CHAMBERSBURG — It was not the same kind at all like the first time Carlisle and Chambersburg met this year.

But the result was the same, a Mid Penn Commonwealth win for the Trojans.

Eli McDonald

The first meeting, at Carlisle, might have been Chambersburg’s best game and it ran away with a 73-46 mercy-rule win. This time was more of a challenge, but it ended up in a 54-43 victory at CASHS Field House on Thursday night.

“They played man-to-man the whole game tonight,” Trojan point guard Colton Cornwell said, “while last time they played zone.”

Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said, “The first game we played really well and they didn’t. Then they smacked CV in their next game. They just recently lost to Harrisburg and came back to smack Penn Manor, so we know they bounce back well. We were just making the guys didn’t think this game would be like the last one.”

It was not. The Thundering Herd (13-7, 8-6 MPC) fell behind 11-4 after one quarter, but played well on defense, got going in the second at the other end and took a lead of 18-17 on Parker Smith’s 3-pointer. But that was their final taste of the lead.

From that point, the Trojans went on a 22-4 run for a 39-22 lead at the start of the fourth period. They outscored the Herd 16-3 in the third. Carlisle’s defense was decent, but the Herd shot only 28% from the field and that was their downfall.

Shreffler said, “We really played well on offense in the third quarter. We were focused on one play at a time and executing well. Colton did really well as a field general, keeping the pace up and making some nice passes for scores.”

Cornwell said, “They were overplaying J.J. (Kelly) were trying to get him in foul trouble. But that opened up some other things for us. I was able to get some assists because I had the ball in my hand a lot and I was able to distribute it to other guys.”

Kelly had his usual bunch of highlights. He blocked 4 shots. He scored 13 points in the third quarter, including a 4-point play to end the quarter — a drive and basket, a flagrant foul on Carlisle and a pair of free throws. He had a dunk to open the fourth period after Ayden Silvestre passed to him off the backboard, and another later when he followed in a missed shot with a dunk.

Oh, and he scored 26 points.

Only four Trojans scored, but Eli McDonald and Cornwell each had 10 points and Landon Buhrman added 8.

Chambersburg also played without starter Josh Rudy (out sick), so Shreffler used bench players Ben Etter, Silvestre and Tyrell Hawkins, for plenty of productive minutes, even though they didn’t score.

“Those three guys really stepped up, and the other kids were excited for them when we came in the locker room,” Shreffler said.

NOTES: Chambersburg is 16-4 and ends with an 11-3 Commonwealth mark … The Trojans are likely to jump over Wilson for the No. 4 seed in the District 3 6A rankings, and can hold that spot if they can defeat Waynesboro on Monday at home in their last regular season game … A top-four seed guarantees one home game and possibly two in the playoffs … Central York, Mechanicsburg and Cumberland Valley are ranked 1-2-3 currently.

Chambersburg 54, Carlisle 43
CARLISLE
Michael Hakim 2 3-4 5, J.D. Knight 0 0-0 0, Parker Smith 4 3-5 12, Luke Fischer 4 0-0 10, Lucas Ream 1 0-0 2, Masyn McMeekin 4 0-1 9, Isaiah Robinson 0 1-2 1, Tyler Royal 0 1-2 1, Julien Mastrangelo 0 0-0 0, Paxton Foreman 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 8-14 43.
CHAMBERSBURG
Aeden Walker 0 0-0 0, Ayden Silvestre 0 0-0 0, Eli McDonald 4 2-2 10, Ben Etter 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 3 2-2 10, J.J. Kelly 10 6-10 26, Cooper Stockslager 0 0-0 0, Landon Buhrman 4 0-0 8, Tyrell Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Paulo Ayibotele 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-12 54.
Carlisle                          4     15       3     21     —     43
Chambersburg          11     10     16     17     —     54
3-point shots — Car 5 (Fischer 2, Smith, McMeekin, Foreman); Chbg 2 (Cornwell 2. Shooting — Car 15-53 (28.3%); ; Chbg 21-48 (43.8%). Turnovers — Car 10; Chbg 13.