Feb 17, 2026 By Dave Whipkey 3 min read

HOUSTON – Freshly minted section champions for a third season in a row, the Chartiers-Houston girls basketball squad wanted to make a statement in its first round WPIAL Class AA playoff game Tuesday evening at home against South Side Beaver.

The third-seeded Buccaneers made short work of the Rams by the count of 70-16. Chartiers-Houston (19-3) will move onto the quarterfinals Friday night against the winner of Aliquippa/Beth-Center contest. South Side Beaver (9-13) sees its season come to a close.

Three players reached double figure scoring for the Bucs. Allison Wingard led all scorers with 16, while Ava Kolovich added 13 and Sophie Pallone tallied 12.

Miladija Pavlovich led the Rams with seven points.

Coach Laura Montecalvo’s squad employed a full-court press much of the first half and it proved too much for the visitors from the start. Chartiers-Houston ended the first quarter leading 14-4 as Kolovich scored eight points to lead the Bucs.

A Gia Darroch steal and layup along with a Pavlovich bucket supplied the first quarter offense for the Rams.

It was in the second quarter where the Buccaneers blew the contest wide open. Chartiers-Houston went on a 21-0 run that pushed the lead to 35-4. Kolovich led the way in the frame with 12 second quarter points while Mackenzie Walsh tallied eight. An Alexis Cook three broke the run for the Rams, but it was a temporary salve as the Buccaneers outscored the Rams 27-4 in the quarter.

“We’re a pretty good pressing team and we have enough girls to do it,” Montecalvo said. “We work on scoring the ball in transition and that was evident tonight.”

Chartiers-Houston got much of its offense in transition off turnovers as they forced 18 of them in the first half.

The Bucs carried a 41-8 lead into halftime.

Chartiers-Houston’s dominance sent the game into a running clock as the second half ensued. The onslaught though continued as the Bucs outscored the Rams 18-2 in the frame. Brooklyn Hess scored eight of her nine points in the quarter as the hosts carried a 59-10 advantage into the final frame.

The Bucs emptied the bench in the fourth quarter. Eleven different Bucs scored as they moved on to the quarterfinals.

“We really try to rely on balance instead of just having to rely on one or two people,” Montecalvo said. “They tried to play a box in one on Aly (Wingard), but we have enough players that can score to overcome that.”

If the Bucs were not scoring in transition, they were able to knock down some threes. Pallone led the way there with four triples while Kolovich added three buckets from behind the arc.

“Everyone who got on the floor tonight did very well,” Montecalvo added.