Skip to main content

Boys: Spring Grove jumps on Chambersburg early


CHAMBERSBURG - Two boys basketball teams headed in opposite directions met for a Saturday afternoon matinee at CASHS Field House.

Those teams are still going in the same direction.

Spring Grove got off to a smoking hot start and kept a depleted Chambersburg squad at bay to claim a 60-38 non-league victory.

The Rockets (8-1) have now won eight straight and appear to have the goods to keep it going. Their star, Eli Brooks, who is attracting looks from several prime Division I schools, led the way with 29 points, and Darin Gordon backed him up with 15.

"They are a really good basketball team," Trojan coach Shawn Shreffler said. "Brooks and Gordon are both very good and the other players are extremely unselfish. They are patient, they have good movement, they get great position on defense and they rebound well because they're physical."

Chambersburg (6-6) has lost four straight games, and its inside game took another hit. Cade Whitfield came down on another player's foot in the first quarter and suffered an ankle sprain. With John Shupp also injured, both of the Trojans' starters underneath are out.

There was another factor that may have helped cause Spring Grove's fine start, in which the Rockets broke out to 13-2, 20-6 and 23-8 leads in the first period.

"This is only the second game of the week for us and we hadn't played since Tuesday," Spring Grove coach James Brooks said, "and I know Chambersburg played last night. We wanted to bring the intensity early. We did, and I think it stayed with us the whole game."

Eli Brooks scored the first 10 points of the game and either scored or assisted on his team's first 18 points. He finished the first quarter with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Gordon also nailed a pair of treys and had eight points in the period.

"If you can get off to a good start like that it sets the tone of the game," Gordon said. "The only thing was we were making so many jump shots early that we started to rely on them, and we need to attack the basket, too."

Although Brooks put up 29 points, that's not all he displayed.

Shreffler said, "Brooks is as good a player as we've seen all year and he's extremely efficient. He does so much for his team - he was guarding our best player for a while, and he guarded in the post, and he rebounds well. He was scoring off the dribble and off the catch, and he drove to the basket."

Led by Cole Christian (13 points) and ByShawn Mincie (8), Chambersburg pulled to within 35-24 in the third period, but the Rockets promptly ran off 11 of the next 13 points to pull away again.

Shreffler said, "They were fresh and were able to focus on us this week, but since we played last night, the only prep we had was to do a walk through this morning on the chalkboard. But that's not the difference in this game.

"We played three teams this week that have a good chance to be in the final eight of District 3, so that's a tough schedule. And we're not at full strength. But these kids did not quit. I'm proud of that - we just couldn't get it down to single digits."

Spring Grove 60, Chambersburg 38 

Spring Grove (60)

Grant Wierman 2-6 0-0 5, Liam Flaherty 0-2 0-0 0, Eli Brooks 10-18 6-9 29, Darin Gordon 6-16 0-0 15, Jonathan Sager 0-3 0-2 0, Drew Gordon 2-2 2-2 6, Jacob Messersmith 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Panter 1-1 1-2 3, Grant Sterner 0-3 0-0 0, Josh Bellamy 0-0 0-0 0, Emmanuel Ray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 22-53 9-15 60.

Chambersburg (38)

Cole Christian 5-11 1-1 13, Jacob Brouse 0-2 0-0 0, Ezechiel Cadet 0-1 1-2 1, Cade Whitfield 0-0 0-0 0, ByShawn Mincie 3-10 2-6 8, Evan Shreffler 0-1 0-0 0, Reggie Adams 0-1 1-2 1, Cade Brindle 2-4 0-0 4, Tyler Collier 2-3 0-0 4, Joel Torres 3-4 0-0 7, Cota Heckman 0-0 0-0 0, Tyron Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 15-37 5-12 38.

Spring Grove _ 23 _ 10 _ 13 _ 14 _ — _ 60

Chambersburg _ 8 _ 10 _ 8 _ 12 _ — _ 38

3-point goals — SG 7-19 (Brooks 3, Da.Gordon 3, Wierman), Chbg 3-9 (Christian 2, Torres).

JV score — Chambersburg 43, Spring Grove 40. For the Trojans, Tyron Williams (13) and Joel Torres (11) led in scoring.