondae Jefferson draws a blocking foul against Lower Merion's Justin McFadden.


Lower Merion's Yohanny Dalembert goes up for a shot contested by Chester forwards Rondae Jefferson and Erikk Wright.


Chester's Shanier Cottman takes a bit of his district-championship medal.


Chester coach Larry Yarbray puts a district-title medal around the neck of Rondae Jefferson.


Chester's Erikk Wright puts on display the Clippers' district-championship trophy.

Friday's game is more than a meeting of the giants of District One. It's a meeting of the giants.

Perhaps the only other team in the district with as many capable and talented bigs as Chester is the team the top-seeded Clippers (26-0) will go against – second-seeded Lower Merion (25-2).

Chester boasts senior Tavaune Griffin (6-7), junior Rondae Jefferson (6-7), senior Zimir Geiger (6-6), junior Richard Granberry (6-6) and senior Erikk Wright (6-4). Meanwhile, Lower Merion has senior Yohanny Dalembert (6-7), junior B.J. Johnson (6-5, pictured above) and junior Darryl Reynolds (6-4, pictured below).

Here's what a few had to say about the pairing of the bigs...
Wright: “Playing against Tavaune and Richard in practice makes me stronger.”

Jefferson: “We've got solid, strong guys. Guys like Zimir, Richard and Tavaune are our strong guys. We've got little Erikk Wright, who's tremendous. We love him. There's nothing he doesn't do. We're just going to feed them. We're going to see what they do against their bigs.”

Griffin: “Our gameplan is to get the ball inside and work it inside-out. That's all there is to it.”

Let's see how it all plays out Friday.

(Photos courtesy AcesHoops.com)

Weren't able to make Tuesday's game? Here's a glimpse from the baseline where Times staff photographer Robert J. Gurecki and Journal Register photographer Bob Raines recorded these moments from Chester's 67-52 victory over Wissahickon:

Chester's Rondae Jefferson coasts in for two of his eight points.

Chester's Erikk Wright muscles up, scoring on a putback for two of his 10 points.

Chester's Richard Granberry outraces a pair of Wissahickon players to a loose ball.

Wright pulls down one of his 11 rebounds.

Jefferson tries his best to hold down Wissahickon's Chase Wilson, who logged 19 points.

# # # # #
Here's the Times staff's coverage of the District One semifinals, from Temple's Liacouras Center:
Game story: Chester can shift its focus to district final (Vito)
Column: Confidence is nothing new for the Clippers (Jack McCaffery)
Sidebar: Lower Merion does its part to reach final (Anthony J. SanFilippo)

And from a ninth-place playback:
Game story: There's little consolation for Penn Wood after loss (Bob Grotz)

Something about Rondae Jefferson's game Tuesday night looked unfamiliar.

He shared the ball (six assists). He rebounded well (four boards, two offensive). He played sound defensively (three steals). But the junior combo guard, ranked 19th nationally at his position for the Class of 2013, was cold from the floor.

Jefferson shot 1-for-4 from the field, 1-for-6 from the free-throw line and finished with three points in Chester's 59-31 pasting of Methacton in Tuesday's second round of the District One Class AAAA tournament.

Afterward, Jefferson said he felt "a little sore in my legs. It's nothing. I'm 100 percent." His coach told a different story.

"He wasn't feeling well tonight. He's the type of dude who's not going to tell you that," said Chester coach Larry Yarbray. "I could tell he wasn't well. He was the last one out of the locker room. He's the type who's going to play no matter what. If he's not scoring, he's going to rebound and play defense. Next game, maybe he'll make a few shots for us. But 75 percent of Rondae Jefferson is still better than most high school players.

Even while failing to make a difference in the scoring column, Jefferson led the Clippers in assists. And when Chester made only one bucket in the opening six minutes of the third quarter, he had a pair of helpers to start the fourth ... including a spot-on bounce pass into Erikk Wright's breadbasket to finish off a baseline drive.

"He finds ways to help, always," Wright said of Jefferson. "That's the kind of player he is." Added Jefferson: "I don't know. I just try to come out and play my game. It ended up being a pass-first kind of night."

Top-seeded Chester (24-0), which qualified for the PIAA tournament, hosts No. 9 Norristown Friday in a district quarterfinal.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Not even the absence of Rondae Jefferson can slow down Chester.

Without their leading scorer for four of the last six games, the Clippers ascended to No. 4 in the latest USA Today Super 25 national boys basketball poll, which was released Monday night.

