Posting up: James Buchanan s Garrett Malanka, right, goes for a shot against Waynesboro s Tim Ingram on Friday night. Waynesboro won the Mid Penn Colonial Division game, 66-57. (Public Opinion/Ryan Blackwell)
MERCERSBURG - As another long season comes to a close, the James Buchanan Rockets haven't stopped trying. Unfortunately, they haven't stopped falling short, either.

Cole Warrenfeltz and Ryan Kelley scored 11 points each to lead the Waynesboro Indians to a 66-57 victory over the Rockets on Friday night in a matchup of Mid Penn Colonial Division boys basketball teams.

James Buchanan (5-16, 1-11 MPC) trailed by as many as 14 points before mounting a second-half comeback, cutting the deficit to five with less than six minutes left. But the Rockets didn't have enough left to beat the Indians, who also got 10 points from Shaquill Smith.

"I give Waynesboro a lot of credit," James Buchanan coach Larry Strawoet said. "They stepped up and did what they had to do. But at least our kids went out there and put it all on the floor. For us, that's been a real powerful thing - looking into our future and how we want to work hard and get better every game."

Grant Strawoet had 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting for the Rockets. Garrett Malanka, who scored 15, was the only other James Buchanan player to reach double figures.

Grant Strawoet said, "I felt good tonight - it was Senior Night and I wanted to play well - and my teammates did a nice job feeding me the basketball. I thought the big difference tonight was rebounding - we didn't hit the boards well at all."

Warrenfeltz added three assists, three steals and seven rebounds for Waynesboro, which is finishing up its own rocky season.

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The Indians (7-14, 4-8 MPC) had dropped four in a row.

"Our record is our record, so I don't want to say that we've turned the corner," Waynesboro coach Tom Hoffman said. "But we've made strides this year in getting back to where we want to be, and part of that is making plays when the opportunity presents itself."

Warrenfeltz scored eight points in the first, including six on 3-pointers, as the Indians made seven of their first 16 shots to open a 25-14 lead. Seth Hoffman had three points in

Between defenders: Waynesboro s Devonte Montgomery looks for a shot between James Buchanan s Ryan Hege, left, and Aubrey Brown (21) on Friday night. Waynesboro won the Mid Penn Colonial Division game, 66-57. (Public Opinion file/Ryan Blackwell)
the second and Kelley came off the bench to score five as Waynesboro built a 42-32 lead at the half.

Tom Hoffman said, "We do have a true team. We have a starting lineup and we have guys who are going to get the majority of the time, but we tell our kids that we're comfortable putting anybody in and we really mean that. We have a bunch of guys that you have to guard and that includes a certain chunk of our bench guys - if you don't guard them, they can score."

Seth Hoffman buried another 3-pointer in the third, helping the Indians take a 49-36 late in the period. The Rockets tightened things back up with a 12-4 run capped by Malanka's short jumper with 6:22 left to play, but JB managed just two field goals the rest of the way.

"We got hurt on the boards tonight and we turned the ball over at crucial times when you just can't turn it over," Larry Strawoet said. "We played hard, but to me, that was the difference."

Waynesboro, which never trailed, finished 20-of-48 (41.7 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-14 from long range. That was certainly more than enough as the Rockets shot just 36 percent (18-for-50) from the field.

The Indians, who held a 33-25 edge on the boards, have now won five straight over James Buchanan. The Rockets' last win came on Jan. 28, 2011 in Mercersburg.

Waynesboro also forced JB into 14 turnovers, leading to 17 points the other way. The Indians and Rockets committed a combined 46 personal fouls, although only two players fouled out.

Tom Hoffman said, "We're very much a tempo team. We like to take our shots, get into our press and make the other team uncomfortable - and when the whistle is blowing every couple seconds it takes away from that. I'm not saying it was a poorly officiated game, it was just the way the game went."

Waynesboro 66

James Buchanan 57

WAYNESBORO

Ryan Kelley 4-8 3-6 11, Cole Warrenfeltz 3-5 3-5 11, Shaquill Smith 3-8 3-5 10, Tim Ingram 1-4 7-10 9, James Bennett 4-6 0-0 8, Connor Fetterhoff 3-13 1-2 7, Seth Hoffman 2-3 0-2 6, Cory Chatfield 0-0 2-4 2, Devonte Montgomery 0-0 2-4 2, Darion Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Cline 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Mohn 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Ridenour 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 21-38 66.

JAMES BUCHANAN

Grant Strawoet 9-15 3-4 26, Garrett Malanka 6-10 3-3 15, Liam Corcoran 2-10 0-1 4, Sloane Bendell 0-1 3-4 3, Austin Metzler 0-0 3-4 3, Aubrey Brown 0-5 2-2 2, Grant Buchanan 0-1 2-2 2, Dustin Gossert 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Hege 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Lechleitner 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Muller 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Rupert 0-4 0-0 0, Toby Sowers 0-0 0-0 0, Dustin Ziemba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 16-20 57.

Waynesboro 25 17 8 16 - 66

James Buchanan 14 18 11 14 - 57

3-point shots - Way 5-14 (Hoffman 2, Warrenfeltz 2, Smith); JB 5-20 (Strawoet 5). Shooting - Way 41.7%; JB 36%. Rebounds - Way 33 (Warrenfeltz 7); JB 25 (Bendell 9). Assists - Way 16 (Ingram 4); JB 12 (Strawoet 3). Steals - Way 8 (Warrenfeltz 3); JB 4 (Strawoet 2). Blocked shots - JB 1 (Bendell). Turnovers - Way 11; JB 14. Fouls - Way 19; JB 27. Fouled out - Malanka, Muller.

JV: Waynesboro 32, James Buchanan 30. Jake Neterer had 13 points for the Indians; Toby Sowers scored 12 for JB.

Next game: Way: Monday, at home vs. Carlisle, 7:30 JB: Tonight, at home vs. McConnellsburg, 8.