Versatility, Tenacity help Char-Houston girls become one WPIAL’s best defenses
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
By JERIN STEELE
Staff Writer
jsteele@observer-reporter.com
When Laura Montecalvo was a high school basketball player she always valued defense, so naturally she holds it in high regard as a coach.
So far, her Bucs have been a lockdown unit.
At the midpoint of the season, they are statistically one of the best defensively in the WPIAL.
Chartiers-Houston has yielded only 26 points per game, which is the second fewest behind Winchester Thurston (24.8).
The Bucs have all but one opponent to less than 40 points and are in first place with an unbeaten 4-0 record in Class 2A Section 3 and are 11-2 overall entering a nonsection matchup with Winchester Thurston on Monday that will pit the top two defensive teams against each other.
Holding opponents down has stemmed from several important factors.
Versatility, flexibility and tenacity.
“One of the things that stands out about this group is their ability to learn many different defenses and are able to switch defenses without a timeout,” Montecalvo said. “We’re blessed to have a group of kids that knows what they’re supposed to do and believe in our concepts and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Chartiers-Houston has a mix of strong senior leadership and young talent.
Ava Capozzoli, Alexis Fetsko, Ella Richey and Mylie McCrerey are the four seniors on the team.
Montecalvo said McCrerey is an unsung hero of the team and is one of the best defensive players she’s ever coached.
Ali Wingard, a junior, and freshmen Ava Kolovich and Sophie Palone have been key contributors on both ends of the floor.
“We have a group of kids that are tenacious and have a lot of heart,” Montecalvo said. “You have to have those things to be great defensively and they do. We can switch from one zone to another or from a halfcourt defense to a full court defense, man to man to zone and the kids don’t make many mistakes. I think that helps us keep teams off-balance.”
The work that goes into being a stingy group every night starts well before any player on the team wears a varsity uniform.
Montecalvo and her two assistants also coach the middle school team, which she said gives them a unique opportunity to show players different defensive concepts at a younger age.
“We start to teach them these things way ahead of time, which I think gives us an advantage and the kids an advantage,” Montecalvo said. “They get a lot of experience with what we might be asking them to do on the varsity level.”
The Bucs have paired their stout defense with an offense that scores close to 50 points per game.
Much like on the defensive end, it’s a balanced effort in which everyone contributes.
The combination has led to a strong start and the goal is to keep it going through the stretch run to the playoffs.
“The interesting thing about this group is that it varies from game to game,” Montecalvo said. “We’ve had every kid step up in one or more games and kind of lead us. Whether that reflects in points or not, we’ve had five or six different girls put the game on their shoulders and make really big plays. I think it’s good to have balanced scoring where multiple kids give you 10 or 15 points a game any given night. That’s the goal of our program is to get the most out of every athlete.”