Experience leads C-H past Brentwood, to another WPIAL title appearance
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston’s Alexa Williamson drives past Brentwood’s Brittany Stewart for a layup during Monday night’s WPIAL Class 2A semifinal game at Peters Township High School.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston’s Jules Vulcano battles for a loose ball Monday night with Brentwood’s Anna Betz during a WPIAL Class 2A semifinal game at Peters Township High School.
Chartiers-Houston head coach Laura Montecalvo talks to her team during the fourth quarter of Monday night's WPIAL Class 2A semifinal game against Brentwood.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston’s Macy Mazutis drives past Brentwood’s Brittany Stewart for a third-quarter basket Monday night during a WPIAL Class 2A semifinal game at Peters Township High School.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston fans cheer for their team during the second quarter of Monday night’s WPIAL Class 2A semifinal game against Brentwood at Peters Township High School.
McMURRAY – There weren’t many varying factors head coach Laura Montecalvo deemed important outside of executing and playing defense that were going to advance the Chartiers-Houston girls basketball team to another WPIAL championship appearance.
Following a scrimmage with West Greene last Wednesday, prior to playing its opening game in the WPIAL playoffs, Montecalvo pondered the question of what would push them to become the only girls team in Washington County to appear in back-to-back WPIAL title games since Immaculate Conception did in 1985 and 1986.
It took Montecalvo some time for her to finally came up with a one-word answer.
Experience.
Who had experience for Monday night’s situation – a game tied at 38-38 after momentum twists during the first three quarters – was evident in the final eight minutes.
Third-seeded Chartiers-Houston locked down on defense, limiting Brentwood to only three field goals as the Bucs scored 16 of the opening 18 points in the fourth to run away with a 54-45 victory in a WPIAL Class 2A semifinal at Peters Township High School.
The same team will stand in the Bucs’ way of repeating, as top-seeded Vincentian Academy defeated Serra Catholic, 59-30, to advance to its seventh consecutive championship game. The two will play for the title at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Peterson Events Center. Chartiers-Houston defeated Vincentian in last year’s final 47-35.
While Vincentian might be comfortable playing for championships, Brentwood, which was in the semifinals for the first time since 1995, couldn’t find any rhythm when it came to crunch time Monday.
Holding a 29-23 lead entering halftime, the Spartans only made six field goals and had 13 turnovers in the second half as Chartiers-Houston went back to the basics.
“We had to go back to the things that we do really well, which is boxing out, rebounding and showing patience in our half-court offense,” Montecalvo said after a first half in which the Bucs were unexpectedly beaten on the boards.
“The experience of being here last year in the exact same situation helped. We had bad spurts tonight, but I think in the end we did enough good when it mattered.”
Chartiers-Houston (19-5) opened the second half with nine unanswered points to take 32-29 lead with 3:22 left in the third after an Alexa Williamson layup.
“We came out too flat in the third quarter,” said Brentwood coach Rachel Thomas. “We were up by six going into halftime and (Chartiers-Houston) scored nine right away. We got deflated.”
Williamson then scored 10 of her game-high 31 points to ignite the early fourth-quarter run to break the tie as the Bucs broke the game open. She also finished with 10 rebounds.
“We knew (Brentwood) was a good team,” Williamson said. “We knew they had shooters. I think we just came out a little slow. That usually is our problem. In the second half we start playing well. We had to pick up our defense, start rebounding and box out. That’s what we did.”
To make matters worse for Brentwood (17-7), the once hot-shooting Spartans couldn’t find the bottom of the basket to open the fourth. They only went 1 of 10 from the field before Natalie Murrio made two baskets in the final 38 seconds, the only implication of those shots were padding her team-high 11 points.
Anna Betz was the only other player for Brentwood to score in double figures with 10 points. Morgan Dryburgh chipped in with nine points but did most of her damage on the glass with 14 rebounds – 11 in the first half.
“I just tried to make them aware that we were being boxed out,” Montecalvo said about her halftime message. “Brentwood was fighting. We knew they were going to be scrappy and tough.”
The scrappiness of Brentwood, which was used to upset second-seeded Our Lady of Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals, was taken out of the Spartans after halftime.
“A lot of team work. A lot of hard work,” Thomas said about what led Brentwood to the semis. “A lot of people have been saying we can’t do it. That fuels the fire sometimes. It was pure determination.”
The run to open the third and fourth quarters for the Bucs not only allowed them to outscore Brentwood 31-16 in the second half, a conditioned C-H team also broke the determined Spartans.
“Our conditioning showed,” Montecalvo said. “They played seven or eight players. We played five. For the same five kids to play every minute, and for us to be able to battle the way we did in the fourth quarter, I attribute that to how hard our kids have worked all year.”
Similar to other opponents, Williamson also noticed slowly but surely the Spartans being worn down physically and mentally in the fourth.
“We notice that teams in the second half are sometimes dead,” she said. “That’s when we start running on them.”
Madison Simpson added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for C-H, and Keaira Walker pulled down nine rebounds.
“It has taken a lot,” Williamson said about returning to the title game. “It was difficult. From the jump, making it back and winning another championship is what we’ve wanted to do. It was about getting back there. We have put in a lot of work. It’s a great feeling.”