Jones has put together one of the best programs in not only basketball hotbed Southeastern Pennsylvania, but across the state — building a power at both Penn Wood and at tiny Harriton before that. He's a 12-month-a-year coach, who gives a 12-month-a-year commitment to winning and cultivating his players.
Jones is also not one to panic easily, either.
"We'll be OK, it's still January and we're just six games into it, but I want to see some changes where we can play another 20 or 25 games down the line," Jones said. "We thought we had some things corrected this week. We're going to have to think again. We just have some guys who need to work on their own belief systems. We believe we have a good basketball team. The kids in this locker room have to believe it — and they have to believe in themselves."
The truth machine is Chester. The Clippers are coming off a subpar season by Chester standards and have loaded up with pretty much the same cast that they had last year, with the big addition being Church, a Chester resident who transferred back to his neighborhood school after playing at Malvern Prep.
Wright paid the brunt of playing on those young Clipper teams the last two years, especially when it came against Penn Wood, the 2008 PIAA Class AAAA state champions. Now it's time for some payback.
"We have a nice team that everyone seemed to look past before the year," said Wright, the Clippers' leading scorer who's been a matchup problem for opposing teams. "We know we're a good team. I think it's time we show everyone else how good we are."
Right now, the team to beat may not be Penn Wood. The team to beat in District 1 Class AAAA could very be the team Penn Wood is playing Thursday night.
Joseph Santoliquito can be reached at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