Chester (17-0), which is riding a 43-game winning streak, hasn't been ranked this high in any national poll since the Clippers closed the 2007-08 season at No. 3 in the USA Today poll.

Without Jefferson, their leading scorer who has been sidelined by dehydration, the Clippers have found ways to win. Kareem Robinson, Shanier Cottman and Erikk Wright have taken over scoring duties in the interim

Tuesday, Chester visits Interboro for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. Thursday, the Clippers host Penn Wood at 7 p.m. in a rivalry game.

The first one is in the books.

While we have to wait until Feb. 2 for the rematch, Chester's 69-43 dismantling of Penn Wood had a few wrinkles. Firstly, it wasn't nearly as bad as the final score would indicate. But there's much more to the game than just the final score. Have a look:

OBSERVATIONS
****Chester officials gave me a reason for why junior Rondae Jefferson (pictured, above) missed last Thursday night's game against Interboro. "He was dehydrated. He went to the hospital," I was told. Well, Jefferson didn't waste any more time. He's averaging 11 points in the three games since his return.
****Jefferson brought the crowd to its feet on three straight trips up the floor, with electric dunks. None was better than the one served up by Darius Robinson (pictured, left).
****Penn Wood's gym, always cramped, was especially tight with The Comcast Network's camera scaffolding - at midcourt and in the Southeast corner.
****Villanova coach Jay Wright, after noticing his likeness was on live television, winked into the camera. A rare night in which Jay was not livid.
****In case you didn't notice, Chester had new uniforms. I heard UnderArmour sent a shipment of the new gear - which included socks, shoes and everything they could slap their logo on - arrived just in time for Tuesday's game.
****After Tymier Butler swatted Penn Wood shots on successive possessions, a Chester fan exclaimed, "Not in our house. Wait, and not in your house either."
****How deep is Chester's varsity roster? At one point in the JV game that preceded the varsity tilt, a fan asked former Chester coach Fred Pickett why sophomore forward Diamonte Reason, who scored all 14 points in the JV Clips' 14-0 third-quarter swing, wasn't on varsity. Pickett's reply? "There's no room," he said.


QUOTABLES
"We know, to beat them, we have to take care of all our details. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds. … There’s no way for us to (win). We don’t score enough to counter that. We had 17 rebounds for the game. I saw my stats. You don’t rebound, you’re not going to beat them."
---Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones

“We’ve been coming out (slowly) the last couple games. That means we’ve got to get better. We’ve got some work."
---Chester senior Erikk Wright of his 14-0 team

“It feels real good to blow them out like that. They’re the only team people come to see when we play and all that."
---Chester senior Richard Granberry, pictured

“In our league you’ve got to beat Penn Wood and Glen Mills. … Any team can beat any team, but we don’t want to be that team."
---Chester coach Larry Yarbray

FACES IN THE CROWD
For a game that permitted only 400 into the building, the usual suspects were there. Chester All-Delcos Maurice Nelson and Lamon Church from the 2010-11 PIAA Class AAAA championship team, were in the building. Penn Wood's Dequan Pelzer, from the 2008-09 PIAA title team, was there, as well. Villanova's Jay Wright, and Seton Hall assistant coach Shaheen Holloway also made a showing.

(Times staff photos / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

Erikk Wright is as straight-ahead as they come.

An unassuming, quiet, mild-mannered kid, Wright has a mean streak only when a basketball is in his hands. The 6-3 senior forward for Chester doesn't ever speak out of turn, but when asked Saturday about the Clippers' next opponent - New York City's Christ the King, 7:45 p.m. Sunday, at Widener - Wright opened up.

Wright (pictured, left) said playing Christ the King, which opened the season ranked nationally, is "a big one for us" and it could be their "biggest one yet." That says a lot of the Royals (4-2), who represent only a blip on a Chester scheduling radar that has identified national talents up and down the East Coast.

"We play every game like it's the same, really," Wright said Saturday, by telephone. "I mean, it's a big one for us. But we have to come out with our head straight."

Will that be difficult to do?

"No," Wright said succinctly.

And why not?

"We've played some of their kids before," Wright said. "Maybe not in high school, but in AAU. High school is a little different, but they're still the same kids trying to beat Chester. Everybody wants to beat Chester. Everybody wants to beat the championship team, so we play every game like it's our last game."

