From The Stars To The Unsung, L-L Boys Basketball Seniors Put On One Final Show At All-Star Game (Article By Kyle Morgan)
Written by: Andy Herr on March 27, 2026
Article By Kyle Morgan
Basketball season never truly feels complete until All-Star games are played.
A day after the Mid-State All-Star Game at Steelton-Highspire, the L-L League got in on the fun with its annual Senior Boys Basketball All-Star Game at Conestoga Valley’s Rill Gym, featuring a round-robin tournament of four teams and a subsequent championship game split up by a 3-point shootout.
Part of the novelty is getting to see unique rosters for each squad. For example, the contrast between two of the night’s most productive players, who both played in the event’s finals.
On one end, there was Cocalico’s Timmy Hambright, the L-L’s leading scorer at just over 25.1 points per game. It was no surprise to see him put on a show, leading all players with 40 points across four games for the team coached by Lancaster Mennonite skipper Jeff Hartenstine, plus an extra run (more on that later).
“I’ve competed against these guys for the last three years, so it’s an honor to play with them,” Hambright said. “I wish them all luck in the future, and I know they’ll do well for themselves. They’re good players and friends of mine, so it was a cool experience.”
Hambright wowed the crowd several times with some contested mid-range jumpers and deep 3-balls. He led Team Hartenstine to a 27-14 win during the first game of the night with 13 points against the team coached by Hempfield stalwart Danny Walck, the highest single-game total for any player.
His high point was the 3-point contest, where he and Lancaster Country Day’s Jordan Ashby kicked off the first round. Hambright launched a flurry of shots in just 45 seconds, ultimately finishing with 16 makes. Four rounds later, no one else came close to matching him.
“That was definitely the thing I wanted the most,” the Lancaster Bible College commit said. “I know I’m one of the better 3-point shooters around here, so I knew I had to come out of that in first. Just put up a big volume of shots. It was fun.”
Standing on the other end of the spectrum was Ephrata’s Grayson Shellhammer, one of three alternates alongside Chase Fetrow and Demetrius Hamilton from Octorara, who took spots left open by players who had to opt out due to other commitments like spring sports.
“I was so excited,” Shellhammer said. “This is an awesome experience, to get play with guys I’ve played with growing up. I’ve went against them a lot, so it was a lot of fun to play alongside them and put on the jersey one more time.”
The Mounts struggled through a transitional season for the program and ultimately posted a 5-18 record; Shellhammer averaged a modest 9.3 points per game but stood out as a jack-of-all-trades presence for a team that needed stabilizing play, so earning a late invite was well-deserved.
One of several players to also play in the Mid-State All-Star Game (along with Cocalico’s Ty Wealand, Elco’s Kaden Tillison, Pequea Valley’s Owen Fisher, Solanco’s Kiran Ludgate and Warwick’s Brody Clausen), Shellhammer showed that he belonged out on the court with the team headed by Octorara legend Gene Lambert. He never led in scoring during his four games, but he converted multiple buckets in each run, flashing on both defense and rebounding as well.
“I came here looking to have a good time, but I did have a bit of a chip on my shoulder,” Shellhammer said. “I wasn’t invited straight away, so I wanted to go out and prove myself. We played ball as a team together, so it was great to mesh with those guys.”
The L-L had a total of 19 players available, leaving CV coach Jim Shipper’s team short one member. In a testament to keeping the event going smoothly, Hambright, Ashby and Hamilton each filled in for one round-robin game as the fifth guy. Ashby, in particular, came up big, scoring a game-high 9 points during his shift, including a late corner-3 to give Team Shipper an 18-15 win over Team Lambert, the only loss of the night for the latter.
“Why not, right?” Hambright said. “When you’re a competitor, you’re always trying to get some extra runs. It’s the last time I’m putting on a Cocalico jersey, so I definitely wanted to leave with no regrets. It was nice to get a mix of time out there with different guys.”
The round-robin format contributed to a more competitive atmosphere. Sure, the defenses weren’t particularly feisty, and there were certainly more 3-pointers hoisted than usual, but the majority of the games came down to the wire.
After a back-and-forth battle, Team Lambert’s first win came thanks to a baseline jumper from Fetrow in the final minute against Team Walck for a 28-26 finish. Team Hartenstine followed with a 23-22 win over Team Shipper when Clausen connected with Lancaster Mennonite’s Brady Grau for a layup with 10 seconds to go. They’d fall 22-15 to Team Lambert in the penultimate round-robin. Lastly, Team Walck ended its night on a high note, topping Team Shipper 21-19 on a late fastbreak feed to Ashby from Tillison.
That set up the championship game between Team Lambert and Team Hartenstine. The former got out to leads of 4-0 and 12-6, but the latter was able to tie the score up both times, first with more points from Hambright, then with 3-pointers from Clausen and Octorara’s Lazo Christou.
