BOYS HOOPS: Chambersburg holds off Central Dauphin

CHAMBERSBURG -- If you're a basketball team playing from behind and the other team keeps making foul shot after foul shot, it's extra hard to make up a deficit.

That's the predicament Central Dauphin found itself in Friday night at CASHS Field House.

The Rams trailed Chambersburg by seven points entering the fourth quarter of a Mid Penn Commonwealth Division boys basketball game. CD got to within two points twice, but the Trojans were deadly from the free throw line and posted a 48-40 victory.

Chambersburg (3-1, 1-1 MPC) took 16 foul shots in the final eight minutes and buried 14 of them, including then final 10 to put the game away.

"They are a well-coached team and it's hard to come back on them when they have the lead," CD coach Jay Crosier said. "We did what we could, but they made their foul shots at the end."

In the fourth period, ByShawn Mincie hit 8 of 8 shots from the line, Jacob Brouse was 4-for-4 and Cole Christian made both of his attempts.

Mincie said, "Every time we end practice we have to make 15 foul shots, so we were confident."

The success at the line made up for CD's Theo Braddy, who scored all 10 of his points in the final quarter, including a pair of long 3-pointers, the last of which made it 42-40 with 47 seconds left. But that was the final Ram point.

Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said, "Those threes made it tighter, that's for sure, and they were well-contested shots."

Central Dauphin (1-3, 0-2 MPC) played a deliberate offense and made it work early. Thanks to their patience and ability to grab offensive rebounds, the Rams built a 17-11 lead midway through the second quarter.

"They were able to get in the paint and get offensive rebounds," Shreffler said. "We called a timeout and again at the quarter break we stressed that we had to keep them from penetrating and cut down on the easy baskets we were giving up. Finally, in the second quarter, we did."

A pair of foul shots by Christian (9 points, 6 rebounds) started a personal streak of seven straight points, and two more free throws put the Trojans up for good, 18-17. Just before the half came a major momentum swing. Mincie grabbed a loose ball and fired a long pass to a streaking Reggie Adams, who snuck in a layup at the buzzer for a three-point lead.

"He showed good poise there," Shreffler said.

Then to begin the third, John Shupp canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Cade Whitfield scored on a putback and Mincie hit a jumper. When Mincie connected on two free throws, the Trojans suddenly had a 29-17 lead and CD had gone scoreless for nearly seven minutes.

Crosier said, "At the end of the first half we just didn't execute our offense and they got the lead. That three to start the second half was a big help in momentum for them, too."

"When we had a chance we did take our opportunities," Shreffler said. "We got some easy baskets in transition. And we didn't settle for perimeter shots -- we attacked the basket and got to the line."

In the second quarter, Chambersburg put up only three shots and made two, but they had 10 free throws. In fact, for the game, the Trojans took only 26 shots from the field, making 11. But they were 22 of 30 on free throws.

Mincie, who scored 12 points, said, "We struggled to get defensive rebounds. But we have good chemistry and if we run our plays well we can play pretty well."

Chambersburg 48, Central Dauphin 40

Central Dauphin (40)

Chad Cortez 4-10 0-2 8, Braydon Parr 2-9 1-2 6, Ben Green 3-7 0-0 8, Paul Jordan 0-2 0-0 0, Da'Ron Jennings 4-6 0-0 8, Corbin Van Dyck 0-1 0-0 0, Julian Johnson 0-0 0-2 0, Grant Smith 0 0-0 0, Theo Braddy 3-11 2-3 10. Totals — 16-48 3-9 40.

Chambersburg  (48)

Cole Christian 1-5 6-6 9, Jacob Brouse 0-1 4-4 4, Cade Whitfield 4-8 0-3 8, John Shupp 3-5 1-3 9, ByShawn Mincie 1-4 10-10 12, Tyler Collier 0-0 1-4 1, Evan Shreffler 0-0 0-0 0, Cade Brindle 1-2 0-0 3, Brady Hunt 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Adams 1-1 0-0 2. Totals — 11-26 22-30 48.

Central Dauphin_ 13 _ 4 _ 6 _ 17 _ — _ 40

Chambersburg _ 10 _ 10 _ 10 _ 18 _ — _ 48

3-point goals — CD 5 (Green 2, Braddy 2, Parr), Chbg 4 (Shupp 2, Christian, Brindle).

JV score — Chambersburg 50, Central Dauphin 27. Will Harriger scored 15 points for the Trojans.