Mt. Lebanon’s bench erupts after a 3-pointer in a 54-40 win against Seneca Valley in the WPIAL quarterfinals Friday night.
Overcome inadequate shooting to advance to semis 2 years in row
Chartiers Valley shot 23 percent in the first half Friday of a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal. The Colts were at 28 percent through three quarters.
And ended up winning.
Go figure. Or go count on your defense.
“We’ve preached from day one that defense is going to win games,” Chartiers Valley coach Brandon Sensor said. “That was the case in this game. Defense wins you championships.”
Well, Chartiers Valley doesn’t have a championship yet, but the Colts now are so close to playing for one.
Defense was key for Chartiers Valley Friday night as the Colts defeated Shaler, 52-45, at North Allegheny. It was the 13th consecutive win for Chartiers Valley and it was the eighth time in that streak that the Colts gave up 50 points or fewer.
Chartiers Valley trailed, 31-30, after the third quarter and came on strong in the fourth to grab a semifinal berth for the second consecutive year. Chartiers Valley (19-4), the No. 3 seed, kept Shaler from making the semifinals for only the fourth time in school history.
“In practice, defense is our main focus. Defense keeps you in games,” Chartiers Valley junior guard Brayden Reynolds said. “If we didn’t play as good on defense as we did in the first half, we probably would’ve been out of the game and it could’ve gotten out of reach.”
As it was, Chartiers Valley (19-4) trailed by only 18-16 at halftime. Shaler led by one heading into the final eight minutes as Chartiers Valley made only 2 of 12 3-pointers.
“That’s not like us,” Sensor said. “I don’t know it was nerves or just a bad night.”
Reynolds, who averages 18 points, finished with 19 points, but had only eight through three quarters. Jared Goldstrom, Chartiers Valley’s second-leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with only nine.
But then the Colts were a little different in the fourth.
“I think it was just a bunch of nerves,”
Reynolds said. “I’m a little surprised because we’ve been here before. But it happens. We got over the hump and that’s all that matters. Hopefully, the nerves don’t come back.”
Chartiers Valley’s main objective was to slow down Shaler senior point guard Mekhi Reynolds, the ninth-leading scorer in the WPIAL at 23 points a game. The Colts doubled Reynolds often, even in the backcourt. Reynolds had only five points in the first half. He finished with 21, but was 8 of 20 from the field and got few good looks at the basket.
“One of our goals was we wanted to kind of let their other guys make decisions and beat us,” Sensor said.
Shaler’s Nick Rispoli scored 12 and sophomore forward Christian White added 10 points, but only three after the first quarter.
“It was an ugly game and honestly that was the way we wanted it,” Shaler coach Rob Niedeberger said. “We felt they were kind of a finesse, shooting team. We’re kind of more rugged.”
Senior forward Sean Banas was a key for Chartiers Valley in the fourth quarter, making a few inside baskets as the Colts scored the first seven points of the final quarter.
“That was all Banas,” Sensor said. “He said he wants the ball and he made some awesome plays for us.”
Chartiers Valley upped its lead to eight and Shaler could get no closer than five three different times.
Niedeberger was emotional after the game.
“I’m like this at the end of the year every year,” Niedeberger said. “I might be a hard guy, but I’m a baby at the end because you care for your players. Sports are all about the relationships you make.”