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Section-leading Chartiers Valley edges Peters Twp.

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McMURRAY – Entering Friday night’s section battle against Chartiers Valley, the Peters Township boys basketball team found itself in a dogfight to secure a playoff spot in Section 4-AAA.

To get closer to the postseason, the Indians had to accomplish a tough task in beating CV, the section leader, for the second time this season. The Colts centered on a hot streak, winners of seven straight since losing 77-71 to PT back on Jan. 5.

The Indians led for most of the game and battled to the final whistle but ultimately fell to the Colts, 80-77, putting PT’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Guards Ross Wilkerson and Eddie Flohr led the way for Chartiers Valley (12-1, 16-3) with 20 points each and forward Joey Antonucci finished with 18.

“It was a great game with two good teams,” said Peters Township head coach Gary Goga. “They just made a couple of more plays down the stretch than we did.”

Peters Township (6-6, 11-7) held a 60-58 lead after three quarters, but the Colts took control of the game early in the fourth.

CV put together an 11-0 run over a span of 2:30 to take a 69-62 lead. The Colts had success getting to the rim while PT ended up settling for the three-point shots on almost every possession during that span.

Flohr got the run started with a pair of free throws and Wilkerson made a layup that sent him to the foul line to complete a three-point play. Flohr added a runner and Antonucci added a pair of layups as the Colts opened up their biggest lead of the game.

“We felt we were scoring, but we couldn’t make anything happen defensively,” said Chartiers Valley head coach Tim McConnell. “At the end of the third quarter we talked about how defense would win the game. We put a few stops together and were able to hang on.”

PT charged back and cut the Colts’ lead 72-70 with 1:57 left on a three-point shot by Mike Cortese, who finished with 11 points.

The Colts, who struggled from the free-throw line for most of the night, were able to make ree throws down the stretch to preserve the victory. Most of that was done by Flohr, who made six free throws in the final two minutes.

“Eddie is our best free-throw shooter and we wanted to make sure the ball was in his hands the entire time the last couple of minutes,” McConnell explained.

CV also had success scoring in the paint as most of Antonucci’s 18 points came on open layups after penetration form the Chartiers Valley guards. The Colts also did a good job rebounding, limiting the Indians to one shot for most of second half.

“They killed us in the paint and on the glass the first game,” McConnell said. “We wanted to keep them a jump-shooting team and crash the glass. We did a better job of that in the second half.”

From the opening tip the pace was as fast as any high school game you will see. With defense not on the menu, both teams pushed the pace and kept pushing. If you blinked, then you likely missed a lot as the teams combined for 53 first-quarter points.

PT led 44-41 at the half, riding Kelson Marisa and Nick Valentic. Marisa scored 17 of his 22 points during the first 16 minutes, and Valentic scored 14 of his game-high 26 in the first half.

Ben Doyle also finished in double figures for PT with 10 points.

The Indians are faced with the possibility of having to win out in section play to make the playoffs. After a non-conference game today against Keystone Oaks, PT closes section play against Upper St. Clair and Canon-McMillan.

“I was very proud of the way the kids battled,” Goga said. “But now we have to win. We have fight left in us. We have no choice now. We have to win.”

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