Font ResizeFrom staff reports
MERCERSBURG -- Despite suffering an excruciating loss to Big Spring on Tuesday night, James Buchanan still has one shot left at qualifing for the District 3 Class AAA playoffs.
The Rockets fell 54-53 to the Bulldogs in a Mid Penn Capital Division boys basketball game.
If JB (9-10, 3-5 MPC) can defeat West Perry at home on Tuesday, it will get in.
"We still control our destiny," Rocket coach Troy Hillwig said. "We hung in there and played hard, but we just couldn't quite get it."
Big Spring (13-6, 6-1 MPC), which will host Greencastle-Antrim on Friday to decide the Capital title, led by nine entering the fourth quarter, but was outscored 20-12.
Shane O'Neal scored 11 of his 15 points in the last eight minutes and Dylan Rhodes hit a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to tie the game. After each team scored, JB stole the ball with less than 20 seconds left, but missed a shot.
The Bulldogs' Andrew Frey was fouled with 3 seconds left and hit the first of two free throws to win the game.
Hillwig said, "The second quarter is what hurt us. We gave up 23 points on defense and we just didn't get back on transition. We fought back admirably."
Kace Worrell added 13 points for JB, while Tyler Carns and Jake Henry each had 13 for Big Spring.
Big Spring 54, James Buchanan 53
BIG SPRING
Fry 2 4-6 9, Adams 4 0-0 8, Carns 5 0-0 13, Diehl 1 0-0 3, Conner 1 0-0 2, Henry 5 3-4 13, Bailey 2 2-3 6. Totals 20 9-13 54.
JAMES BUCHANAN
Shane O'Neal 5 2-2 15, Brandon Zeger 2 0-0 4, Dylan Rhodes 3 2-3 9, Isaac Bingaman 1 1-2 3, Casey Hedrick 2 1-1 5, Kace Worrell 6 1-4 13, Spancer Heckman 2 0-0 4, Liam Corcoran 0 0-0 0, Coy Quivers 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-12 53.
Big Spring 8 23 11 12 -- 54
James Buchanan 15 12 6 20 -- 53
3-point shots -- BS 5 (Carns 3, Fry, Diehl); JB 3 (O'Neal 2, Rhodes). Shooting -- JB 21-54 (38.9%). Rebounds -- JB 25 (Hedrick 8). Assists -- JB 10 (Zeger 4). Steals -- JB 12 (Zeger 4). Turnovers -- JB 11.
JV: Big Spring 52 James Buchanan 40.
Next game: Tuesday, at home vs. West Perry, 7:30. SIDELING HILL
McConnellsburg 53
Chestnut Ridge 52
Tuesday, at Fishertown
Sideling Hill League game
McConnellsburg took a big lead early in the second half and staved off a rally by Chestnut Ridge to surprise the Lions ... The Spartans (5-12, 2-10 SHL) led by 6 points at the half and scored the first eight of the third quarter to lead by 14 ... "We still led by 11 after three quarters," McConnellsburg coach Bob Paruch said, "but they put us under a lot of pressure." ... Leading 50-48 with 5 seconds left, Ryan Defibaugh stuck in 2 free throws to deal the win ... Drew Wink (14), Defibaugh (13) and Nathan Swope (12) led the Spartans in scoring and Defibaugh added 12 rebounds and 5 assists ... Paruch said, "The guys stepped it up; now we need to do it more often." ... Chestnut Ridge (5-12, 4-9 SHL) got 14 points from Coty Wertz.
McConnellsburg 53, Chestnut Ridge 52
McCONNELLSBURG
Ryan Defibaugh 4 5-11 13, Nathan Swope 6 0-2 12, Drew Wink 3 7-8 14, Trevor Souders 2 1-3 5, Devin Welsh 3 0-1 8, Jordan Bolinger 0 0-0 0, Billy Fleming 0 0-0 0, Tyler Branche 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 14-25 53.
CHESTNUT RIDGE
Wertz 6 0-0 14, T.Young 2 4-6 8, Wiley 2 4-4 8, Hengst 4 2-5 10, M.Young 3 1-3 7, B.Peck 2 1-2 5. Totals 19 12-20 52.
McConnellsburg 10 14 20 9 -- 53
Chestnut Ridge 11 7 15 19 -- 52
3-point shots -- McC 3 (Welsh 2, Wink); CR 2 (Wertz 2). Shooting -- McC 18-47 (38.3%). Rebounds -- McC 28 (Defibaugh 12). Assists -- McC 11 (Defibaugh 5). Steals -- McC 6. Turnovers -- McC 21. Fouled out -- Wiley.
JV: Chestnut Ridge 47, McConnellsburg 40. Tyler Branche led McConnellsburg with 14 points.
Next game: Friday, at Forbes Road, 8.
MASON-DIXON
Grace Academy 62
Shalom Christian 44
Tuesday, at Hagerstown, Md.
