CHAMBERSBURG — Saddled with foul trouble, Landon Buhrman spent the majority of the game on the bench.
But the Chambersburg senior packed a lot of production into the final 19 seconds of a Mid Penn Commonwealth game Tuesday night at CASHS Field House against Harrisburg. His free throw with 0:01.6 left on the clock gave the Trojans a wild 75-74 victory over the relentless Cougars.
Landon Buhrman
With the score tied 74-74 with 51 seconds left, Chambersburg had possession and called a timeout. But when play resumed, Jaylon Lewis made the last of a series of steals. The Cougars took a timeout with 19 seconds left.
When play resumed, Buhrman deflected a pass intended for Nyerell Smith in the corner. Smith took a wild shot that Buhrman rebounded, and as he turned up court to try a desperation heave, Lewis tried for a steal and instead crashed right into Buhrman for a foul.
It was a gift too great to reject. Buhrman’s first free throw missed, and Harrisburg called a timeout to “ice” Buhrman.
This time he stepped up to the line and sank the shot to win the game.
“That timeout actually helped,” Buhrman said. “It calmed me down and I had a chance to refocus. I’ve never been in that situation before and it was surreal. I knew it was on me to make it.”
The teams went back-and-forth for most of the game. Chambersburg (8-4, 5-3 MPC) did have an 11-point lead at 35-24 in the second period. The the Cougars twice held 2-point leads in the final 3 minutes of the game — both times wiped out by a pair of Buhrman free throws.
Grayson Kegerreis
Each team had standout performances on offense. For the Trojans, Grayson Kegerreis was on target the whole game, knocking down six 3-pointers (on 7 attempts) on his way to a career-high 26 points. His pair of catch-and-shoot bombs from the corner were things of beauty.
Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said, “Grayson was certainly confident after he hit his first three. He missed practice with an injury last night and we didn’t know if he would be able to go tonight. I didn’t want to take him out because we didn’t want his injury to stiffen up. He ended up playing a lot of minutes and really helped out with the ballhandling, too.”
In the second quarter, with Colton Cornwell and Buhrman on the bench in foul trouble, Aedan Walker came in and swished a pair of 3-pointers. Malachi Duhaney totaled 14 points and scored in some key spots.
After Harrisburg went ahead 58-56 at the tail end of the third period, Duhaney’s 3-point play gave his team the lead again. After Cornwell made 4 technical foul shots to open the fourth quarter, Duhaney scored on a rebound for a 65-58 lead.
The Cougars’ Maurice Brown put up 28 points, including four long balls. Lewis was an absolute pest on defense, with quite a few steals, and added 23 points.
Harrisburg turned the ball over only 4 times, to 18 for Chambersburg. But the Trojans hit on 21 of 24 free throws to help make up for that.
The game was the complete opposite of the grind-it-out game last Friday against Carlisle. This time, the Trojans had to play at a very fast pace.
Cornwell (16 points, 8-for-8 at the line) said, “I think we can get out and run with anybody. But sometimes (like tonight) it is hard to get things slowed down. And we need to work on not turning the ball over.”
It was the 18th time in the last 19 meetings that Chambersburg has taken a win over the Cougars.
Chambersburg 75, Harrisburg 74
HARRISBURG
Jaylon Lewis 8 5-10 23, Nyerell Smith 2 2-2 7, Damir Arp 4 0-0 8, Trays Walker 2 2-2 6, Maurice Brown 10 4-5 28, Sincere Whitehead 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 13-19 74.
CHAMBERSBURG
Josh Rudy 0 0-0 0, Aedan Walker 2 0-0 6, Grayson Kegerreis 8 4-5 26, Jarrett Gipe 0 0-0 0, Angelo Onomastico 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 4 8-8 16, Malachi Duhaney 6 2-3 14, Landon Buhrman 1 7-8 9, Seth Gilliam 2 0-0 4, Brady Truett 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 21-24 75.
Harrisburg 17 17 24 16 — 74
Chambersburg 18 24 17 16 — 75
3-point shots — Harr 7 (Brown 4, Lewis 2, Smith); Chbg 8 (Kegerreis 6, Walker 2); Shooting — Harr 27-56 (48%); Chbg 23-43 (53%). Turnovers — Harr 4; Chbg 18.