There is something intrinsic when it comes to Anna Chamberlain’s value to the North Hagerstown girls basketball team.
Sure, the senior can score, when needed. But points aside, the senior makes a difference on everything Hubs.
North is a different team when Chamberlain scores. They are a different team when she is sitting on the bench. And she is a different team when she is just on the floor taking up space.
“She’s a basketball player and has a high IQ,” said North coach Charles Burnett. “She knows if (teams) start to collapse on her, she has got other options. She’s good. She’s a blessing. We’re definitely going to miss her because she due for graduation.”
Chamberlain flashed all those attributes on Friday with 11 points in the North’s 44-35 win over South Hagerstown for the Hubs’ second win over the Rebels in three days.
On this night, Chamberlain was big with nine points in the first half.
The void was noticeable after she took the bench with about six minutes remaining in the game after receiving her fourth foul.
And when she returned 2 ½ minutes later, after South whittled 12 points off a 20-point advantage, she scored to keep the Rebels out of harm’s way.
“Like I said, she’s a Swiss Army knife,” Burnett said. “We try to capitalize on what they give us. We figured they’d play a 1-2-2 (zone), but they came out more of a 3-2. So, we had her starting on the low block, and just find her spots.
“I told her to be selfish, and take the good shots. She got the shots and the turnovers.”
Chamberlain scored nine of her 11 points in the first half, including seven in the second quarter. That was fine, but she had another job.
“We ran a similar gameplan to the one we ran on Wednesday and it worked out on us,” she said. “It’s kind of a flow. I know what the coaches are going to say about me, but I bring kind of an energy. … I’m just trying to help uplift the team.”
This energy was centered on two factors.
Chamberlain’s first job was to defense Aniya Freeman, South’s top scorer and offensive threat. The second was to fill a need in North’s lineup.
“A lot of it was on defense. (Burnett) had me help over because (Freeman) is big and she can drive,” Chamberlain said. “On Tuesday against Linganore, we lost our big, Mya (Henderson, sophomore center). She gets a lot of points for us. It meant that Eden (Shupp) and I were going to be the main bigs for the team.
“He kept putting me in to help out the team. And basically, we were running a similar play in the middle where I could shoot or pass it down. That was working well for us.”
Freeman did her part for the Rebels with 16 points after being held to just three foul shots in Wednesday’s 46-36 loss at North.
Chamberlain inserted herself in the second quarter with seven points as North turned a 9-7 lead after one quarter to 24-11 advantage by halftime.
Freeman scored six points to start the third quarter, but was shutdown for the final 3:43 of the period. The Rebels closed to 30-20, but North scored the last seven points to make it 37-20 by the end of the quarter, capped by Peyton Schnebly’s third of four three-pointers for the night.
South was down 40-20 when Chamberlain was called with the fourth foul. Khloe Terrlange popped in eight points the Rebels’ Chamberlain-less run to move within 40-33.
It was time for Chamberlain to return.
“She got her fourth foul and I had to sit her down,” Burnett said. “Then, I had to roll the dice and put her back in because there is no way I’d let get so close to where we would panic. We put her back in and we got a basket right away and that kind of relaxed us a bit.”
Chamberlain played safe but cast a huge shadow on defense to keep South at bay. She scored a layup with 1:08 remaining for her only two points of the second half as the Hubs’ last basket.
Schnebly gave North a big lift with 14 points on four three-pointers and two free throws. Savannah Green added 10.
Freeman had eight rebounds, three assists and four steals to go with her game-high scoring. Terralonge added 10 points and Kristen Gyamfi had seven.
The win, and sweep of the Rebels, was something of a reward for Chamberlain and the Hubs.
Like I said, it’s a rival,” Burnett said. “I’m congratulating Hannah and Eden for having their careers and never losing the South High. They are going to graduate and they beat South High for their entire career.”
