Gregory eclipses 1,000; C-H wins first playoff game since 2018
HOUSTON – Nate Gregory couldn’t have drawn it up any better.
Hitting the 1,000-point barrier and winning a playoff game in the same night was the dream scenario and he achieved it.
Gregory had a game-high 27 points and seventh-seeded Chartiers-Houston downed No. 10 Shenango 55-35 in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs Monday night.
“That’s what I wanted to do,” Gregory said. “Get it done in a playoff game.”
The Bucs (20-3) advance to play No. 2 Sewickley Academy in Thursday’s quarterfinals at a site and time to be announced. Shenango finished 11-12.
Gregory got his 1,000th point on a free throw with 4:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. They announced the achievement after the game and he took plenty of photos with teammates and family while holding onto the basketball he scored his 1,000th point with.
It’s the Bucs’ first playoff win since 2018 and the first for coach Rich Tranquill in his five years at the helm.
“Being with these guys and knowing the work they’ve put in the last four years…they’ve went out and earned it,” Tranquill said. “They played a really good Shenango team tonight and went out and got it. It means a lot to me, because it means a lot to them.”
Gregory and Justus Buckingham, who scored 20 points, paced the offense, but it was a collective effort on defense for the Bucs, who frustrated Shenango.
The Wildcats made only 10 field goals all game and none in the second quarter.
“I thought we did a good job of running them off the line and not giving them a ton of open looks,” Tranquill said. “The ones they did get thankfully they didn’t go in. I thought a key to our success coming in was to protect the arc and I thought we did that.”
Even with a lack of makes, Shenango was only down 11 after three quarters, but eventually Chartiers- Houston pulled away by getting to the free-throw line often.
Chartiers-Houston shot 28 free throws in the fourth quarter and made 18 of them.
Gregory was 9 of 12 from the line in the fourth. He made four 3-pointers for the game.
“He came up big tonight again,” Tranquill said of Gregory. “He and Justus are a tough guard tandem, and you throw Aaron (Walsh) in there too and it’s tough to deal with. We had some great play off the bench tonight too. It might not show up on the stat sheet, but they played good defense and handled the ball well.”
Chartiers-Houston led 23-12 at halftime.
Both teams struggled from the field, but it was a particularly rough half shooting for Shenango.
The Wildcats made only three shots in the entire half. Joey Campoli scored 10 of their 12 points, five of which came from the foul line.
Buckingham and Gregory combined to score all but two of Chartiers-Houston’s points in the first half.
Buckingham had 11 points at halftime for the Bucs and Gregory scored 10.
Gregory nailed a pair of three-pointers, including one that put the Bucs up 16-10 at the 4:22 mark of the second.
Buckingham converted a tough runner inside, while being fouled to give Chartiers-Houston a double-digit lead at the break.
“Justus is a hustle player who gets to the rim very well. He doesn’t make any mistakes out there and is a great teammate.”
Joey Campoli led Shenango with 20 points. All five starters for the Wildcats are seniors and a total of eight seniors played for them in the game.