District 1 6A boys basketball: Sell-out crowd watches Coatesville pull away from Chester

CALN — The Coatesville boys basketball team is moving on to the District 1 6A quarterfinals after soundly beating Chester Tuesday night, 75-61, at sold-out and frenzied Ross Kershey Gymnasium. The third-seeded Red Raiders will host Abington Friday night at a time to be determined while the 14th-seeded Clippers will head to the playback round. Coatesville locked up a PIAA berth with the win.

Coatesville (20-5 overall) used a spirited 18-2 run in the third period to open up what was a close outing and put three players in double figures for the game. Colton Hiller led all scorers with 32 points while Larry Brown added 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and Chris Allegra added 11 points.

“This was a fantastic atmosphere and coming off the Ches-Mont championship win over Bishop Shanahan, I was feeling very loose and free out there,” Allegra said. “(Chester) played hard but we just picked things up in the second half and fed off the crowd and got the win.”

The Clippers (15-8) hit two three-pointers early in the third period to open up a 32-27 lead after trailing by one at halftime. Coatesville then got serious and went on a scintillating 18-2 run to open up a 45-34 lead.

Hiller drained two of his four beyond the arc during the run. Hiller’s corner three-pointer gave the Red Raiders a 40-34 lead. After a Chester turnover – one of 16 for the Clippers – Hiller was fouled and he converted both free throws for a 42-34 advantage. Coatesville used its size advantage to block nine Chester shots for the game.

Chester then came down the floor and turned the ball over underneath and the Raiders broke out with Allegra feeding a streaking Hiller, who threw down a slam dunk for a 10-point lead. Jonas Chester added a free throw before the run was broken when Ramee Davis scored inside for the Clippers.

“We had the size advantage on them and we are bigger than most every team we play,” Chester said. “Coach (John) Allen talked to us about playing inside first and then outside and not settling for three-pointers, so we used our height advantage on them most of the night.”

Coatesville shot a torrid eight-for-12 from the field in the third quarter, outscoring the Clippers 23-13 in the period to take a 50-39 lead heading into the final quarter.

Chester shot just 21-60 from the field for the game and just five-for-19 in the decisive third period. Holding an 11-point lead heading to the fourth period, Zeric Allen-Brown started things for the Raiders with a three-pointer to make it 53-39 with 6:45 to play.

Chester came down and misfired from distance and Larry Brown scored on the baseline for a 55-39 advantage. After another Chester turnover, Hiller scored in tight and Coatesville stretched its lead to 57-39 with 6:09 to play.

“We picked things up in the third period and went on a pretty good run,” Hiller said. “That was the game right there.”

Chester continued to play hard and when Shadrach George scored in the lane the Coatesville lead was down to 15 with 4:24 to play. But Hiller dashed any hopes Chester may have had of a comeback by draining a three-pointer for a 62-44 advantage with 3:56 to play.

Ramee Davis, who led the Clippers with 12 points, scored in tight, but the Coatesville lead was too much to overcome. Allegra scored on a runner and the Raiders started to celebrate a very big win in front of a frenzied home crowd.

“This atmosphere was great tonight,” Coatesville coach John Allen said. “These two communities have a heated rivalry and give Chester credit. They play so hard and with so much passion, they force you to play that way. We knew we had a big size advantage and I told the kids to look inside first and they carried the game plan out.”

Chester will head to the playback round where the Clippers will try to qualify for the PIAA tourney.

“The 16 turnovers did not help us but we made too many mistakes on defense,” Chester head coach Keith Taylor said. “We knew we had to gamble because they were so much bigger than us, but we made some critical defensive mistakes tonight which led to some easy baskets.”

Coatesville 75, Chester 61

CHESTER – Bostick 2 0-0 5, Harris  20-0 4, Demby 2 0-0 6, Brown 1 0-1 2, Lindsay 3 0-0 8, Davis 4 3-3 12, George 1 5-7 7, Clayton 2 0-0 5, Mallory-Granberry 4 2-2 12. Totals 21 10-13 61.

COATESVILLE – Allegra 3 5-6 11, Brown 4 5-10 13, C.Hiller 11 6-8 32, Chester 3 2-2 9, Allen-Brown 3 0-0 8, Thedford 1 0-0 2, M.Hiller 0 0-0 0, Norman 0 0-0 0, Fohadu 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 18-26 75.

Chester 17 9 13 22 – 61

Coatesville 17 10 23 25 – 75

Three-point goals: Bostick, Demby 2, Lindsay 2, Davis, Clayton, Mallory-Granberry 2, C. Hiller 4, Chester, Allen-Brown 2.