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Boro's win vs. Ship not an upset anymore


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The last time Waynesboro hosted Shippensburg in a boys basketball game, the Indians had just one win to their name and were looking down the barrel of a dismal season.

But if there's one game Waynesboro remembers from last year, it's that game. Because it pulled off a huge upset of the eventual Mid Penn Colonial Division champions.

This time, it's a little harder to call Waynesboro's win an "upset." The Indians held off a late Ship surge to complete a 60-56 victory to match their win total from a season ago.

"We'd like to think we're good enough this year to not call it an upset," 'Boro coach Tom Hoffman said. "But that's a very, very good basketball team. Anytime you beat Ship, no matter what our record is or the circumstances in the league, it's a good night."

Taking down Shippensburg (7-2, 3-1 MPC), which was in the midst of a seven-game win streak, was no easy feat for the Indians (6-3, 3-1 MPC).

The Greyhounds led 36-29 at halftime, but it was a completely different story in the third quarter.

"We told our kids at halftime that we had a lead, but we knew they were going to come at us even harder," Ship coach Ray Staver said. "Being behind doesn't matter to them. They may even play better when they're behind."

Defensively, Waynesboro seriously clamped down. It allowed just five points in the third quarter and held onto a 46-41 lead heading into the final frame.

Shippensburg found nice complements to leading scorers Cody Gustafson and Carter Van Scyoc in the first half. Zach Cullen had nine points in the first half, while Alaric Hickman scored eight, including a pair of 3-pointers. In the second half, Cullen and Hickman scored two points combined.

"Cullen is a pretty good shooter, and Hickman shot a couple that were pretty deep," Hoffman said. "That wasn't something that was in our game plan going in, but I thought everyone just had to guard their man a bit better."

Staver said, "We were on our heels defensively the entire third quarter. We couldn't keep them out of the lane on penetration. It was a really bad quarter on both ends."

To Ship's credit, the Hounds found a way to storm back and even led by a point with under three minutes to go.

With 1:55, the game was knotted at 55-55, but Evan Hine gave 'Boro the lead for good on a late layup. The Indians went 3-for-4 from the line in the final seconds to ensure the victory.

"We didn't execute a lot down the stretch," Staver said. "We gave (Mitch) Neterer (17 points) and (Cameron) Keck (18 points) an open jump shot against our zone, and our wing just didn't step up. Did we understand they were the two best shooters on the floor? Apparently we didn't. We didn't respond to that."

Greencastle-Antrim (6-3, 4-0 MPC) now sits alone atop the Colonial Division, and plays Shippensburg on Friday, then Waynesboro next Tuesday.