C-H gets up to speed, beats Waynesburg
HOUSTON – At halftime, Chartiers-Houston girls basketball coach Laura Montecalvo asked her team to pick up the pace.
The message came after the Bucs and visiting Waynesburg went through a knock-down, drag-out grind of a first half where neither team got out of the teens for points.
The Bucs took the message to heart, got out on the break more, and got some easier buckets in the third quarter, which helped them fend off the Raiders in a 38-33 nonsection victory Monday night.
Chartiers-Houston led 17-15 at halftime, but outscored the Raiders, 13-7, in the third quarter with seven of those points coming on the fast break.
Ava Capozzoli and Ella Richey hit layups, and Allison Wingard converted a crucial three-point play by hitting a runner in the lane while being fouled, and made the subsequent free throw.
“I thought we were sloppy at times in the first half and I told them that we needed to be sharper,” Montecalvo said. “Make harder cuts, make better passes and pick up the pace a little bit on defense. I thought we were able to do that, especially in the third quarter.”
The Raiders (3-2) fought back in the fourth quarter, getting the deficit down to 36-33 after Avery Davis successfully converted a three-point play, but that’s as close as they’d get.
Richey and Wingard each made one of two free throws in the final minute and Chartiers-Houston (5-1) forced a couple misses on the defensive end to close the game out.
Richey had seven points, all of which came in the second half, after missing part of the first half due to getting poked in the eye in the first quarter.
“Ella understands situations and she’s a kid that I can count on to step up,” Montecalvo said. “She understands what we need to do to win. She always finds a way to make it happen for us.”
Waynesburg returned only one starter, Peyton Cowell, from last year’s team that made the playoffs. Raiders coach Chris Minerd was pleased with how his team played defense, but the Raiders couldn’t string enough positive possessions on offense together to get over the hump.
“We have one returning starter, one girl that got a lot of playing time, and the rest of them it’s their first time playing varsity,” Minerd said. “It’s a process, but my goal is to hold teams under 40. If you hold teams to under 40 points, then you should win. We missed some easy shots and they made most of theirs. I thought that was the difference in the game. They made a lot of layups in transition.”
Davis led the Raiders with 15 points. Cowell had eight. Davis has been in double-digits in most of Waynesburg’s games this year, stepping into a starters role, after being the team’s first player off the bench a season ago.
“Avery has had a good season so far. She’s very hard to defend. Her quickness gives people fits I think. She played a good game. They started to key on her a bit and that’s where we had some good passing, but we missed some shots. That’s where we have to learn. When they key on her we have to keep playing.”
Wingard led the Bucs with 12 points and Capozzoli had 11. Freshman guard Ava Kolovich had eight points, all in the first half.
“We’re a very balanced team. In many games we can get three or four different girls that could score in double figures,” Montecalvo said. “Depending on what the defense is doing can really dictate who takes more shots or gets more opportunities. Tonight, I thought it was a total team effort.”
Waynesburg gets back in the Class 3A, Section 3 play Wednesday against Washington.
For the Bucs, Monday’s game was the final dress rehearsal prior to their Class 2A, Section 3 opener against Beth-Center on Thursday.
“We definitely need to clean up some things on offense, be sharper and execute,” Montecalvo said. “That’s another thing I said to them at halftime. They weren’t executing the way I know they can. One thing I think that was super positive was our defense. That’s something that we demand and I think the kids really buy into that.”