Chambersburg may have lost its PIAA Class 6A first-round basketball game against Lower Merion, but the Trojans certainly gained plenty of respect in doing so.
Andon Martin
(photo by Chris Shatzer)
The Aces, ranked No. 9 in the state and the District 1 champion, playing on their home court — Kobe Bryant Gymnasium, no less — got off to a good start, but couldn't shake Chambersburg the rest of the way. In the end, Lower Merion emerged with a 64-60 victory Wednesday night, ending the Trojans' season with an 18-8 record.
"I am really proud of how our guys fought and battled the whole game," Chambersburg coach Shawn Shreffler said. "It turned out to be a really good game. In the beginning, we had some trouble adjusting to the atmosphere. If you weren't there, it is hard to describe it — it was a smaller gym and it was packed, and half of one side was filled with their students and their players were right in our guys' faces."
Led by 6-foot-9 Penn State recruit Demetrius Lilley, who ended up with 30 points, the Aces (25-3) jumped out to a 10-2 lead and still led 15-8 after one quarter, with Lilley scoring 10 of those points.
"We thought we could get the upset," Trojan guard Eli Shearer said, "but they had a good start. Then we got it rolling, but we just didn't do enough at the end."
Guard Jacob Bassham said, "We felt confident before the game, but they had the edge at the start. We turned it on in the second quarter."
And Bassham led the charge. After Lower Merion took its largest lead of the night at 20-8, Bassham hit a jumper in the lane and then produced a three-point play. He had four more points before halftime and Chambersburg crawled back to within 29-25 at the break.
By that time, Lilley had scored 20 points.
Shreffler said, "You have to get him into an area where he can't get at the rim, but tonight he was constantly at the rim. A three-second call at some point might have moved him out of there, but it didn't happen. And it makes him really hard to guard."
Chambersburg came out of the locker room on a tear, though, with James Lilley knocking down a jumper in the lane and Bassham hitting a corner jumper for three to give his team the lead. J.J. Kelly then cashed in a jumper and it was 32-29 in the Trojans' favor. A Kelly layup and a Bassham jumper made it 35-33.
But then the Aces got back in front 38-35. But the Trojans weren't done — Bassham swished another bomb and Kelly scored on an offensive rebound for a 40-38 advantage. A three from Sam Wright, a drive by Peter Gribben, two free throws for Sam Brown and a putback by Lilley put the Aces up 47-40 and the closest the Trojans could get the rest of the way was three points, 57-54 with 1:07 left.
LM then missed a shot, but an Aces player tipped the rebound out to a teammate, and they ended up getting two foul shots from Brown to pretty much seal the win.
Shreffler said, "We forced that missed shot, but they got the rebound — that really hurt our momentum. Had we controlled that loose ball, that would have made a difference."
Lower Merion once it got the lead early in the fourth, went to a spread offense and used it for buckets on three straight possessions.
"That spread was hard to defend," Shearer said. "They had four guards and we had two bigs and they moved the ball well."
Bassham said, "I think a lot of our guys played well tonight. I just wish we could have extended the season for our seniors. It was lots of fun playing with this team this year."
"This was a fun group to work with," Shreffler said. "We were picked to finish near the bottom of the division, but it says a lot how much we proved to ourselves. Going into the playoffs, we only had one player with any playoff experience (Shearer), but now we'll have lots of guys back who have been there. This season was a huge testament to the players."
NOTES: Shearer (14 points), Andon Martin (11), James Lilley (4) and Nevin and Noah Yeager are seniors for the Trojans … Kelly also had 12 points as the Trojans put four players in double figures … Brown, son of former Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown, scored 13 points. … The Aces were 17 of 21 from the free throw line; Chambersburg was 3-for-5.
Lower Merion 64, Chambersburg 60
CHAMBERSBURG
Jacob Bassham 7 1-1 19, Carter Fogal 0 0-0 0, Eli Shearer 5 2-4 14, Jai'tavius Kelly 6 0-0 12, Ian Stewart 0 0-0 0, Andon Martin 4 0-0 110, James Lilley 2 0-0 4, Nevin Yeager 0 0-0 0, Noah Yeager 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 3-5 60.
LOWER MERION
Jaylen Shippen 0 1-2 1, Justin Poles 2 0-0 4, Sam Brown 2 7-8 13, Demetrius Lilley 13 4-5 30, Sam Wright 2 3-4 8, Peter Gribben 2 0-0 4, Henry Bard 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 17-21 64.
Chambersburg 8 16 18 17 — 60
Lower Merion 15 14 18 1`7 — 64
3-point shots — Chbg 9 (Bassham 4, Martin 3, Shearer 2); LM — 3 (Brown 2, Wright). Shooting — Chbg 24-63 (38%); LM 22-56 (39%). Turnovers — Chbg7; LM 5.
