JOHNSTOWN — The defense was just as good — maybe even better — than advertised.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic combined a stifling defense, an opportunistic offense and board superiorty to end Chambersburg’s season Wednesday night at U. Pitt-Johnstown.

Grayson Kegerreis

The Vikings led 33-25 at halftime, then produced a 7-2 run to start the third to put a stranglehold on a PIAA Class 6A second round game by a 54-38 score.

“That was the best defense we’ve seen this year,” Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. “They were physical, they were tough and they were relentless.”

And the Vikings got even better in the second half, holding the Trojans to just 13 points, not surprising because Chambersburg took only 9 shots in the half (and 28 for the game).

The Trojans finished with a record of 20-8. On the bright side, it was Chambersburg’s fourth straight season in the state’s Sweet 16.

“This senior class has just been so good,” Shreffler said. “It’s obvious with the siuccess we’ve had — they’re responsible for that. It’s a very good group of kids who have done so much for this program.”

Grayson Kegerreis did his best to keep Chambersburg in the game early, tossing in 10 points in the first quarter to keep within 14-12 — but the Vikings held him to 7 points the rest of the way.

Shreffler said, “We had some great looks early that we didn’t make and that would have kept it tighter. But once they spread (the score) out a little, we knew it would be tough, because they are extremely tough to come back on.”

Despite being undersized, Central Catholic won the rebounding battle, another factor that prevented the Trojans from going on any kind of catch-up run.

“I don’t know the stats, but I know rebounding was pretty one-sided,” Shreffler said.

There seemed to be a a lot of long rebounds, and appeared that the Vikings got almost all of them.

Shreffler said, “They are a team with nine seniors, and they’re very mature and physical. Just a solid basketball team. I don’t think we played our best game, and we couldn’t put much pressure on them.”

NOTES: Colton Cornwell added 9 points for Chambersburg … For Central Catholic, Christian Williams led with 14 points, Enzo Khalil had 13 and Jack Stoessel added 11 … The Vikings (24-3) will now play Upper St. Clair (25-1) on Saturday in a quarterfinal … Cornwell, Kegerreis, Landon Buhrman and Josh Rudy were the Trojans’ senior starters.

Pittsburgh Central Cathoilc 54, Chambersburg 38
CENTRAL CATHOLIC
Jack Stoessel 3 4-5 11, Enzo Khalil 6 0-0 13, Alex Betancourt-Jones 1 0-0 2, Danny Haller 2 0-0 4, Christian Williams 6 2-3 14, Ryan Hower 1 1-2 4, Owen Campfield 1 4-4 6. Totals 20 11-14 54.
CHAMBERSBURG
Josh Rudy 0 1-2 1, Aedan Walker 0 0-0 0, Grayson Kegerreis 4 6-8 17, Jarrett Gipe 0 0-0 0, Angelo Onomastico 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 3 2-2 9, Cooper Stockslager 0 0-0 0, Malachi Duhaney 2 2-2 6, Landon Buhrman 1 1-1 3, Seth Gilliam 0 2-2 2, Brennen Smith 0 0-0 0, Daryan Myers 0 0-0 0, Brady Truett 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 12-18  38.
Pitt. Central Catholic     14     19     13     10     —     54
Chambersburg               12     13       7       6     —     38
3-point shots — PCC 3 (Stoessel, Kahlil, Hower); Chbg 4 (Kegerreis 3, Cornwell). Shooting — PCC 20-43 (47%); Chbg 10-28 (36%). Turnovers — PCC 12; Chbg 17.