YORK — Chambersburg played just the way it had hoped to for a little more than one quarter.

Playing at No. 2 seed Central York in a District 3 Class 6A quarterfinal game on Friday night, the No. 7 Trojans outplayed the Panthers early, frustrating them on defense and getting scoring from inside and out. But Central outscored the Trojans in each of the last 3 quarters and won, 68-59.

Colton Cornwell

Chambersburg had a 13-2 run that bridged the first and second quarter and led 23-10.

But then defensive specialist Josh Rudy hit the court hard after a missed fast break layup and had to come out of the game with an injury, and several Trojan players had to also take a seat on the bench with foul trouble, including Malachi Duhaney, who had scored 8 in the first quarter.

“Josh going down really hurt us because we were depending on him for defense,” Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. “We had the matchups we wanted and we were getting stops. But not having him changed the matchups, and they were smart enough to take advantage of several of those new matchups.”

Central York also got more aggressive on defense, especially with some of the Trojans’ ballhandlers on the bench. Seven second-period turnovers fueled the Panthers’ offense, which reeled the score back to 30-27 in Chambersburg’s favor by halftime.

“Getting in foul trouble and having so many guys on the bench was a huge factor, too,” Shreffler said. “You have to be really, really strong with the basketball, poised and connected to avoid those turnovers against a defense like that.”

The Panthers frequently trapped the man with the ball and cut off the passing lanes, making it hard to find any rhythm on offense. Chambersburg made a total of 21 turnovers.

Trojan guard Colton Cornwell said, “They made it tough to control the pace of the game because of their quickness defending. They made it hard to flash to the ball. We worked against it in practice, but it’s hard to replicate it.”

Central York took its first lead, 32-31, on a 3-pointer by Ryan Brown (28 points) with 6 minutes left in the third period. The teams then went back-and-forth the rest of the third, with the Panthers ahead 45-44 at the end.

Early in the fourth, trailing 51-48, Chambersburg missed two free throws. Then Brown scored on a drive, a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in a 7-2 run to make it 58-50, and the Trojans never got closer than 7 from that point on.

The only Chambersburg points in that short run were significant because it was Cornwell that made the shot, at the end of a breakaway in which he pocketed a baseline jumper from a tough angle.

That gave him his 1000th and 1001st points of his career.

“Yeah, I knew I needed 16 tonight to get it,” Cornwell said. “You can’t not think about it, but I was just doing what the team needed.”

Shreffler said, “This year especially, Colton has been very efficient — he’s not just hunting points. He plays within the framework of our offense, and he always helps with ballhandling, rebounding and defense. It was nice to see him get this milestone.”

Central York had trouble covering Duhaney inside, and he dinged them for 21 points, a career high. Cornwell finished with 17 points and Buhrman added 8. For Central, Kylar Landis contributed 10 points and Dylan Funk had 9.

Chambersburg (17-7) will face No. 6 seed Wilson (16-8) at Wilson on Monday at 7 p.m. The Trojans will need two wins to claim 5th place. Central York (22-3) will take on No. 3 Red Lion (21-3) on Tuesday in a semifinal at home.

Central York 68, Chambersburg 59
CHAMBERSBURG
Josh Rudy 0 0-0 0, Aedan Walker 0 0-0 0, Grayson Kegerreis 1 0-0 3, Jarrett Gipe 0 0-0 0, Angelo Onomastico 1 3-4 6, Colton Cornwell 4 7-12 17, Malachi Duhaney 10 1-2 21, Landon Buhrman 1 6-8 8, Seth Gilliam 2 0-0 4, Brennen Smith 0 0-0 0, Daryan Myers 0 0-0 0, Brady Truett 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 17-26 59.
CENTRAL YORK 
Ryan Brown 9 7-12 28, Ryan Jackson 3 0-0 6, Kylar Landis 2 5-8 10, Doug Layer 2 0-0 4, Savien Vanable 3 0-0 8, Wes Miller 0 1-2 1, Alexander Dodson 0 0-0 0, Dylan Funk 3 2-2 9, Brayden Burt 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 16-26 67.
Chambersburg         20     10     14     15     —     59
Central York                8     19     18     22     —     67
3-point shots — Chbg 4 (Cornwell 2, Kegerreis, Onomastico); CY 8 (Brown 3, Vanable 2, Landis, Layer, Funk). Shooting — Chbg 19-48 (39.5%); CY 22-52 (42%). Turnovers — Chbg 21; CY 9.