Jan 14, 2024 By Luke Campbell 4 min read

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Tell second-year Peters Township girls basketball coach Steve Limberiou and the rest of the Indians this and they’d probably confirm that close doesn’t count in basketball, either.

Peters Township has felt that the hard way.

In an up-and-down season resulting in 13 wins last year, Peters Township was 0-7 in games decided by five points or fewer.

Taking it back even further, the Indians hadn’t won a game by less than five points since Jan. 25, 2021.

It had been almost three years.

That was until this past Thursday night when they might have exercised some of their own demons by holding on to defeat Chartiers Valley, 53-49. The win kept Peters Township undefeated and on top of the Class 6A Section 2 standings.

But for most of this season, the Indians are relying on a different way of going about things – just not allowing teams the chance to keep it close.

“It’s almost a mentality perspective,” Limberiou said. “We don’t ever walk into practice and talk about our record. We are just trying not to be happy with where we are. There is a mindset that you can’t ever be satisfied where you are. It’s always talking about things we don’t do well enough.”

One of those things isn’t winning because the Indians are doing plenty of that as they are out to a 14-0 record, including a 5-0 mark in section play after impressive and important victories over Mt. Lebanon and Chartiers Valley this past week.

They have done it in dominating fashion.

Eight of those 14 wins have come by 20 points or more. The Indians average margin of victory is nearly 18 points.

“You go back to last year, our record wasn’t great, but we weren’t far away from being good,” Limberiou said. “The results lagged despite having a good process sometimes. We had a good process last year. Defensively, we are a clearly better team than last. We are giving up nine to 10 less points per game. There is a commitment on that end. It’s all been better.”

That defensive effort – only surrendering 41.2 points per game – has been sparked by a more balanced attack on the offensive end. The Indians are averaging 59.2 points, the best mark in Class 6A and sixth highest in the entire WPIAL.

The one-two punch of senior guard Gemma Walker and junior forward Natalie Wetzel is already a lot for opponents to handle. Now, throw in reliable scoring from others and Peters Township has turned into quite the headache.

Walker, a slashing guard and St. Francis recruit, averages 14.4 points. Wetzel, who has 25 Division I offers and counting, averages nearly a double-double with her six-foot-three-inch frame (16.3 points and nine rebounds).

“Having great players make you look like a great offensive coach,” Limberiou admitted. “Natalie is freakishly gifted and athletic. There is not much she can’t do. Gemma is a born scorer and one of the best drivers to the rim in the entire WPIAL. But they are scoring less than they did last year. That’s because the rest of the team is scoring a lot more. That diversity of scoring has made us tougher to guard.”

Junior Daniela Radulovich and sophomore Brianna Morreale have taken some of the pressure off the big two for the Indians. Radulovich, who also stands at 6-3, has 7.6 and 7.3 rebounds per game. A smooth shooter, Morreale is averaging double digits in points (10.8).

“Last year, the scoring was more between Gemma and myself,” Wetzel said. “It’s a whole team effort this year. It makes my job so much easier. If I catch the ball and get doubled then somebody is always going to be open.”

Walker said an offseason of practicing together and playing in a tournament in Maryland brought the team a lot closer.

“The big thing is we stepped into the season with confidence,” Walker mentioned. “We expected a level of success. Balanced scoring has allowed us to really focus more on defense and have the energy to do that. We are making the extra pass. Everybody has stepped up and embraced their role.”