Team Hartenstine held a brief 17-15 lead after a Grau 3, but Fetrow snatched momentum back for Team Lambert with a deep shot of his own, beginning an 8-0 run. They would go on to win the title game 29-22. Fittingly, Conestoga Valley’s Sawyer Esbenshade had a game-high 9 points for Team Lambert in his final game at Rill Gym, while Shellhammer had the honor of scoring the event’s final basket.
“It meant a lot,” Shellhammer said. “I didn’t expect to win a championship coming into this thing. We felt like a real cohesive unit out there, instead of a random All-Star game where you see guys just chucking shots up. It was nice to play next to Sawyer, a guy who I’ve had to play against my whole life, and it’s a lot of fun when you know you can trust guys to your left and right who are All-Stars. Everyone knows how to make plays.”
Game 1
Team Hartenstine: 27 Team Walck: 14
Team Hartenstine
Timmy Hambright: 13
Lazo Christou: 5
Brody Clausen: 5
Hayden Martin: 6
Brady Grau: 0
Team Walck
Kaden Tillison: 8
Demetrius Hamilton: 3
Cam Tirado: 2
Ya’Majesty Washington: 1
Jordan Ashby: 0
Game 2
Team Shipper: 18
Team Lambert: 15
Team Shipper
Jordan Ashby: 9 (fill-in)
Kiran Ludgate: 4
Ashton Lewis: 3
Ty Wealand: 2
Vito Vespe: 0
Team Lambert
Sawyer Esbenshade: 5
Grayson Shellhammer: 4
Owen Fisher: 4
Spencer Troyer: 2
Chase Fetrow: 0
Game 3
Team Lambert: 28
Team Walck: 26
Team Lambert
Chase Fetrow: 9
Sawyer Esbenshade: 8
Grayson Shellhammer: 6
Owen Fisher: 4
Spencer Troyer: 0
Team Walck
Ya’Majesty Washington: 11
Kaden Tillison: 10
Jordan Ashby: 3
Demetrius Hamilton: 2
Cam Tirado: 0
Game 4
Team Hartenstine: 23
Team Shipper: 22
Team Hartenstine
Brody Clausen: 7
Hayden Martin: 7
Timmy Hambright: 5
Brady Grau: 4
Lazo Christou: 0
Team Shipper
Kiran Ludgate: 12
Ty Wealand: 5
Demetrius Hamilton: 3 (fill-in)
Ashton Lewis: 2
Vito Vespe: 0
Game 5
Team Lambert: 22
Team Hartenstine: 15
Team Lambert
Chase Fetrow: 6
Grayson Shellhammer: 5
Sawyer Esbenshade: 5
Owen Fisher: 4
Spencer Troyer: 2
Team Hartenstine
Timmy Hambright: 7
Brady Grau: 6
Hayden Martin: 4
Brody Clausen: 0
Lazo Christou: 0
Game 6
Team Walck: 21
Team Shipper: 19
Team Walck
Jordan Ashby: 8
Kaden Tillison: 5
Cam Tirado: 4
Ya’Majesty Washington: 3
Demetrius Hamilton: 1
Team Shipper
Kiran Ludgate: 9
Timmy Hambright: 8 (fill-in)
Ty Wealand: 2
Ashton Lewis: 0
Vito Vespe: 0
Round-Robin Standings
Team Lambert: 2-1
Team Hartenstine: 2-1
Team Walck: 1-2
Team Shipper: 1-2
3-point shootout results
Timmy Hambright: 16
Kaden Tillison: 11
Hayden Martin: 11
Ya’Majesty Washington: 10
Brody Clausen: 10
Ashton Lewis: 10
Jordan Ashby: 9
Ty Wealand: 9
Cam Tirado: 4
Finals
Team Lambert: 29
Team Hartenstine: 22
Team Lambert
Sawyer Esbenshade: 9
Chase Fetrow: 8
Owen Fisher: 6
Grayson Shellhammer: 4
Spencer Troyer: 2
Team Hartenstine
Timmy Hambright: 7
Brody Clausen: 7
Lazo Christou: 5
Brady Grau: 3
Hayden Martin: 0
Total scoring
Timmy Hambright: 40 (including fill-in game)
Sawyer Esbenshade: 27
Kiran Ludgate: 25
Chase Fetrow: 23
Kaden Tillison: 23
Jordan Ashby: 20 (including fill-in game)
Brody Clausen: 19
Grayson Shellhammer: 19
Owen Fisher: 18
Hayden Martin: 17
Ya’Majesty Washington: 15
Brady Grau: 13
Lazo Christou: 10
Demetrius Hamilton: 9 (including fill-in game)
Ty Wealand: 9
Cam Tirado: 6
Spencer Troyer: 6
Ashton Lewis: 5
Vito Vespe: 0
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