BOYS BASKETBALL
Chambersburg 58, Central Dauphin East 56: It wasn’t exactly a smooth finish to the basketball game, but it was one the Trojans can put in the win column.

After a back-and-forth game, Chambersburg took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter and held off the Panthers despite a frantic ending (more on that later) Tuesday night at CASHS Field House.

Treyton Sarvis

Jacob Bassham hit a 3-pointer to give the Trojans (7-2, 3-1 MPC) the lead for good at 46-43, Sedrick Vessah scored 10 of his 14 points in the last period and J.J. Kelly calmly drained two clutch free throws with 10.4 seconds left to pretty much clinch the win.

“We would have liked to close it out a little prettier, but we managed to find a way,” Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. “We stayed locked in at the end, even though we did have some turnovers off their pressure.”

The game featured eight lead changes, but it was a 12-0 run by the Trojans in the third period that ultimately decided things. The Panthers (3-3, 2-2 MPC) had just taken a 34-29 lead on a jumper by Thurston Wells, causing Shreffler to take a timeout.

“What I told them was we just had to trust each other,” Shreffler said, “and we came out and had four baskets in a row with assists.”

Bassham made one of two free throws, then Kelly finished off a fast break with a layup, assisted by Treyton Sarvis. Jermere Jones made a layup, and Sarvis dropped in a three from the top of the key. Jones then assisted Kelly on a fast break slam that got the crowd going, and Jones finished it off with a short turnaround jumper.

Down the stretch, Vessah scored on a putback and a pair of 3-pointers, Bassham made both ends of a 1-and-1 and Kelly hit two free throws that made it 58-53 with 10.4 seconds left.

Then things came a little unglued.

East brought the ball upcourt in the hands of Alijah Cooper and a teammate set a (perhaps) legal screen for him that Bassham ran right into hard. Bassham went to the floor just before Cooper nailed a three.

It was 58-56 with 2.2 seconds left, but the Trojan fans were vocally not happy about the collision. While Bassham was attended to, the teams shared some unpleasantries, a pair of Panthers fans were ejected and both coaches were issued technicals.

When play resumed, Carter Fogal was fouled with 1.3 left. He missed both shots, but East’s final attempt was not close, ending the game.

But then the majority of Panther players entered the bleachers high behind their bench to accost some Chambersburg fans and it took a while for things to settle down.

Shreffler said, “This game was exactly what I expected. They are a very good, tough, physical and scrappy team and when you watch them on film, they play very connected to each other. They made some shots and didn’t make it easy for us to score.”

NOTES: The Trojans were only 14 of 27 at the foul line (52%) … Bassham scored 11 of his 21 points in the first period … Kelly had 13 points … For CDE, Terrance Copney-Jackson scored 18 and Cooper had 10.

Chambersburg 58, CD East 56
CD EAST
Terrance Copney-Jackson 7 0-0 18, Eli Vega 1 4-5 6, Josiah Stanley 3 0-0 6, Anthony Stevens 0 2-6 2, Thurston Wells 4 1-2 10, Alijah Cooper 5 3-3 14, Demetrius Matthews 0 0-1 0. Totals 20 10-16 58.
CHAMBERSBURG
Jacob Bassham 6 7-15 21, Ari Snyder 0 0-0 0, Carter Fogal 1 0-3 2, Stanley Lozius 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 0 0-0 0, J.J. Kelly 4 4-4 13, Aden Swatsburg 0 1-2 1, Sedrick Vessah 5 2-3 14, Talon Brewer 0 0-0 0, Treyton Sarvis 1 0-0 3, Jermere Jones 2 0-1 4. Totals 19 14-27 58.
CD East                         15    13      9    19    —    56
Chambersburg            14    13    14    17    —    58
3-point shots — CDE 6 (Copney-Jackson 4, Wells, Cooper); Chbg 6 (Bassham 2, Vessah 2, Kelly, Sarvis). Shooting — CDE 43% (20-47); Chbg 19-44 (43%). Turnovers — CDE 11; Chbg 13.