CHAMBERSBURG — Until the final half minute, Chambersburg could not quite get rid of the pesky Central Dauphin Rams.

CD (1-9, 0-5 MPC) never held the lead after the Trojans jumped ahead early in the second quarter, but it did enough to keep Chambersburg in sight until late in the Trojans’ 51-45 Mid Penn Commonwealth boys basketball victory Tuesday night at CASHS Field House.

It could have been a much larger margin for the Trojans (8-2, 3-2 MPC).

From early in the fourth period until Seth Brouse nailed it down with four consecutive free throws inside the final minute, Chambersburg went to the line 15 times and made only 6 of those free shots. For the game the Trojans hit 18 of 31.

“It felt a little bit like Mifflin County (a game in which a late basket saved Chambersburg) and Carlisle (when the Herd rallied to win because of missed free throws) at certain times,” Trojan coach Shawn Shreffler said.

“But the good thing is, Mifflin had a shot to win and Carlisle did win, but tonight we found a way to get the ‘W.’ I’m not unhappy, and I won’t apologize for a win … although there are definitely things we can work on.”

Against the Rams’ 1-3-1 zone, Chambersburg did not fare well getting the ball inside in the first half, and CD totally controlled the defensive glass despite a serious size disadvantage.

In the second period, Cota Heckman fed Terell Williams for a drive, and Cade Brindle assisted on a baseline jumper by Tyron Williams to give the Trojans a 16-13 lead. It was a lead Chambersburg never gave up, although CD got within two points in the third and four points early in the fourth.

Shreffler said, “We just had to get the right guy (Brouse) to the line. And one thing we stressed at halftime was that we had to get some offensive rebounds. We did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Terell Williams and Brouse each scored 10 points for Chambersburg, which hosts Cumberland Valley on Friday.

Brindle returned to the game several minutes after taking a vicious hit to the neck by CD’s Grant Smith on an attempted layup. A flagrant foul was called on the play.

Chambersburg 51, Central Dauphin 45
CENTRAL DAUPHIN
Grant Smith 2 2-4 7, Aaron Hill 4 2-3 13, Ducie Lee 3 2-3 9, Ryan Smith 2 0-0 6, Ben Stubljar 1 4-4 6, Nikolas Santiago 0 2-2 2, Michael Roman 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 12-16 45.
CHAMBERSBURG
Noah Beidel 2 1-2 6, Ethan Shreffler 0 0-0 0, Seth Brouse 2 4-4 10, Cade Brindle 2 2-6 7, Cota Heckman 0 0-0 0, Tyler Collier 2 3-6 6, Evan Shreffler 0 0-0 0, Terell Williams 3 4-7 10, Tyron Williams 3 0-2 8, Joel Torres 0 4-4 4. Totals 14 18-31 51.
Central Dauphin      11    8   12   14   —   45
Chambersburg          8   15   13   15   —   51
3-point shots — CD 7 (Hall 3, RW.Smith 2, G.Smith, Lee); Chbg 6 (Brouse 2, Ty.Williams 2, Beidel, Brindle).