With teeming bleachers and a roaring crowd, the full gym on a Friday night was anything but quiet. On Dec. 7, the Chambersburg Area Senior High School hosted the annual Tip-Off Tournament for James Buchanan, Greencastle-Antrim, and Waynesboro High School basketball teams for both the boys’ and girls’ to kick off the season. The games began Friday night and continued into Saturday night.

This is a way to kick off the season and helps the teams out in the long run.

“It gives us a good look at the teams we will be facing this season,” says McKayla Heinbaugh (9).

The tournament started with the Waynesboro and Greencastle girls playing, which then lead to the Lady Rockets facing the Lady Trojans. With everyone sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the buzzer to go off, the Lady Rockets put up a fight, but the game resulted in a victory for Chambersburg. The students that came cheered them on the entire way. The final score was 59-55. 

The tensions then rose when it was time for the Trojan boys to face the Rockets. With a feuding crowd and lots of energy, people waited to see the outcome of this game.

“We put a lot of effort as a team out there on the court,” says Colton Hartman (10).

The students had high energy supporting their team. The boys stayed strong and kept their heads high, but Chambersburg got the victory with a final score was 61-16.

“The environment was really good and working together as a team was good too,” said Rylan Good (10).

The tournament then continued into Saturday with the Lady Rockets facing off against the Waynesboro Indians. The girls were high in energy, ending up defeating the Indians with a score of 40-26. The Tournament concluded for the girls’ after the Lady Trojans faced the Lady Indians, which resulted in a win for the Indians.

After the girls’ games were finished, the Rockets took the court to battle rival Greencastle. With a very tight and close game, Greencastle got the win with the final score of 37-34. 

The tournament concluded with Chambersburg and Waynesboro boys’ played for the championship which resulted in the Waynesboro Indians winning for the boys.  Chambersburg and Greencastle faced off for the ladies and Greencastle came out victorious.

“My favorite part about Tip-Off was being with my team, seeing the crowd, and how much the fans get into the game,” said Colton Hartman (10).

With the first game of the season done and over with, the Rocket Basketball team will continue to work towards bettering their team as a whole, as well as their score.