Skip to main content

H.S. Notebook: Shalom Christian's long streak is halted


It had to happen eventually.

Shalom Christian's girls soccer team had won two consecutive Mason-Dixon Christian Conference titles, had gone undefeated last year, and held a 23-game winning streak coming into this spring.

But Shenandoah Valley Christian put a halt to that in the Flames' first game of the season Tuesday when the Patriots emerged with a 5-4 victory.

"It was an exciting season opener," said Shalom coach Bill Poe, in his first game as the head coach, although he was an assistant for the last three years. "Both teams held the lead and we were tied four times as well."

With 21 minutes left, the Flames received a free kick and Lexy Poe stuck the 25-yard direct kick into the net (her third goal) to tie the game 4-4. But SVCA's Rebekah Max notched her third goal nine minutes later and that held up as the winner.

"Overall I was happy with our play tonight even though we didn't get the win," Bill Poe said.

The teams were even in corner kicks (4-4) and nearly even in shots (15-14 Patriots), so you might see another close game when these teams play at Shalom on April 21.

COACH HONORED: Former Chambersburg baseball coach Bob Thomas will be recognized before Friday's home game against Waynesboro by the Chambersburg Trojans Baseball Boosters.

The game begins at 4:30.

GREAT START: Boys tennis gets the jump on all the other spring sports with its early schedule, but James Buchanan is making the most of the situation.

The Rockets have already played six matches through Wednesday and have won them all. JB has Mid Penn Colonial Division victories over Palmyra, Trinity and East Pennsboro, perennially three of the tougher teams in the Colonial. The Rockets are the only team in the division without a league loss.

QUALITY FOES: Chambersburg has jumped right into the boys volleyball season with a strong early season schedule. The Trojans played in the Hempfield Tournament last Saturday, hosted defending District 3-AAA champion Central York on Wednesday, and play in the Northeastern Tournament this Saturday.

Hempfield is a perennial state contender in AAA and Northeastern has won three consecutive PIAA AA titles.

Chambersburg took a respectable third in the Hempfield event, but fell 3-0 to Central York, and didn't get it going until the third game (27-25 defeat).

"In the third game we finally got a little spark," Trojan coach Marta Cummings said. "We had better communication and that allowed us to get some good blocks.

"Passing is not supposed to be our weakness, but early tonight it definitely was. Their serving was good, but not that good. We made too many lazy passes and it ended up hurting us."

BRIGHT SPOTS: Despite taking a 1-2 punch from Cumberland Valley in their season opener Tuesday, the Chambersburg track & field teams had some positive moments.

Senior sprinter Cirsten Kelly won the 100, 200 and 400 for the Trojan girls, and the fact that recent hamstring issues weren't a problem made coach Chris Monheim happy. He was also happy that freshman Arianna Appenzellar was second in the 200.

"It's great to have a ninth-grader who looks ready to impact the sprints," Monheim said.

Boys coach Bob Walker saw plenty of PRs on his team, including Kelton Chastulik (shot put), Myles Braxton (shot and discus), Nathan Reed (triple jump, javelin), Kory Harris (100, 200) and the 4 x 100 relay team of Josue Chacon, Christian Ortiz, Tyler Fritz and Harris.

Walker said, "The relay team ran a 44.0, which was better than last year's best, and they could be pretty good by season's end. Harris took a second off his best 200 and Reed's triple jump was his best by two feet."