Wright, one of two Clippers (7-0) averaging double figures (the other is Rondae Jefferson), said he's getting recruiting interest from Division I programs Robert Morris and Coppin State, as well as Division III teams Widener and Neumann. But no offers just yet, he said.

"Even the Division IIs that have seen me said I'm a Division I (recruit)," said Wright, a third-team all-state selection in 2011 who has the scores to qualify academically next season. "It's a lot of things up in the air, but I'm not worrying about that right."

First things first, of course. Like that Christ the King game.

Prior to this season, Glen Mills coach Tony Bacon told me he thought he'd have only one player back from last year's squad. Hey, that's the way it is at The Mills. But through three games, Xavier Couthen had been that kind of player, averaging 15 points.

But it looks like Couthen's got company.

The Battlin' Bulls brought out a familiar face Saturday, in a nonleague loss to Ridley. Senior Raheem Harvey coupled 31 points with 18 rebounds in his 2011-12 debut.

You may remember Harvey, a 6-foot-7 center, from a story that appeared in the Daily Times a few days prior to the season. Harvey sustained serious brain injuries during a car accident more than two years ago. He missed most of what should have been his junior year at Glen Mills, recovered and played his senior year last winter and, as it turns out, is back for another go-around with the Bulls -- most likely because of all the class he missed two years ago.

"We were just waiting for him to get cleared (medically)," Bacon said Saturday, following the Bulls' 66-56 loss to Ridley, in which Harvey had some company. Shawn Church, one of Delaware County's top scorers, had 27 points for the Green Raiders.

##

Two other things from Saturday worth keeping an eye on:

***Chester took down Math, Civics and Sciences in a pairing of PIAA champions from last season. The Clippers, the Class AAAA winners, got seven points and 15 rebounds from Rondae Jefferson, 11 points and 13 boards from Erikk Wright and 13 points from Darius Robinson. They effectively shut down the Elephants, the Class A titlists, and elite scorer Jeremiah Worthem. The junior combo guard/forward, who has offers from Drexel, Rice, Saint Joseph's and La Salle, dropped in a game-best 14 points.

***Charles Dorsey could be a handful in the Del Val League. For now, he's scoring the heck out of the ball for Academy Park in nonleague play. The senior boosted his per-game average to 22.4 points with a 29-point showing Saturday in a 64-55 win over Strath Haven. Keep an eye on Dorsey this season.

Welcome back, readers. We're three days removed from opening night of the boys basketball season, and here's what to look out for in 2011:

***Chester. It may not come as a surprise, but the reigning PIAA Class AAAA champions are good. How good? The Clippers might be rolling with a 13-man rotation, with each player getting quality minutes. Keep an eye on junior Rondae Jefferson (pictured) and senior Erikk Wright.

***Big man on campus. The Haverford School has a new coach and a new outlook on basketball, after yet-another .500 season. Oh, and the Fords have a 6-foot-11 junior transfer student from China. Tao Xu is coming off a back injury, but he should have the Fords back in contention in the Inter-Ac League.

***Captain Yosef. For the first time in five years, Archbishop Carroll is fielding a roster without D.J. Irving and Juan'ya Green, a pair of All-Delco guards. So the keys to the Patriots' season have been handed to Yosef Yacob, the junior captain.

***Cluttered Central League. Outside of Lower Merion, the heavy favorite in the Central, it appears to be a mixed-up league. Some coaches point to Ridley and Marple Newtown as favorites, others say Haverford and Upper Darby. It'll be a nice race to watch.

That's it for now.

Keep an eye out for Thursday's Daily Times, which will feature the basketball previews.

After Tuesday night's big 76-72 win over Penn Wood, you have to think Chester's got something special going on. Here's why:

***The Clippers took a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter against the defending Del Val League champion Patriots, who also happen to be the reigning District One champs and PIAA Class AAAA runners-up.

***All-Delco guard Maurice Nelson brings his A-game whenever the Clippers play an opponent worthy. (And let's be clear: the Patriots - despite a 9-7 record - are worthy. They will be a handful in the playoffs.) Against Penn Wood, Nelson is averaging 20.5 points per game.

***The Clippers' rebounding is superb, behind 6-3 Rondae Jefferson, 6-4 Lamon Church and 6-5 Erikk Wright.

***Their free-throw shooting has improved. Chester went 14-for-37 from the stripe in its first meeting with Penn Wood. Tuesday, the Clippers were a much-more-efficient 21-for-33. That's what it takes late in the season.

