PITT STAR'S DAUGHTER LEADS CHARTIERS VALLEY
Daughter of former Pitt star a high riser
Bounce.
Perri Page has lots of it.
A junior at Chartiers Valley High School, Page can’t dunk a basketball yet, but she’s getting close. She can grab the rim and has dunked tennis balls in the past.
Her pogo stick hops frequently draw comparisons to her pops.
“They say we’re very bouncy,” Page said, laughing. “And everyone says I look more like my dad than my mom. So I’m like my dad, just copy and paste to 2020.”
Said her father, “Bounce. Oh, she definitely has that.”
Same story. Different Page. Perri Page is one of the top players in the WPIAL, close to two decades after her dad was one of the best players in the Big East Conference. Julius Page was a college star at Pitt who scored 1,512 career points and was a lockdown defender. He was also known for his athleticism and penchant for throwing down thunderous slam dunks, his emphatic slam over Georgetown big man Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje being the most memorable.
“I remember watching her dad play, and he could jump out of the gym,” said Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell. “She’s really athletic. She jumps so well and glides down the floor. She’s so fun to watch.”
Perri Page is writing her own book, and so far it should probably be labeled a best-seller. She has never lost a high school game. Chartiers Valley went 30-0 and won a PIAA title her freshman season before going 27-0 last season. This season, the Colts won their opener, 59-48, against Baldwin, extending their WPIAL record win streak to 58. The season is now on hold until Jan. 4, due to high school sports being put on pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Page came off the bench in ninth grade before joining the starting lineup a season ago. She had her coming-out party when she scored 27 points in a big non-section win at North Catholic. Later in the regular season, her bucket at the buzzer helped the Colts keep their streak alive with a thrilling win at Thomas Jefferson. She finished third on the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game and averaged a team-best 6.5 rebounds on her way to all-section honors.
At 6 feet tall, Page is a matchup nightmare due to her athleticism. She jumps center and sometimes guards the opposing team’s tallest post player, but will also at times bring the ball up the court and run the offense.
“She’s so versatile,” McConnell said. “She can take you inside,
outside, off the dribble. She rebounds. She can bring it up like a point guard. She does so many different things.”
In her only game this season against Baldwin, Page produced team highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. She is one of six juniors that make up the main rotation for the two-time defending WPIAL Class 5A champions.When the season resumes, Chartiers Valley will take aim at the state record win streak of 62 games.
“I think we have a chance to be very good,” Page said.
Naturally, it was Page’s dad who got her involved in the sport, but early on it was without a hoop. Julius would set up an obstacle course in the backyard or at a local park, and would time Perri as she dribbled through the cones, sometimes with her right hand and other times with her left.
Perri called her dad a “great influence.” She said dad doesn’t hold back when critiquing her game, so when she got a chance to critique his, she capitalized. Perri wasn’t yet born when her dad was playing college ball, but said the two once watched one of his NCAA tournament games together.
“Oh, I critiqued him to the fullest,” Perri said.
It’s all love, of course. Julius said he’s amazed at how good his daughter has become.
“I’m going to be real. Up to this point, she’s a better allaround player than me,” he said.
With close to a dozen offers already (Duquesne, St. Bonaventure and Boston University among them), the younger Page has a Division I future. Will it be at Pitt like her dad? Perri said Pitt has shown interest, but believes the coaching staff is now addressing other needs in the 2022 recruiting class. That includes getting a shooter, which the Panthers did when they received a verbal commitment from Page’s Chartiers Valley teammate, Aislin Malcolm, earlier this month.
During the pause to the season, Page said she does a lot of workouts at home. That includes pounding away at a punching bag in her basement.
Page, though, would rather bounce than punch. And it might not be long before she’s once again bouncing around — and maybe even dunking — on a basketball court near you.