GIRLS: Shippensburg survives Gettysburg

CHAMBERSBURG - For Gettysburg girls basketball coach Max Laing, Dunks for Drew is a homecoming, as the Chambersburg graduate returned to his home gym to play a Franklin County foe during the annual showcase.

This year, his homecoming was spoiled by the Shippensburg Lady Hounds, who beat Gettysburg, 41-56, in the opening game of the Dunks for Drew showcase in a non-league game.

"For me it comes down to being a Chambersburg graduate," Laing said. "Marcie (Taylor) was my Spanish teacher in high school, so it's always special for me to come back to my alma mater and play a game and be a part of that process. It's a wonderful thing, and we're supporting a good thing."

Despite a 10-point run by Shippensburg (7-12) early in the first quarter, Gettysburg worked its way back and battled through the half, heading into the locker room with a two-point lead over the Hounds.

"In the first half we thought we were getting the looks we wanted, and we were making some of them, but we weren't finishing up our layups at times and I think that got into our heads a bit," Laing said. "We wanted to pick up the pace in the game in the second half, and it did, but unfortunately not in our favor."

The momentum rocketed into Shippensburg's advantage at the end of the third quarter thanks to Mariah Martin, who drained four consecutive buckets to give the Lady Hounds a nine-point edge.

"We started running our offense more efficiently and it all just clicked," Ship's Liz Logan said. "It was just all around a really good half for us."

Martin finished with 17 points, 12 coming in the third quarter alone. Her spark ignited a 33-16 scoring frenzy in the second half for the Hounds.

"It really got us going - she had a fire under her butt," Logan said. "Once someone starts scoring, everyone wants to, so we wanted to get going and help."

"The last couple games (Martin) hasn't been in a good groove," Shippensburg coach Andrew Markel said.  "They were concentrating on getting the ball inside and did a good job getting the ball to her for first time in a while."

Logan was the only other point scorer in the third quarter for Shippensburg, and finished the game leading the team with 19 points.

"Liz had a fantastic day," Markel said. "She has been trying to be aggressive all year and she was always around the rim today."

Gettysburg's leading scorer was Devetche Johnson, who scored 12 points.

Shippensburg56, Gettysburg 41 

Gettysburg (41)

Alana Bortner 2 0-0 5, Briana Crushong 1 0-0 2, Alexis Tomassini 0 0-0 0, Devetche Johnson 6 0-1 12, Hailey Bortner 2 3-5 8,  Hanna James 1 0-0 2, Sara Sanders 3 0-2 8, Cierra Brown 1 1-2 4. Totals — 16 4-10 41.

Shippensburg (56)

Kara Newell 2 3-4 7, Maddie Bender 2 1-1 5, Liz Logan 9 0-0 19, Rachel Kline 0 0-0 0, Kayleen Sydnor 0 0-2 0, Amber Orndorff 0 0-0 0, Mariah Throckmorton 0 0-0 0, Shannon Staver 4 0-0 8, Mariah Martin 7 3-6 17. Totals — 24 4-7 56.

Gettysburg _ 12 _ 13 _ 6 _ 10 _ — _ 41

Shippensburg _ 12 _ 11 _ 16 _ 17 _ — _ 56

3-point goals — Get 5 (Sanders 2, Brown, James, H.Bortner, A.Bortner), Ship 1 (Logan).