Check out Wednesday's Daily Times for more on the game.

########

I talked to Penn Wood alumnus Tyree Johnson Tuesday night. The 2008-09 Daily Times Player of the Year, Johnson provided a little clarity as to why he's in Lansdowne ... and not on the West Coast.

Johnson came home, leaving San Jacinto Junior College recently. He said it's something he'll give me more details about at a later date. But he said it was for personal reasons.

Entering Thursday night's games, here's how my stat book shook out:

1. Juan'ya Green, Arch. Carroll ... 22.1 ppg
2. Aaron Brown, Penn Wood ... 22.0 ppg
3. Jordan Tucker, Academy Park ... 20.4 ppg
4. Shawn Church, Ridley ... 18.3 ppg
5. Ian Campbell, Penncrest ... 17.3 ppg
6. Jordan Sbraccia, Delco Christian ... 17.1 ppg
7t. Erikk Wright, Chester ... 16.0 ppg
7t. Taylor Wright, Episcopal Acad. ... 16.0 ppg
9. Omar Randall, Strath Haven ... 15.4 ppg
10. Steffon Poole, Glen Mills ... 14.8 ppg

More to come next week, when I unveil the county's top 25 scorers in the first installment of the boys basketball notebook.

What's that old parable? It has something to do with a tree falling in the woods... Anyway, a high-school boys basketball game started Saturday and ended Sunday. It didn't go to overtime. And it certainly wasn't televised, so there weren't any television timeouts.

So why did Archbishop Carroll's nonleague game against Mount Lebanon require two calendar days to complete? It's the fault of showcase tournaments, creating glossy games that have more to do with feeding bodies through turnstiles than with maintaining the well-being of the student-athletes involved in the game.

Maybe it's just this reporter's opinion, but it seems absurd that a high school game be started - and finished - so late in the night. Maybe the players actually enjoy a break from the monotony of 3:45 and 7:30 p.m. starts. Maybe the fans enjoy taking in a game that requires a few coffee trips to prevent snoring while watching.

I don't. I'm old school that way. It's a shame Carroll's Juan'ya Green, pictured, one of the county's finest scoring guards, posted 26 points and made 15 of his 17 shots from the free-throw line ... and nobody probably saw it. It's a shame All-Delco D.J. Irving scored 16 points and added five steals and four assists for Archbishop Carroll ... and nobody read about it in the newspaper.

#######################

In games that started (and ended) Sunday:
Penn Wood 86, South Philadelphia 48: The Patriots absolutely pummeled their Public League foes in a game at Villanova's Pavilion. Four scorers hit for double figures, including All-Delco Tyree Johnson and forward Aaron Brown.

Parkland 61, Chester 59 (OT): The Clippers lost for the third time in five games and their second straight, in an overtime game at Parkland. Erikk Wright, a sophomore forward who scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, continues to emerge as a formidable player in the paint.

By all accounts, Dan Vanderslice had a great game Friday night.

The senior forward for Monsignor Bonner rebounded well, coming down with five. He provided an inside attack, scoring five points. He even rejected three shots, taking away Cardinal O'Hara's game in the paint. Vanderslice made a palpable difference in the Friars' 53-42 win over the Lions.

But there's one thing he regrets about the victory in a neighborhood rivalry game.

During the waning moments of the fourth quarter, with the game's decision not in question at all, Vanderslice ran along the baseline to inbound a ball under O'Hara's basket. But prior to that, the Lions had been whistled for an offensive foul. By PIAA rule, a player can move along the baseline if a basket precedes the inbound play. If it doesn't - as is the case with a turnover, and as was the case here - he cannot.

"Dan had a great game for us," said Bonner coach Tom Meakim, laughing, "except for that one play at the end. I think we can forgive him."

Added Vanderslice: "I don't know what happened. I guess I wasn't thinking. At least it didn't affect the outcome."

##############

He's 6-foot-9. He's the second-best power forward in the nation. He's committed to Tennessee.

That's probably all you need to know about Tobias Harris. Other than his involvement in Chester's 82-72 loss Saturday at West Virginia University. The Clippers were eaten alive by the inside game of Harris, who carried Half Hollow Hills West, of Long Island, N.Y., in the Primetime Shootout.

Harris made 12 buckets, shot 10-for-13 from the free-throw line and finished with a game-best 36 points. Needless to say, he had earned the Clippers' praise.

