WAYNESBORO – In the game of basketball, when a team is gifted with tall players, they should make maximum use of them.
The Chambersburg Trojans had two of them – Emily Forrester (6-foot-2) and Riley Evans (6-3). Both made big impacts on the Waynesboro Maidens, who could not answer at the other end.
The result was a 52-33 Chambersburg win in the season finale on Senior Night. Waynesboro, who finished 11-11 under first-year head coach Tyler Stoner, had just one senior on the team, and that was Gracie French.
“We knew coming into the game that they were really big,” Stoner said of the Trojans. “They kind of beat us up in the paint, and they made some timely shots.”
Evans made a layup to open the scoring. Forrester scored five straight points, including a conventional three-point play. The two combined for nine points in the second quarter, and the Forrester-Evans show continued throughout the second half. Forrester put up 14 second-half points.
“We’ve struggled scoring at different times this year,” said Stoner, whose team was limited to just one shot on many of their possessions. “Some of our best scoring opportunities are when we create turnovers. We weren’t doing that.”
Breanna McIlquham made a three-point field goal six to give the Maidens a brief 3-2 lead in the early moments. French sank a three-pointer to make it 7-6, and McIlquham made a put-back shot to make it 9-8. The Trojans scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to take a 15-10 lead. French ended Waynesboro’s scoring in the first frame.
Marissa Hedin scored off a pass from Nikki Davis to open the second quarter. However, rather than seizing any type of momentum off the points, the Maidens missed the next two shots and committed back-to-back turnovers as Chambersburg extended the lead to 21-12. A second-chance basket by Evans made it 23-12.
Waynesboro’s Addie Shaull hit a three, and Davis made a layup, but the Trojans ended the Maidens short run with buckets by Forrester and Ella Parker to give the visitors a 29-17 lead at halftime.
Points were few and far between for Waynesboro in the second half. It was 33-17 before Davis connected for two points with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Charlotte Rhodes made a three-pointer after the Trojans built a 36-19 lead following two free throws by Forrester.
McIlquham made good on a three-point shot, while Genesis Alvarez scored on a close-range shot, but Chambersburg still enjoyed a cozy lead of 44-28 at the end of three periods.
Said Stoner of his first season as head coach: “It goes quick. One minute you’re looking up and saying ‘We get to do this 20 more times.’ And the next minute you’re doing it for the last time of the season.”