Mason-Dixon Christian Conf. game
The second half proved to be the difference for Grace Academy in an 18-point victory over Shalom Christian ... The Knights outscored the Flames 36-21 in the second half after leading 26-23 at intermission ... Shalom coach Murray Roseman said, "Once again we were dominated on the boards. However, we put together a strong first half but we didn't continue it throughout the rest of the game." ... The Flames (1-18, 1-13 MDCC) got 11 points each from Johnny Palm and Alex Crilley.
Grace 62, Shalom 44
SHALOM
Johnny Palm 4 2-2 11, Aaron Witman 1 0-0 3, Jeffrey McCracken 2 1-6 6, Matthew Wenger 3 2-4 9, Alex Crilley 2 6-6 11, Brandon Crider 2 0-0 4, Luke Wingert 0 0-0 0, Ben Cable 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-18 44.
GRACE
Morgan 4 2-4 12, Bunting 5 2-2 15, S.Koontz 6 0-0 12, Serafini 4 6-10 14, M.Koontz 0 0-2 0, K.Frederickson 1 4-8 6, Horst 0 1-2 1, D.Frederickson 1 0-2 2. Totals 21 15-30 62.
Shalom Christian 12 11 12 9 -- 44
Grace Academy 16 10 18 18 -- 62
3-point shots -- SC 5 (Palm, Witman, McCracken, Wenger, Crilley); Grace 5 (Bunting 3, Morgan 2). Shooting -- SC 14-53 (26.4%). Rebounds -- SC 23 (Witman 8). Assists -- SC 13 (McCracken 6). Steals -- SC 7 (McCracken 3). Turnovers -- SC 12. Blocked shots -- SC 3. Fouled out -- Witman.
Next game: Tuesday, at Cumberland Valley Christian, 7:30.
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New Life 69
CV Christian 48
Monday, at Frederick, Md.
Mason-Dixon Christian Conf. game
New Life had too much firepower for Cumberland Valley Christian ... A 24-point third-quarter surge helped the Rams build a commanding 60-37 lead ... Blazers coach Mike Sanders said, "We gave up too many offensive rebounds. Hopefully we can do a better job of boxing out and play better against Grace (Friday)." ... CV Christian (4-15, 3-9 MDCC) got double-figure scoring from Austin Sanders (19) and Kyle Myers (15) in the loss.
New Life 69, CV Christian 48
CV CHRISTIAN
Tanner Propst 1 0-0 2, Logan Carey 2 0-0 5, Austin Sanders 6 6-8 19, Kyle Myers 6 3-5 15, Brendan McHugh 3 1-2 7, Josh Sanders 1 0-0 2, Cody Kipe 0 0-0 0, Guyiyu Huang 0 0-0 0, Nathan Watson 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 2 10-15 48.
NEW LIFE
Sage 7 1-2 18, Seders 2 0-0 5, Hamreck 10 4-7 24, Morrison 1 0-0 2, DeJung 7 3-3 17, Raynestad 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 5 8-12 69.
CV Christian 9 12 16 11 -- 48
New Life 20 16 24 9 -- 69
3-point shots -- CVC 2 (Carey, A.Sanders); NL 5 (Sage 3, Seders, Raynestad). Rebounds -- CVC 25 (A.Sanders 7). Assists -- CVC 6 (Propst 2). Steals -- CVC 6 (A.Sanders 3). Turnovers -- CVC 11. Blocked shots -- CVC 2.
Next game: Friday, at Grace Academy, 7:30.
NON-LEAGUE
Mercersburg Academy 67
St. Maria Goretti 51
Tuesday, at Hagerstown, Md.
Non-league game
A slow start didn't deter Mercersburg Academy in a win over St. Maria Goretti ... The Blue Storm (6-11) fell behind 11-6 after one quarter and 29-26 at halftime before storming back ... Mercersburg made a 25-8 push in the fourth quarter to seal the win ... Troy Nwanna scored all 8 of his points in the fourth and Nick Jackson had 9 of his 20 points in the same quarter ... Cory Schmidt, who hit 18 of 22 foul shots, led the way for the Blue Storm with 29 points.
Mercersburg 67, St. Maria Goretti 51
MERCERSBURG
Troy Nwanna 1 6-8 8, Julian Eisner 0 0-0 0, Cory Schmidt 10 6-7 29, Danny Rodriguez 5 0-0 10, Nick Jackson 7 6-7 20, Charlie Fitzmaurice 0 0-0 0, Pete Flanagan 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 18-22 67.
ST. MARIA GORETTI
Wilkinson 3 1-2 9, Martins 4 7-9 15, Heizer 2 0-0 4, Eich 1 0-0 2, Leazier 1 0-0 2, Hoke 3 0-1 6, Bolinger 4 2-2 13. Totals 19 10-14 51.
Mercersburg 6 20 16 25 -- 67
St. Maria Goretti 11 18 14 8 -- 51
3-point shots -- Merc 3 (Schmidt 3); SMG 5 (Bolinger 3, Wilkinson 2).
Next game: Thursday, at Blue Ridge, 4.