"He's not selfish in nature," said Chester assistant coach Terry Thomas, Delco's finest high school scorekeeper with an astute eye for talent. "He takes shots he knows he can hit and he looks for other guys on the floor."

The Clippers got 19 points and five rebounds from Maurice Nelson and 18 points and 10 boards from Erikk Wright, a sophomore who was named Chester's game MVP.

For you Delco basketball fans out there looking to get caught up on some of the county's finest who have moved onto college, this semi-regular feature is for you. Today, we take a peak at Rahlir Jefferson:


It's not often that a freshman on Temple coach Fran Dunphy's squad gets minutes. But in Rahlir Jefferson's situation, he isn't just playing; he's making a difference.

The 2009 Chester graduate and All-Delco forward, Jefferson averages 16 minutes a game for the 16th-ranked Owls. He's become a defensive specialist, checking into the game late to lock down on the opposition's best scorer. Despite playing only 300 minutes, Jefferson is second on the team with 13 steals, and also fills out the stat sheet with 3.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

Who knows? With the way he and the Owls (16-3) are playing, we might be talking about Jefferson deep into March.

But, hey -- this post isn't just about the past. Here's a closer look at some of the action from Wednesday night:

##############

It may be a couple months - and with less on the line - but Chester got some revenge on Williamsport.

The Clippers (8-3) easily handled the Millionaires in a game on a neutral court, at Coatesville High, as part of the Mid-Atlantic Shootout. Chester lost to Williamsport last winter in the second round of the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs.

Erikk Wright, a sophomore, continues to impress. He had 12 points and 15 boards. Tavaune Griffin had seven rebounds and three blocks and Mo Nelson led the way with 15 points

##############

EXTRA BOUNCES
---Five of Upper Darby's eight losses have come by two possessions or fewer. Count the Royals' 44-43 loss to Springfield tonight among them. The Cougars' Adam Washington had 15 for the victors.
---Radnor, which scored 12 points in the first quarter, scored only 11 in the second half of its 37-29 loss to Ridley.
---Marple Newtown's Soutiri Sapnas, already the leading scorer in Delco, filled up the rim with 46 points in an 80-74 loss to Conestoga. Sapnas, the Tigers' all-time and single-season scoring champ, fell short of his 49-point career high, however.

There were only three games Wednesday. Allow me to take you beyond the box score for each of them:

CHESTER 69, CHICHESTER 47
In the Del Val League opener for both teams, this was always Chester's game - even if Chi led, 15-13, after one quarter. Four Clippers hit for double figures - Kareem and Laquan Robinson, Erikk Wright and Darius Collins. And Wright, though I'll need to check on this, fell one rebound shy of a double-double in his seventh straight game. The Eagles are good, and better than they have been in recent years, but the Clippers are still the Clippers.

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 74, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 44
Eight games in, we're finally starting to see how balanced Carroll's team is. Matt Donaldson, who has very limited hoops experience, bullied LC for 11 boards. I have yet to see him in person but Yosef Yacob (10 points, four steals) is looking solid. And Ben Mingledough had 22 points, a career-best. LC never stood a chance. And that's before you count All-Delco D.J. Irving and Juan'ya Green, who had 12 and 16 points, respectively.

EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 48, GERMANTOWN FRIENDS 33
Even with star center Isaiah Baker feeling ill and missing the game, the Churchmen rolled. Taylor Wright is beginning to prove that he's a threat you can't leave open on the perimeter, with his three 3-pointers. And three others scored in double figures.

#####################

One thing I forgot to bring up didn't happen Wednesday. It was part of Tuesday's action.

Penncrest barely snuck past Marple Newtown, 58-57, using a pair of free throws by Matt Atkinson with 7.5 seconds remaining. The thing about Atkinson, the First-Team All-Central League quarterback pick in 2009, was that he hadn't scored all game prior to stepping to the line.

Also, the senior limited Marple stud two guard Soutiri Sapnas to a rather pedestrian 23 points, which almost has become an off night for the senior.

"Soutiri got two looks in the last six-and-a-half seconds and he missed on both," said Penncrest coach Mike Doyle. "Matty did a great job. He didn't worry about scoring - he had zero - and he hit those shots. The gym was rocking. It was close to standing-room only here and it was a great high school experience."

Part of what I love about high school hoops is the atmosphere. Sounds like it was a good one at Kaufman Gymnasium.