Clippers’ Depth, Trademark Runs Prove Lethal As Chester Tops Lancaster Mennonite In Battle Between State Champions Old And New
Written by: Andy Herr on December 24, 2023
Chester State Title Banners
The last time we saw the Lancaster Mennonite Blazers, they were at the Giant Center in Hershey last March rounding out their finest hour in the form of a relatively decisive victory against one the perennial state power brokers of all-time, Aliquippa, for what would prove to be Lancaster Mennonite’s first-ever state title in what is a long and somewhat underappreciated history all things considered when you examine the Blazers’ sustained prowess that now spans the course of a few generations that quite frankly does not receive all the attention and recognition that perhaps it should if we’re being honest here. However, as is typically the case more when describing a core group that fought so valiantly to finally summit the top of the mountain in a manner such as last season’s Mennonite team was able to achieve, the names and faces littered amongst the roster the very next year tend to look quite a bit different more often than not. Sure enough, the boys’ defending 2A state champs this season are no different in that regard.
Aside from the players out on the floor who proved to be so vital to this latest spurt of Lancaster Mennonite success with the likes of David Weaver, Camden Hurst, Jordan Lilly, and Savier Sumrall to name just a few who have since departed the campus following their respective graduations this past spring, even the head coach in charge would be different as well.
If anything though, it seems as if the Mennonite brass did the right thing in tabbing Jeff Hartenstine as the man to take the reigns over following Buckwalter’s stepping aside which was somewhat unexpected news to glean this past summer in and around Lancaster-Lebanon League circles. The right decision in that Hartenstine would himself be a certified and legitimate hoops junkie if such a distinction truly existed considering that he has a keen understanding and appreciation for almost the entire Pennsylvania high school basketball landscape at large, especially with how and where Lancaster Mennonite can fit into such a discussion more importantly. In fact, while in the midst of last season’s historical run, even Buckwalter himself was often quick to point out how his former top assistant now turned head coach was instrumental in getting Mennonite to test itself against opponents far and wide during the various summer showcase events and the like in a well thought out venture to store in the Blazers’ collective memory banks considering that they came into last season knowing that anything but a deep postseason run may have rightly been viewed as a disappointment of sorts.
And while Mennonite’s 5-2 overall record may not have blown anyone’s socks off this year yet to date, taking the Blazers’ win/loss column at face value without any additional research would’ve been the greatest disservice of the 21st century arguably. Yes, hyperbolic language required.
Forget about the summer circuit. Now, even during the season itself, Lancaster Mennonite is testing their wares against some of the biggest beasts found on this side of the state.
How about starting off with a pair of 6A teams while you, a 2A outfit, are trying to turn a new language of sorts with so many new faces entering the fray together for the first time on the varsity level? Sure enough, that’s exactly what the Blazers did on opening weekend when they traveled to Unionville to meet up against Methacton and the host Longhorns respectively, dropping those two before going on a prompt five-game winning streak in response heading into this weekend.
But man, oh man. With all due respect to those two staunch District 1 brands who figure to make their fair share of noise this year that were just mentioned, Saturday for Lancaster Mennonite would be an entirely different experience.
Question- Would it be in any way possible to talk about boys’ high school basketball in the state of Pennsylvania and not include the Chester High Clippers? I submit to you a very short and brief two-letter response of NO. Yes, capital letters needed for full effect.
For anyone who fancies themself a high school hoops fan in this state, making a trip to the Chester High School campus for a game at the Fred Pickett Jr Gymnasium — aptly named after the long-time Clipper head man who seemed to know nothing other than being the absolute best in the entire commonwealth for a large portion of his tenure — is an absolute must. Even when simply walking into the building, you immediately feel enrobed by an overwhelming sense of just how special this public school has been for scores of generations inside this rightfully proud community that sits right beside I-95 en route to Philadelphia proper. In fact, you literally cannot walk from the entrance doors outside and into any one of the two entryways into the gym itself without walking under the eight massive state championship banners that proudly hang from the ceiling tiles above you. Remarkably, when you consider that the Clippers have also finished as 10-time state runners up in addition to their eight actual crowns, it’s easy to understand as to why this building could just as easily serve as a government-protected landmark as it could with being an actual education facility.
