Burton nets a career high in victory

By Brian Crownover
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Two traditional basketball powers met on Wednesday in the Pennsylvania 4A State Semifinals.  Chester held off Simon Gratz 67-60 to earn a berth in Saturday’s final at Penn State. 

Chester jumped out to an early lead behind the strength of 3 Karon Burton first quarter three pointers.  The Clippers were also able to capitalize on numerous Gratz turnovers as they built a 16-6 first quarter advantage.  The Bulldogs climbed bad into the game in part due to early foul trouble of Chester stars Russell Johnson and Nasir Robinson.  Despite 12 turnovers, Gratz only found itself down 26-21 at the half. 

The Bulldogs then opened that half with three pointers by Josh Martin and Ali Odd.  They raced out to a 39-34 lead before the turnover bug hit them again.  With two of his teammates sitting the bench, the blazing quick Burton took Chester on his shoulders as he finished with a career high 35 points.  Chester took the lead for good at 45-44.  The Clippers will next face last season’s 4A runner-up Schenley from Pittsburgh.

Here is a breakdown of some of the key players in this game.

Karon Burton (2008, 5-8 PG)
Burton is one of the most explosive players in the state.  With his two of his talented teammates on the bench, Karon carried Chester to victory.  The diminutive junior was very effective in knocking down the three point shot against the Gratz zone.  He also was able to get to the basket at will with his lightning quick ball handling.  He is so smooth and has a great knack for finishing in traffic.  Karon finished with a career high 35 points.

Nasir Robinson (2008, 6-4 SG) Committed to Pittsburgh
Nasir was plagued by foul trouble.  When he was in the game he was able to add toughness inside for the Clippers.  He had a couple of nice offensive rebounds and a few baskets.  With all the time he spent on the bench, he was never really able to get going on offense.

Russell Johnson (2008, 6-6 SF)
Foul trouble also prevented Russell from getting into rhythm offensively.  He was his usual solid self on the glass though and did manage to score several late baskets.  He finished with 11 points.

Simon Gratz

Josh Martin (2007, 6-0 PG/SG)
Gratz is so much better when Josh Martin is looking for his offensive.  In the first half he wasn’t doing so and almost became the forgotten man.  With his crafty ball handling and excellent finishing ability, Josh is one of the more difficult players in the area to shutdown.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t get himself involved in the game enough, as was the case in the first half.  Josh buried an early three to start the second half and then erupted from there.  He did a great job of attacking the basket and either finishing or setting up teammates.  Josh has good hesistation moves and can change direction quickly.  These attributes make him a strong finisher.  On one play, it the defender was setup perfectly to take a charge.  Instead, Josh slid around him and scored the basket.  Josh finished with 15 points.  He’s a great player, but just needs to learn how to play aggressive for a full game every time he steps on the court.

Charles White (2008, 6-1 PG)
White is a very talented player, but he can be frustrating to watch.  He makes a lot of eye popping plays, but combines that with far too many mistakes.  He opened the game with two beautiful passes across about half of the length of the court.  After converting on those, he tried several more of these long passes and ended up with several turnovers.  Charles turned the ball over far too often in this game.  He seems to always look to make the difficult pass as opposed to the simple one.  He is a very good shooter and a quick ball handling.  If he can learn to cut down on the mistakes, Charles will be a superb college prospect.  He did finish with 15 points, but also a game high 7 turnovers.

Ishmawiyl McFadden (2007, 6-5 SF/PF) Committed to Maryland - Eastern Shore
McFadden is really the glue guy for this team.  He isn’t the guy you look to stop first, but he just seems to be productive every night.  He’s a tough match up because he can post up, but also step outside and knock down jumpers.  McFadden even hit a three pointer in this contest.  At the next level, he’ll need to play on the wing more.  While he has a nice perimeter game now, he’s going to have to show that he can consistently beat his man off the dribble.  McFadden finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.