C-H girls up to challenge, reach semifinals
By Dave Whipkey
Contributing writer
McDONALD – The Chartiers-Houston girls basketball team moved up a level in competition in their WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal playoff game against Aliquippa on Friday night at South Fayette High School.
The Buccaneers blasted South Side Beaver 70-16 earlier this week in first-round action.
It was a different story against the Quips as the two squads battled back and forth before a packed house and Chartiers-Houston outlasted a game Aliquippa squad, 52-44.
Chartiers-Houston (20-3) will move on to the semifinals next week while the Quips (15-8) fall into the consolation round.
Chartiers-Houston did turn it over 19 times as the Quips’ pressure defense made life at times miserable for the Bucs. But a well-balanced scoring attack was able to keep Aliquippa at bay much of the night.
The Bucs came out hot in the second half as Alli Wingard made a slick pass to Aubri Rozanc for a layup and a 28-21 lead in the third. An Aubri Rozanc three-pointer gave the Bucs a 36-26 lead late in quarter. The frame ended with Chartiers-Houston up 36-29.
The Quips’ Denim Odom scored an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Bucs’ lead to 39-35 with a little more than five minutes to go. Wingard gave Chartiers-Houston a seven-point advantage with a bucket and a foul shot with 3:45 left in regulation.
Odom scored again to make it a 45-41 ballgame with 1:53 left. But the Bucs stayed on top thanks to the play of Mackenzie Walsh as she scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. Her clutch free-throw shooting (9-for-10) paved the way for Chartiers-Houston to move on to the semifinals when it will face second-seeded Winchester Thurston. It will be a rematch of a regular-season game.
Wingard finished with 13 points for the Bucs while Odom led all scorers for the Quips with 21.
The first quarter saw C-H get out to a strong start as Wingard and Rozanc established inside scoring, helping to stake the Bucs to a 12-10 lead.
Aliquippa found its footing in the second quarter as they took advantage of open space behind the three-point arc. Odom and Jayonna Patrick knocked town a triple each to put the Quips in front 13-12 early in the quarter. But Walsh cored seven points in the quarter, including a three-pointer that gave the Bucs a 19-16 lead with 2:15 to go in the first half. An Odom layup at the buzzer brought the Quips to within 22-18.