CHAMBERSBURG — Shawn Shreffler would have had a hard time finding anything negative to say about his team Friday night.
So he didn't.
Chambersburg put together a lightning 10-0 run in the first quarter to take the lead and never let Central Dauphin East get closer than five points the rest of the way in a 60-47 Mid Penn Commonwealth win at CASHS Field House.
Colton Cornwell
"I liked a lot of things tonight," Shreffler said. "I liked how connected we were. I liked how physical we were on the boards. We had active hands on defense. We shared the basketball with one another and we shared responsibilities when they put the pressure on — guys came to help their teammates."
The turning point in the game came early. The Panthers led 9-6 when a quick surge of 10 consecutive points put the Trojans (11-4, 7-3 MPC) in control.
Colton Cornwell nailed a 3-pointer, then J.J. Kelly fired in his third three for a 12-9 lead. On a fast break, Kelly found a wide-open Jermere Jones, who slammed in a fast-break basket. After an East turnover, Kelly took an alley-oop pass from Ari Snyder and jammed it home. Cornwell capped the big-time run with a rebound basket to make the score 16-6.
"I thought, all-around, Colton had a strong game tonight," Shreffler said. "Not just the scoring; he did things with urgency, plus he played well on the glass and he sees the floor so well."
The 15 points Cornwell scored was his second-highest total this season.
At the end of the third quarter, East (4-10, 2-9 MPC) had pulled to within 41-35, but Kelly swished his fourth 3-pointer of the game just before the buzzer to give his team a lift.
Buckets by Kelly on a baseline jumper, Cornwell on a solo fast break, Jones on a layup (assisted by Snyder) and a layup through traffic by Snyder made it 52-37, then Snyder pumped in a three for a 55-38 lead to seal the win.
"Ari isn't able to do a lot of basketball in the offseason, but he is just getting better and better," Shreffler said. "He even said to me tonight, 'Coach, I want the ball.'"
Kelly finished with 19 points, Jones contributed 13 and Landon Buhrman added 8.. For CD East, Alijah Cooper tallied 18 points.
Shreffler said, "We had a cool atmosphere here tonight with Youth Night. They got really loud at times.
"There was also that stretch in the second period when Jermere and J.J. were both out with two fouls and that could have changed the whole flow. But we maintained what we had built. That's getting good contributions from a lot of guys."
Chambersburg 60, CD East 47
CD EAST
Alijah Cooper 6 3-3 18, A.J. Cooper 2 0-0 5, Julian Lowens 1 2-2 4, Nassir Henry 0 0-0 0, Tra Jackson Copley 0 0-2 0, Chance Green 0 0-0 0, Dawan Fox 2 2-4 6, Eli Vega 3 0-0 7, Kevin Fox 2 0-0 5, Yan Kalonji 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-11 47.
CHAMBERSBURG
Ari Snyder 2 0-4 5, Grayson Kegerreis 0 0-0 0, Aden Swatsburg 0 0-0 0, Eli McDonald 0 0-0 0, Stan Lozius 0 0-0 0, Ben Etter 0 0-0 0, Colton Cornwell 6 2-2 15, J.J. Kelly 7 1-2 19, Landon Buhrman 3 2-2 8, Dylan Banda 0 0-0 0, Ethan Wolgemuth 0 0-0 0, Jermere Jones 6 1-3 13. Totals 24 6-11 60.
CD East 13 7 15 12 — 47
Chambersburg 18 11 15 16 — 60
3-point shots — CDE 6 (Al.Cooper 3, A.J. Cooper, Vega, K.Fox); Chbg 5 (Kelly 4, Cornwell). Shooting — CDE 17-46 37%); Chbg 24-47 (51%). Turnovers — CDE 15; Chbg 19.