And while the rest of the season will eventually dictate as to what this year’s version of the Chester Clippers ends up looking like and if they too are able to carve out a spot for themselves amongst this incredibly-long lineage of former brethren, their performance on Saturday afternoon would’ve reminded one of a Clippers’ team of old once they welcomed Lancaster Mennonite into “The Clip Joint” as the orange and black just kept coming at their opposition with wave upon wave of the upmost skill talent for what eventual became an impressive 18-point triumph between these two programs of state championship pedigree.
To their credit though, while even the most neutral of observer could’ve been wide-eyed and open-jawed walking into the Clips’ palace, Lancaster Mennonite didn’t seem to be the least bit interested in playing nice in the first few minutes of this matinee.
In fact, while the Blazers were able to claim the first lead of the day courtesy of a 3-ball splashed down on their opening offensive trip by talented sophomore guard, Cody Fisher, Mennonite would continue to trade volleys with their hosts over the next few possessions before retaking the lead back at 7-6 following a smooth mid-range jumper sunk by another underclassman, Jadyn Taylor, as the junior forward put the visitors back in front by a penny with 4:16 left in the opening frame.
That said, even despite their successful early start with helped them keep pace with this state powerhouse, Chester was about to take off and never glance back with much in the way of a second thought.
And while it may have seemed rather innocent at the time given the game’s see-saw nature by that juncture, a triple knocked in by Chester 5’8 junior guard, Jaseir Thompson, made it an 11-9 Clippers’ lead not long thereafter with three minutes and change left in the first quarter by that point.
As it turned out though, Thompson’s trey would result in a lead that Chester would never relinquish for the remainder of the day.
Afterwards, with Mennonite suddenly being stymied on the offensive end, Chester was able to push the Blazers even further away in the form of a seven-point margin following an acrobatic layup at the tin via 6’5 senior big man, Dominic Toy, making it a 16-9 Clippers’ lead before another 3-ball knocked in Thompson put the hosts up by ten, 19-9, with 1:15 left. All told, it would prove to be to a critical 13-1 jaunt over the course of the final three minutes that the Clippers were able to sail into the second quarter with as Chester had control of the scoreboard by virtue of their 21-10 lead after one.
Undeterred though, Mennonite just kept chiseling away at the existing deficit once the second quarter took shape.
Sure, while it may not have been of the most spectacular variety, a pair of 2-2 trips to the charity stripe by way of Cody Fisher were nonetheless vital in that it helped Mennonite cut the gap back down a baker’s dozen, 29-16, considering that Chester was seen earlier flirting with the possibility of opening things outward to a 20-point lead. Not only that, but Fisher was able to maintain the hot hand for the Blazers’ overall effort by bombing in another first half trifecta immediately afterwards to then slice the Chester lead back down to a much more modest ten, 29-19, with just 2:30 left in the opening half by that time. Speaking of having the hot hand, it seemed for all the world that the latest of the Fisher boys in this Lancaster Mennonite legacy family never cooled off seeing as how the budding sophomore scorer would go on to pour in a game-high 20-point effort by the time the day was over with.
Here again though, just when Mennonite may have been lulled into thinking that they were finally gaining steam and tangible bits of momentum, Chester was right there to knock them back off course inside the final few minutes of the second stanza.
Despite the fact that this late Chester surge wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as their salvo in quarter previous, this Clippers’ burst would be nonetheless vital too considering that the hosts eventually rolled into the halftime break with ownership of the 35-21 lead following a 6-2 spurt that was largely buoyed by a hard-earned take to the rack by 6’0 senior guard, Dante Atkinson, to get the run going.
Once in the second half, namely the initial stages of the third quarter in particular, Chester only continued to exacerbate the difference up on the scoreboard.
Remember Jaseir Thompson from earlier? Well, it seemed only fitting that he, the one who had authored the final lead-change of the day all the way back in the first quarter, start the third period off on a torrid start. In fact, the Clippers’ junior began the third with his own personal 5-0 rally, good for a five-point addition to what would become his team-high 15-point performance once the day was through.
Without much in the way of dispute, Thompson’s early charge had clearly knocked Mennonite back on their heels after walking back up the steps from their locker room located directly underneath the court itself. In fact, even despite Cody Fisher’s best efforts in trying to keep up with Chester by firing in yet another triple on his scintillating pre-Christmas afternoon, the margin was already at 42-25 with not even three minutes having ticked off the third quarter clock.
