CHAMBERSBURG — Chambersburg never trailed in a 73-64 Mid Penn Commonwealth boys basketball win over Harrisburg … but it sure got tricky at one point in the fourth quarter.

Carter Fogal
(photo courtesy Chris Shatzer)

Jacob Bassham totaled 33 points and Eli Shearer put up 26 to carry the Trojans on Friday at CASHS Field House.

Chambersburg (3-1, 1-1 MPC) bolted to a 15-4 lead early and still led by 8 (34-26) when it went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter to take a 46-26 advantage. Bassham had the first five points of that run and Shearer scored the last seven.

The Cougars cut it to 49-33 after three periods, then went out and scored 31 points in the fourth quarter. Harrisburg (0-2, 0-2 MPC) got it as close as 55-52 with 3 1/2 minutes to go and they did it by absolutely pounding the offensive glass.

Trojan coach Shawn Shreffler, slowly shaking his head, said, “(Defensive rebounding) is something we’ll have to improve on and get better.”

After Bassham converted a pair of free throws, Carter Fogal buried a 3-pointer from the left corner with about 2:40 left to give his team a 60-54 lead. From that point on, Bassham was 6-for-6 and Shearer 4-for-4 at the line to keep the Cougars at bay.

The Trojans’ man-to-man defense early on gave Harrisburg fits and Chambersburg did well on the glass, too. But as the game wore on, the Cougars’ Janye Stanley got hot and plenty of second-chance points kept them alive.

Shreffler said, “Fogal hit that big three and he did an outstanding job on No. 3 (Stanley, who finished with 27 points) early to help take the pressure off the other guys. Nevin Yeager played awesome (took 2 charges) on defense, too. But there were some moments when those guys were off the floor and we need to have better balance on defense in those situations.

“We played pretty good man-to-man early, but we’re not where we need to be yet. We did take a step in the right direction tonight, though.”

Bassham knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 10 points in each of the third and fourth periods. His was the first Chambersburg 30-point effort since Joel Torres hit that number at Harrisburg about five years ago.

Shearer connected on a pair of threes and had multiple drives on which he thought he was fouled and the ball rolled off the rim.

“Jacob and Eli were pretty efficient on offense,” Shreffler said.

But after nearly blowing a 20-point lead at home, the team is still coming together.

“We have to get better … a lot better,” Trojan assistant coach Dennis Chamberlin said.

Chambersburg 73, Harrisburg 64
HARRISBURG
Samier Barton 1 0-0 2, Karl Singleton 1 0-0 2, Janye Stanley 10 3-4 27, Dontae John-Lewis 3 0-0 6, Ja’Reese Balkcom 0 2-2 2, Yehseir Holmes 1 1-2 3, Loyal Riley 3 1-1 8, Amir Jones 0 1-2 1, Simmeon Franklin 6 1-3 13. Totals 25 9-14 64.
CHAMBERSBURG
Jacob Bassham 10 9-10 33, Carter Fogal 2 0-1 5, Stanley Lozius 0 0-0 0, Eli Shearer 8 8-8 26, Jai’tavius Kelly 1 0-0 2, Ian Stewart 0 0-0 0, Andon Martin 1 2-2 4, James Lilley 0 0-0 0, Landen Simmons 0 0-0 0, Nevin Yeager 1 1-2 3, Noah Yeager 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 20-23 73
Harrisburg               6    14    13    31    —    64
Chambersburg       16    12    21    24    —   73
3-point shots — Harr 5 (Stanley 4, Riley); Chbg 7 (Bassham 4, Shearer 2, Fogal. Shooting — Harr — 25-55 (45%); Chbg 23-43 (53%). Turnovers — Harr 15; Chbg 19.