The weapon of choice — raining 3-pointers — almost pulled out a miraculous comeback for Chambersburg.
But Reading did just enough at the end to hold off the Trojans, 46-43, and capture the District 3 Class 6A boys basketball title at Giant Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Trojans trailed by 15 (34-19) late in the third quarter, but from that point on outscored the Red Knights 24-12, fueled by six long-range bombs.
“I told the kids I was proud of them for not giving up,” Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. “Our kids did not fold and we started doing the little things we do and allowed us to make it a close game.”
Cade Brindle and Seth Brouse hit back-to-back threes before the third quarter began, then Noah Beidel got hot. His first 3-pointer brought the Trojans to within 38-32. It was a play in which Reading had three players back in transition and Beidel was the only Chambersburg player on that side of mid-court, but he was given room and drilled the shot.
“In practice we do a lot of drills like 3-on-4 when we’re running down the court, and coach has said if we see them backing off, pull the trigger,” Beidel said.
Ricki Lopez, who scored Reading’s final eight points, and the Trojans’ Joel Torres traded layups, then after a missed free throw, Beidel drained another bomb with 32 seconds left to make it 42-40.
Chambersburg put on a full-court press and caused a loose ball. But as two defenders closed on the ball, a Red Knight got there first, spotted Lopez free underneath for a layup and it was 44-40 with 23 seconds left.
Shreffler said, “That one really hurt. If we could have gotten that ball or fouled them, it would have much better for us.”
Lopez then hit two foul shots after a Trojan miss to make it 46-40 with 16.1 left. Brindle sank a three from way beyond the arc with 4.4 left, and Chambersburg couldn’t foul until 1.5 remained.
The only hope was for R.J. Dixon to miss, get the rebound and throw in a long shot. He missed, Tyler Collier got the rebound … and he was fouled.
“We certainly pushed for a shooting foul there (for three shots),” Shreffler said. “That would have been exciting.”
The only chance, with 0.7 left, was for Collier to make the first and somebody tip in the second, but his first shot bounced out to end the game.
The biggest factor in the contest was the defense played by Reading on Chambersburg’s guards. The tight man-to-man, which included plenty of bumping and some hand checks, took the Trojans out of their offense and led directly to 15 first-half turnovers.
Beidel said, “We knew they’d be rough with us, but we got pushed around pretty hard. It changed the offense. They forced us to go the direction we didn’t want to go and we weren’t getting into our normal spots.”
“It took us a while to adjust to their physicality,” Shreffler said. “They made us push our offense further out than we’re used to.”
The result was a two-point second quarter, with the only points on a pair of Brindle free throws, that enabled the Red Knights to take a 19-12 halftime lead.
Shreffler said, “In the second half, we did much better at settling into who we are, and good things began to happen.
“I think we ran out of time. They’re a really good basketball team, but I think we had the momentum.”
Chambersburg (19-5) will play the third-place team from District 11 in the first round of the PIAA Tournament on Saturday, March 10. It will be the winner of a game between Emmaus and Pocono Mountain West, which was pushed back to Monday.
Reading (24-4) will play the District 1-10 team, Bensalem.
NOTES: Torres led the Trojans with 15 points and Brindle added 12 … Lopez and Wesley Butler each had 10 for Reading … Chambersburg ended up with 20 turnovers; the Knights had 12 … Shooting stats (courtesy of Mike Bullock) — Trojans 14 of 34 (41%) and 7 of 17 from 3-point range; Reading 18 of 39 (46%) and 3-for-10 from the arc.
Reading 46, Chambersburg 43
CHAMBERSBURG
Noah Beidel 3 0-0 9, Ethan Shreffler 0 0-0 0, Seth Brouse 1 0-0 3, Cota Heckman 0 0-0 0, Cade Brindle 4 2-2 12, Tyler Collier 1 2-3 4, Evan Shreffler 0 0-0 0, Terell Williams 0 0-0 0, Tyron Williams 0 0-0 0, Joel Torres 5 4-5 15. Totals 14 8-10 43.
READING
R.J. Dixon 1 0-1 3, Xavier Sparks 3 1-2 9, Wesley Butler 5 0-0 10, Bobby Heath 1 2-2 4, Larry Wingo 2 0-2 4, Daniel Colter 2 2-2 6, Ricki Lopez 4 2-2 10. Totals 18 7-11 46.
Chambersburg 10 2 13 18 — 43
Reading 9 10 17 10 — 46
3-point shots — Chbg 7 (Beidel 3, Brindle 2, Brouse, Torres); Read 3 (Starks 2, Dixon).