Henry Shearer
CHAMBERSBURG — As Chambersburg continues its torrid streak of basketball, it has pushed past many other Mid Penn Commonwealth Division contenders.
Now there is only Cumberland Valley left.
The Trojans gave Central Dauphin a heavy dose of payback Friday night at CASHS Field House by handing the Rams a 57-41 defeat for their 10th victory in the last 11 games.
With four games left in the regular season, Chambersburg (14-4, 9-3 MPC) is tied with CV (14-3, 9-3) for the division lead, and CD, State College and Harrisburg all have four division losses. It was expected to be a free-for-all in the Commonwealth, and that has certainly proven to be true.
“When we started the season, we weren’t really settled and we had a lot more room to grow than maybe some of the other teams,” Trojan coach Shawn Shreffler said. “I think we still do — there are still a lot of improvements we can make.”
Central Dauphin (12-5, 8-4 MPC), which beat Chambersburg by seven just before the holiday break, took a 16-10 lead early in the second period on a putback by De’von Haggans.
But the Trojans turned up the defense, got CD in foul trouble and ripped off 14 straight points to lead 24-16. Ethan Shreffler opened the barrage with a 3-pointer and Terell Williams made a steal for a bucket and was 4-for-4 at the line during the run.
And, after CD finally scored, Henry Shearer banged in a three for emphasis.
The Rams never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Early in the fourth, CD’s Tyrese Fuller made a three-point play to bring his team to within 41-35. But at the other end, Chambersburg milked the clock for almost a minute before Seth Brouse drilled a dagger of a 3-pointer.
“That three by Seth was a big shot,” Shawn Shreffler said, “and it was nice to see him take it. It was awesome.”
From there, it was a steady diet of good defense (CD was 3-for-17 from the field in the final period), excellent rebounding at both ends by Williams, Ty Holsopple and Tyler Collier and an advantage at the foul line that preserved the lead.
A slick drive by Williams (12 points) and two layups by Holsopple (career-high 17 points) after the Trojans broke the Rams’ press finished them off.
Williams, speaking about his team’s good stretch of play, said, “We’re working our offense at getting the ball to our bigs — Tyler and Ty and Max Doctor off the bench. And on defense, we’re communicating and helping each other out.”
Chambersburg has won six straight games, and in those games, opponents are averaging only 39.7 points.
At times, the Rams were able to drive into the lane and dish off for a layup, but plenty of other times, the Trojans were able to contest that pass.
“We got quite a few deflections,” Shreffler said. “They attack the basket well, so those deflections were key.”
The other big factor Friday was rebounding. CD rarely got a second chance and the Trojans grabbed plenty of offensive boards, Holsopple being particularly active.
Shreffler said, “I think we’re becoming a better rebounding team, and Holsopple was extremely hard-working tonight. In the first (CD) game, they were really aggressive on the boards and I think Ty took that personally. But tonight his motor was really running high and he converted some rebounds into points.”
“We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first game,” Williams said, “but tonight we boxed out better and had more guys crashing the boards.”
NOTES: While the Trojans sank 17 of 26 free throws, CD was just 5 of 12 … Both teams had 18 field goals … Ryan Smith led the Rams with 10 points … In the second half, Chambersburg was 10-for-20 from the field; CD was 7-for-26.
Chambersburg 57, Central Dauphin 41
CENTRAL DAUPHIN
Tyrese Fuller 3 1-1 7, Vincent Gambelunge 0 0-2 0, Jaraud Smith 2 0-0 4, Darrien Berrios-Rivera 1 1-2 4, Rance Russo 2 2-4 7, Ryan Smith 5 0-1 10, De’von Haggans 4 1-2 9. Totals 18 5-12 41.
CHAMBERSBURG
Braden Byers 0 0-0 0, Ethan Shreffler 1 0-0 3, Seth Brouse 1 3-4 6, Aaron Maynard 1 1-2 3, Tyler Collier 4 0-2 8, Kyere Morton 1 0-0 3, Henry Shearer 2 0-0 5, Max Doctor 0 0-0 0, Ty Holsopple 6 5-8 17, Terell Williams 2 8-10 12. Totals 18 17-26 57.
Central Dauphin 12 10 10 9 — 41
Chambersburg 8 19 12 18 — 57
3-point shots — CD 2 (Russo, Berrios-Rivera); Chbg 4 (Shreffler, Brouse, Morton, Shearer).