YORK — When a team shoots 67% from the field — including 10-for-18 from 3-point range — you know the opponent has a tough hill to climb.

J.J. Kelly

Central York, the defending PIAA 6A champion, used that shooting touch and its quickness to take a 20-point lead over Chambersburg by halftime, then held off the Trojans in the second half to take a 70-59 win in a District 3 semifinal in York on Tuesday night.

“We dug ourselves a hole early because they were tougher than us,” Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. “They were beating us to rebounds and loose balls and we were not contesting the threes very well. But they moved the ball very well and were efficient.”

The Trojans (19-5) will play Governor Mifflin on Thursday at CASHS Field House for third place in the district. A win in that game may lead to a first-round PIAA game at home on March 8.

The Panthers (26-2), who will meet Central Dauphin, 54-41 winners over Governor Mifflin, for a district title on Friday at Giant Center at 8 p.m., used their quickness early to cause some turnovers. But it was especially noticeable on offense — Central York moved the ball very quickly and got open shooters on the wings who rarely missed.

In the first half, the Panthers were 7-for-12 on threes, and it allowed them to open up a 20-point lead at halftime by scoring 14 of the last 18 points of the period. They also had 5 different players hit a 3-pointer (and 6 in the game).

Shreffler said, “It was a battle for rebounds, but they didn’t miss many shots. But I thought early there were a lot of 50-50 balls that we just didn’t get. That allowed them to get up court quickly.”

J.J. Kelly was held to just 4 points in the first half by the quick Central York defense, not allowing him to get many looks underneath.

But Kelly was relentless in the second half, scoring 9 Trojan points in a row at one point, ending up with 27 points. Landon Buhrman had a good night, too, scoring 8 of his 14 in the first half.

“We played better in the second half,” Shreffler said. “We wanted to win those last quarters, and we did (outscoring Central York 36-27 in the latter half).

“Now I just want to see how we respond to this (on Thursday). That’ll be a big game to bounce back in.”

The Panthers, who now have a 23-game winning streak at home, put 4 players in double figures — Ben Natal, Ben Rill and Byron Pinkney each had 14 and Ryan Jackson added 11.

Central York 70, Chambersburg 59
CHAMBERSBURG
Josh Rudy 1 0-0 2, Ayden Silvestre 0 0-0 0, Eli McDonald 1 0-0 2, Stanley Lozius 3 0-0 7, Ben Etter 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 3 0-0 7, J.J. Kelly 10 5-5 27, Landon Buhrman 7 0-0 14, Tyrell Hawkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 5-5 59.
CENTRAL YORK
Ben Natal 6 1-2 14, Ben Rill 5 3-4 14, Byron Pinkney 4 4-6 14, Ryan Brown 2 1-2 7, Kylar Landis 0 1-2 1, Doug Layer Jr. 2 1-2 6, Ryan Jackson 4 0-0 11. Totals 24 12-20 70.
Chambersburg                13     10     16     20     —     59
Central York                     21     22     13     14     —     70
3-point shots — Chbg 4 (Kelly 2, Lozius, Cornwell); CY 10 (Jackson 3, Brown 2, Pinkney 2, Natal, Rill, Layer Jr.). Shooting — Chbg 25-50 (50%); CY 24-36 (67%). Turnovers — Chbg 14; CY 10.