CHAMBERSBURG — There was nothing remotely easy about Chambersburg's win over Red Lion on Tuesday night.
Andon Martin
(photo by Chris Shatzer)
The Trojans had to dig deep in the second half — especially in the fourth period — to finally put away the stubborn Lions in a District 3 Class 6A first-round playoff game at CASHS Field House.
No. 6 seed Chambersburg (17-5) will now travel on Friday to play at No. 3 Central Dauphin (15-4) in a quarterfinal game. It'll be the third meeting between the teams in the last 21 days, with the Rams taking the first two. The winner goes to the semifinals and qualifies for the PIAA Tournament; the loser goes into the consolation round and the top 7 teams reach states.
Red Lion, which bows out with an 18-7 record, took the lead early in the second quarter and held it, or was tied for the lead, until early in the fourth.
"As the second half wore on, I think we got tougher and tougher and tougher," Trojan coach Shawn Shreffler said. "We locked in better against their defense and we made a lot of hustle plays — like rebounds, getting stops and getting second chances."
No player embodied that trait more than Andon Martin, who matched his career high with 11 points, made several key assists and steals, kept the ball alive numerous plays and battled under the boards where there was a war going on in the last several minutes of the game.
Shreffler said, "Andon just didn't want to lose, and you could see that in his play."
Chambersburg trailed 25-22 at the half, thanks to a second quarter in which Red Lion made all seven of its field goal attempts (a pair of threes and five layups) and stymied the Trojans with a 3-2 zone defense that disrupted their offense.
"They really surprised us with the zone — they had not played it that much at all," Shreffler said. "There was a lot of chess going on. We were not attacking it with the right formation, or when we were, we were not executing it correctly. And on offense, they moved really well without the basketball and they exposed us when we made bad defensive plays."
Chambersburg tightened up considerably on defense in the second half. The Lions hit 11 of 14 attempts in the first half, but only 6 of 19 in the second, and scored just 16 points.
Martin hit a pair of threes in the third and assisted on a bucket by J.J. Kelly that tied the score 33-33 after three periods.
Carter Fogal buried a trey to open the fourth for Chambersburg's first lead since the opening period, but Sammy Vaught (11 points) evened it up. Then Jacob Bassham scored five consecutive points on a fast break after Martin stole the ball and passed upcourt to him, and on a putback (and one) after Martin kept the ball alive. Bassham then fed Shearer on a drive with 1:30 to go to put the Trojans ahead 43-36.
Evan Watt (17 points) then canned a three for the Lions to get them within four. Shearer missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Kelly rebounded a missed shot and was fouled. His two free throws with 0:07 left put the game out of reach.
It was a physical game and the officials "let 'em play" — Chambersburg was 6-for-7 at the line and Red Lion hit only 1 of 4 free throws. Bassham also scored 11 for the Trojans, Shearer had 9 and Kelly 8.
"Thanks to the fans," Shreffler said. "It was a great home crowd."
Chambersburg 45, Red Lion 41
RED LION
Evan Watt 7 0-0 17, Sammy Vaught 4 1-2 11, Masen Urey 2 0-2 4, Joe Sedora 3 0-0 7, Ian James 0 0-0 0, Will Scott 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 1-4 41.
CHAMBERSBURG
Jacob Bassham 4 1-1 11, Carter Fogal 1 0-0 2, Eli Shearer 4 1-2 9, Jai'tavius Kelly 3 2-2-8, Ian Stewart 1 0-0 3, Andon Martin 3 2-2 11, James Lilley 0 0-0 0, Nevin Yeager 0 0-0 0, Noah Yeager 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-7 45.
Red Lion 9 16 8 8 — 41
Chambersburg 12 10 11 12 — 45
3-poknt shots — RL 6 (Watt 3, Vaught 2, Sedora); Chbg 7 (Martin 3, Bassham 2, Fogal, Stewart). Shooting — RL 17-33 (51.5%); Chbg 16-34 (47%). Turnovers — RL 12; Chbg 11.
