P.O. Male Athlete of the Week: ByShawn Mincie

The less ByShawn Mincie tries to do, the better the Chambersburg boys basketball team plays.

While that may sound like an indictment of Mincie, it is just the opposite.

Mincie used a "less is more" attitude last week to carry the Trojans to a 3-0 record that puts them squarely into the District 3 Class AAAA playoff picture. He is the Public Opinion Male Athlete of the Week.

"I believe that he's simplifying things a lot more, and as a result he's become more efficient," Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. "He's making better decisions and his ability is surfacing more."

Mincie said, "I've tried to have a new mentality in recent games. I was always trying to get my teammates involved and I passed off a lot. But I was told that I'm a better player when I attack the basket. I realize that I can help the other players that way because if the other team has to guard me it opens things up for them."

Mincie's 3-pointer with just over 30 seconds to go Tuesday gave the Trojans the lead for good against State College in a 52-50 road win, in which he had 19 points. The 6-foot junior guard helped his team upset CD East 51-43 on the road Friday by scoring 18. In the Dunks for Drew event Saturday, Mincie scored nine points and helped hold Greencastle's leading scorer Casey Hoover to just five points in a 52-36 victory.

"Coach kept telling us that we could beat East," Mincie said. "Beating them gave us a lot of confidence, and when we saw that put us in the top 20 (of the District 3-AAAA rankings), that gave us a big boost going in to the Greencastle game."

Shreffler said, "It was a great week for the team and ByShawn was certainly a big part of it. He's been making great decisions with and without the ball. He's been scoring more on limited shots, not a higher volume of shots."

Mincie, who has averaged 13.5 points over the last six games, is looking forward to a big finish for the Trojans, who have all of their players back except Jacob Brouse.

"The chemistry is there now," he said. "While those guys were out, the sophomores got their feet wet, and now we can rely on them to fill in. With Carlin (Christian) and John (Shupp) now back, we're more confident."

ByShawn Mincie, Chambersburg

Sport: Basketball

Grade: Junior

Height: 6-feet

Parents: Alene Williams and Leroy Mincie

Interests: Mincie holds down a job and he plays video games.

Surprising fact: He wants to learn how to play golf.

Favorite player: Kobe Bryant

Favorite team: L.A. Lakers

Statistics: In 3 wins for the Trojans last week, Mincie scored  19 points against State College, 18 vs. CD East and 9 against Greencastle-Antrim ... He hit a 3-pointer inside the final 30 seconds to give his team the lead in the State College game ... In the G-A game, he held leading scorer Casey Hoover to just 5 points ... Mincie's season average is now 10.4 ppg.