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BOYS: Trojans come out swinging vs. Greencastle


CHAMBERSBURG - When Chambersburg's boys basketball team stepped onto its home floor Saturday night, it clearly had one thing in mind: Winning.

Not only are the Trojans trying to stay in good position in the District 3 Class AAAA rankings with a week left in the regular season, the Trojans were also looking for a meaningful victory at the 9th annual Dunks for Drew showcase. The event benefited the Drew Michael Taylor Foundation, founded in part by Chambersburg's own assistant coach, Randy Taylor.

From the opening tip-off, the Trojans came out swinging, and although Greencastle-Antrim gave them a run for their money in the second half, it wasn't enough. Chambersburg won, 52-36, for its fourth straight victory, including two in a row against higher-ranked teams.

"At the beginning of the year, we weren't really too confident in ourselves," Trojan forward Cade Whitfield said. "But now that we're starting to play confident, we're all stepping up and sharing the ball well. There's no real one star now. We're all scoring and getting wins, so we're doing something right."

Whitfield was a big reason for Chambersburg's success. The Trojans (10-9) led 30-13 at halftime, thanks in large part to Whitfield's inside game. He scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half. All of his field goals were either layups or putbacks.

"For once, we actually gave them the first punch instead of taking the first punch," said ByShawn Mincie, who had five points in the Trojans' nine-point run to start the game. "When we gave them that first punch, we just kept giving them punches and punches, and it wore them down."

Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said, "I thought (Cade) asserted himself really well. We talked about it in our scouting report before the game that we wanted to be really aggressive on the interior. Our bigs had an advantage there, our guys did a great job of sharing the ball, and Cade did an excellent job of putting himself in position to score."

The Trojan defense was phenomenal against the Blue Devils (12-6), who managed to shoot a mere 27.1 percent from the field. Greencastle made only four field goals in the first half.

"One of the main reasons we were missing a lot was because we spent a lot of time on defense guarding them," Blue Devil coach Gary Martin said. "On the other end, I don't think anyone took any horrible (shots), but they didn't fall. Whether they were tipped, blocked or contested well, they just didn't go in."

Mincie marked leading scorer Casey Hoover, who was held to a season-low five points and had just one field goal. He did dish out six assists, though.

"I just tried to make him uncomfortable," Mincie said. "I got in his personal space and made him pass the ball most of the time. When he caught the ball, I made sure he wasn't squared up, ready to shoot or attack the ball. He basically had to pass it around."

Greencastle also struggled to give itself second chances, as it was out-rebounded 38-26. Chambersburg had five players with at least five rebounds, including Whitfield, who capped off a double-double with 10 boards. Cole Christian and Mincie each had seven, Carlin Christian grabbed six, and freshman Tyler Collier pulled down five rebounds. The Blue Devils, on the other hand, had just one player with more than four.

"(Rebounding) has been a work in progress, and there's been times this year that we really struggled," Shreffler said. "We're certainly not the biggest team, but it's something we've worked really hard at. I thought they did a great job of crashing the boards."

Brandon Stuhler did provide a nice spark for the Blue Devils, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and two steals.

"Brandon was huge for us with the way he played defense, and even on the boards," Martin said. "That comes straight from the heart and just being determined to do it. He's pesky. That guy is my hero; he goes hard all the time."

NOTES: Cole Christian joined Whitfield in double figures with 12 points, and Mincie followed closely behind with 9 ... Bryan Gembe led Greencastle's offense with 10 points ... The loss snaps a four-game win streak for G-A.

Chambersburg 52, Greencastle 36

Greencastle (36)

Brandon Stuhler 3 1-2 8, Sam Sprague 3 0-0 6, Ian Gelsinger 1 0-2 3, Casey Hoover 1 2-4 5, Bryan Gembe 3 2-2 10, Spencer Meyers 1 0-0 2, Camron Hileman 0 0-0 0, Matt Lutz 1 0-0 2, Ben Freeman 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 5-8 36.

Chambersburg (52)

Cole Christian 5 0-2 12, Carlin Christian 0 0-0 0, Cade Whitfield 8 6-6 22, John Shupp 0 0-0 0, ByShawn Mincie 3 2-2 9, Cade Brindle 0 2-2 2, Tyler Collier 1 0-0 2, Evan Shreffler 1 0-0 2, Reggie Adams 1 0-0 3, Ezechiel Cadet 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 10-12 52.

Greencastle _ 5 _ 8 _ 15 _ 8 _ — _ 36

Chambersburg _ 16 _ 14 _ 10 _ 12 _ — _ 52

3-point goals — GA 5 (Gembe 2, Stuhler, Gelsinger, Hoover), Chbg 4 (Co.Christian 2, Mincie, Adams).