Later, with the Blazers trying their best to keep the difference at a level in which they could hopefully navigate and work with before authoring one final push heading down the home stretch, both Daron Harris and Dominic Toy took umbridge of that notion from the Chester perspective.
For evidence of that, consider a tough take to the cup by way of Harris, an up-and-coming 6’0 sophomore guard in the Chester rotation, which made it a 50-31 contest before the Clippers’ physically imposing big man, Dom Toy, proceeded to take his talents out beyond the arc and knock down a dead-eye triple which gave the hosts their largest lead of the afternoon by that point, 55-32, with roughly one minute left in the third frame.
And once the dust had finally settled on the penultimate quarter with the Clippers owning the 58-34 lead, it was apparent that Chester was well on their way towards vanquishing their second Lancaster County-based team in as many games considering they had just knocked off 1A’s La Academia back on Tuesday night in the late Mr. Pickett’s house.
New quarter, same ol’ pedal to floor for Chester.
Incredibly, especially given how Lancaster Mennonite had seemed to fight tooth and nail throughout the initial stages on Saturday in going blow-for-blow, the Clippers were right on the precipice of invoking the mercy rule upon the defending state champs at the onset of the final quarter. Hard to dispute that when you factor in a high-arcing jumper splashed in by wiry sophomore guard, Jalen Harris, making it a 62-36 ballgame in relatively short order.
Regardless, even with the eventual outcome essentially a given by and large with just a handful of minutes remaining in this one, Mennonite continued to do anything but simply pack it in before heading westward back home.
While he may not have stolen the show in terms of his point production on Saturday, Mennonite’s Asaad Salim was certainly a pest defensively of which Chester had to work against all game long. Fittingly, his peskiness on the defensive end was justified on the offensive end as fearless take to the cup by way of the Blazers’ junior guard inside the final minutes helped to chip away at the Clippers’ sizable cushion. Later, in a similar fashion, Kellen Jones was able to get himself inside the scoring column as the Mennonite sophomore tallied a bucket of his own around the rim which got the Blazers back inside of the 20-point window, 68-49, with time winding down.
Unfortunately, as far as the fairly sizable contingent who had traversed their way down from Lancaster County were most concerned, despite their team’s fearless start out of the chute, the Chester onslaught was far too much to overcome on this date at least as the Clippers wrapped up an impressive, well-rounded 70-52 victory over Lancaster Mennonite in a game which saw all but three members of the Chester 15-man varsity roster tally points on Saturday afternoon.
Regardless, even despite the finite outcome that came with this one in the form of a Blazers’ L in the score ledger, this will be a game in which Lancaster Mennonite can grow and get better from. Simply put, while everyone in L-L League Section Four, Mennonite’s home division, has looked impressive throughout the first weeks of December in their own respective ways, even with all due respect to those who have also tried to schedule up to the best of their ability, simply no team in that grouping of the smallest classification teams inside the Lancaster-Lebanon League is getting anywhere near the equivalent of playing arguably the state’s biggest goliath inside their familiar confines. For that, Hartenstine and Crew deserve kudos for that same type of long-range vision which was an undeniable element in their secret sauce during last season’s magical state title march. Incredibly though, the juggernauts on the slate don’t here on this day in Delaware County either.
How about this? Sprinkled in amongst the Section Four slate the rest of the year for Mennonite this year includes the likes Dock Mennonite, Church Farm, and Academy Park to name just a few. And while the fate of the 2023-24 campaign remains to be seen as to how it exactly all unfolds for Lancaster Mennonite, when you look at the Blazers’ roster and see that it only contains three seniors, it’s easy to recognize why these current toils in the hot sun will hopefully bear fruit later on, albeit in years to come perhaps. If they had their way of course, the metaphorical farming techniques being employed now will hopefully yield to a nectar inside those fruits that tastes similar to that found at the conclusion of their 2022-23 campaign. After all, that’s a distinct flavor reserved for only six teams in the entire state that are fortunate enough to partake of come the end of state championship weekend. In Chester on the other hand, their tastebuds are already well accustomed to it.
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