Dreams come true
Red Hurricanes win a record 14th WPIAL boys title
Ralph Blundo stood inside the New Castle locker room, shirt drenched courtesy of water bottle celebrations from his players, speaking to his team about the significanceof Saturday’s win.
“This is forever,” Blundo yelled. “This nevergoes away.”
A team that always seems to find a way to reach the WPIAL summit has now doneit more than any other team.
Sheldon Cox scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 2-seeded New Castle made history in more ways than one by beating No. 1 Chartiers Valley, 6145, in the WPIAL Class 5A championship atNorth Allegheny.
New Castle (21-2) became the first boys team to capture 14 WPIAL titles, breaking a tie it shared with Farrell. Half of those championship teams have been
captained by Blundo, who joinedFarrell’sEdMcCluskey (11), Blackhawk’s John Miller (8) and Midland’s Ed Olkowski (8) as the only coaches with at least seven WPIALtitles.
“I think it sums up the greatnessof our program. The greatness of our coaching. The players coming through here. I really think it’s a result of all of the hard work we put in every day at practice,” said standout junior Mike Wells, who finished with 13 points and11 rebounds.
Chartiers Valley’s marvelous senior guard, Brayden Reynolds, tallied 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Chartiers Valley (22-4), which was seeking its seventh title andfirst since 2016.
In what was the rubber match between section foes — NewCastle won the first meeting, 73-45, and Chartiers Valley the second, 77-59 — New Castle was zoned in defensively, holding Chartiers Valley to its lowest-point total of theseason. The Colts shot 29% (16 of 55) from the field and 20% (6 of 30) from 3-point range.
After a lackluster offensive performance by both teams in thefirst quarter — New Castle led, 8-4 — the game opened up in the second, although the shooting remained shaky as the Red Hurricanes went into the intermission holding a 2418lead.
Sparked by 10 points from Cox, New Castle began to pull away in the third. Cox knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Red Hurricanes ahead, 37-20, with 3:53 left in the quarter, and at that point Cox and company appeared to be on their way to the title. But Chartiers Valley fought back. The Colts went on a 10-3 run to end the quarter, and pulled to within 40-36 when Reynolds made one of two free throws a minute into the third.
“Our defense kept us in the game,” Chartiers Valley coach Brandon Sensor said. “We cut it to four and had a chance to cut into it more, and just couldn’t finish it. But if you’re going to live and die by three, you’re probably going todie eventually.”
New Castle pulled away a second time, this time for good. Cox threw down a pair of emphatic dunks in the final minuteto seal the deal.
Reynolds, the WPIAL’s fifth-leading scorer who poured in 42 points in Chartiers Valley’s win at New Castle,was 7 of 25 field, including 3 of 12 from behind the arc. He was guarded closely by Michael Graham, whom Blundo callshis best defender.
“I thought that we were in the gaps all night and making it hard on him, but he’s a load,” Blundo said. “He’s as hardas anyone that we’ve had tostop over the years.”
New Castle fans chanted “All hail Blundo” as the coach celebratedwith his team.
“Youwant to win a championship for them,” Blundo said,“but those guys acknowledge and understand the history of New Castle basketball. Andfor it to be 14, that’s a lot of championships.”