PIAA 6A boys basketball: Coatesville’s season ends with upset loss to Chambersburg

CALN — The Coatesville boys basketball team’s stay in the PIAA 6A playoffs was an unexpected short one. Saturday afternoon at a packed Ross Kershey Gymnasium, visiting Chambersburg – the fifth seed from District 3 – shocked the favored Red Raiders 57-49.

The Trojans (20-7 overall) will now play Pittsburgh Central Catholic in Wednesday’s second round at a time and place to be determined, while the Raiders season comes to an end with a 22-7 mark.

Coatesville shot a frigid 18-for-51 from the field and Chambersburg led from start to finish. Grayson Kegerreis led the Trojans with 19 points, including four three-pointers. Malachi Duhaney chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

“I think our defense was really good and the reason we won today,” Kegerreis said. “And when we had the ball we moved it around well and found the open man. They started to trap us and we turned the ball over a few times but I thought we moved well without the ball and found the open man.

“It was great to play in front of a loud and crowded crowd like this. I love to compete and this place was going nuts. It is a good win for us because they are a very good team.”

Chambersburg had a 27-16 lead at halftime as Coatesville shot just six-for-27 from the field in the first half. Super sophomore Colton Hiller had a game high 24 points but no other Raiders player hit double figures. Larry Brown, who fouled out in the third period, had just four points for the game.

The Raiders outscored the Trojans 16-13 in the third period to cut the Chambersburg lead to 40-32 at the end of three periods. It looked like Coatesville would rally in the fourth period as Hiller drained a long three-pointer at the start of the period to make it 40-35.

After a Trojans turnover – one of 16 on the day – Brown scored on a follow and the lead was down to 50-47 with 6:03 to play.

Chambersburg did not panic, however, as the pro-Coatesville crowd was roaring. Colton Cornwell scored in tight to make it 52-47 with 5:34 to play.

After Hiller missed in tight, Kegerreis drained a three-pointer to open a six point lead with just 4:26 to play. Hiller then came down and drove the lane and scored to make it 45-41 with 4:12 to play.

The Trojans got a big basket from Duhaney down low to make it 47-41 with 4:06 to go. Coatesville was looking for Hiller every time down the floor at this point and when he scored in the paint, the lead was down to 47-45 with 2:10 to go.

“I thought our defense was very good and Hiller is a tremendous player,” Trojans coach Shawn Shreffler said. “We had a great week of preparation for this game and our coaches did a great job trying to simulate what they do well. And the kids went out and believed in themselves and they executed very well.”

Chambersburg became very deliberate at this point and elected to pass the ball around in an effort to milk the clock. It found a chink in the Raiders defense when Seth Gilliam found Duhanney for an inside bucket for a 51-47 lead with just 1:03 on the clock.

After a Hiller miss, the Trojans came down the floor and Angelo Onomastico was fouled. He drained both from the free throw line and the Trojans had a six point lead with 39.7 seconds to go.

The Raiders got Hiller a good look but his shot rimmed out with 31.2 seconds to go. Gilliam was then fouled and split a pair from the line to make it 54-47.

Coatesville got two made free throws from Elijiah Walton, but Kegerreis hit one of two free throws for a 55-49 lead with 19 seconds to go. Coatesville came down the floor, Hiller missed on a three-pointer, and it was the Trojans who shocked the PIAA world with a 57-49 win.

“I cannot pinpoint why we shot so bad today,” Coatesville coach John Allen said. “They did some nice things on defense but we did not shoot well obviously. This really hurts.

“We have been waiting 25 years to go all the way and all the effort and hours you put in to get there and it all ends so abruptly. It really hurts a lot.”

Chambersburg 57, Coatesville 49

CHAMBERSBURG – Onomastico 1 4-4 6, Cornwell 1 4-4 6, Myers 0 0-0 0, Kegerreis 6 3-3 19, Gipe 0 0-0 0, Rudy 0 2-2 2, Buhrman 1 4-7 6, Duhaney 5 0-0 10, Giliam 3 1-2 8. Totals 17 18-23 57.

COATESVILLE – Brown 2 0-0 4, Allegra 1 0-0 2, C. Hiller 8 8-10 24, Allen-Brown 1 0-0 2, Thedford 3 1-3 8, Walton 0 2-2 2, M. Hiller 1 0-0 2, Williams 2 1-2 5, Ruffin 0 0-0 0, Towles 0 0-0 0, Chester 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-17-49.

Chambersburg 11 16 13 17 – 57

Coatesville 6 10 16 17 – 49

Three-pointers: Kegerreis 4, Gilliam, Thedford.