Char-Houston stays on guard, routs Carlynton
Chartiers-Houston’s Alec Ferrari shoots for two points against Carlynton during Friday night’s game.
Katie Roupe/ Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Riley Harvey works his way around Carylnton's Ian Gallagher during the game on Friday, December 19.
HOUSTON – Chartiers-Houston’s boys basketball team reached the WPIAL Class AA playoffs last season relying on three big men who seemingly could score at will, but 6-6 Ben Shade, 6-2 Kodie Hanley and 6-4 Miles Williamson are gone.
With three sophomores and one freshman receiving extended playing time in their place, the Bucs have altered their game plan.
Instead of physically dominating teams down low, Chartiers-Houston is wearing opponents out with quick guard play.
The transition has been eased by the presence of senior Alec Ferrari and sophomore AJ Myers. With the Bucs needing a win over Carlynton Friday night to avoid three consecutive losses to start section play, Chartiers-Houston head coach Eugene Briggs turned to his two guards.
Myers and Ferrari combined for 39 points to lead the Bucs past Carlynton, 61-28, in a Section 3-AA game.
“We had to scrap our entire playing style,” Briggs said with a laugh. “Playing with three bigs is hard. Now, we did a 180 with no bigs. We play ones, threes and fours. There aren’t any centers or two-guards on this team and we have to find our way. Having those guys helps.”
Despite a new, up-tempo style of play, the Bucs (1-2, 4-3) looked every bit as dominant as last year’s group when facing the Cougars. Myers scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Ferrari, one of only four seniors on the roster, added 17 points.
After leading by only nine points after the first eight minutes, Chartiers-Houston separated itself from Carlynton (0-3, 2-4) in the second quarter by forcing turnovers and led by 16 at halftime.
From the opening tip-off, the Bucs made a concerted effort to stop Cougars junior forward Tarik Isak, who averaged 17.8 points per game entering Friday.
Using a pressure-heavy defense relying on its guards, Chartiers-Houston limited Isak to 11 points and frustrated Carlynton’s leading scorer for 32 minutes.
“We just kept the pressure on and got in their faces,” Myers said. “It forced them into mistakes and got our offense going.”
The Bucs took over the game in the third quarter. Myers and Ferrari scored all 19 of C-H’s points during that span, which included a 13-2 run in the final 4:40 of the quarter as the Bucs took a 48-22 lead.
Chartiers-Houston forced turnovers at midcourt by clogging passing lanes, and Myers and Ferrari executed with a strong transition game by driving to the rim.
“With those seniors from last year gone, we had to change our game,” Myers said. “We have to play fast and push the ball down the court more. When one of us starts scoring, we all start scoring.”
Without last season’s dominant forwards, which all averaged at least nine points per game, Chartiers-Houston also needed an answer to its lack of rebounding. Not capitalizing on second chances hurt the Bucs in losses to Waynesburg and Seton-LaSalle.
Asking Myers to use his athleticism to grab rebounds was the answer Friday as he dominated the glass to add another element to Chartiers-Houston’s game.
“Last year, (Myers) had the luxury where he could sit at the three-point line and no one would bother him,” Briggs sad. “Now, he has to assert himself with the ball. We’re asking him to beat defenders when he catches the ball, and he did that tonight.”
So did Ferrari. Against an opponent as small as them, the Bucs drove to the lane for easy layups and drew fouls. After Ferrari worked with Myers in the backcourt last season, he has seen his teammate’s game grow by leaps and bounds.
“He’s become a completely different player,” Ferrari said. “He really takes the pressure off me and we feed off each other.”
The shining example was the third quarter. Though both players exited midway through the fourth with a large lead in hand, they gave Chartiers-Houston the win it desperately needed and the Bucs held Carlynton to six fourth-quarter points to close out the game.
With a section matchup against Burgettstown set for Monday, Briggs knew that losing against the Cougars was not an option.
“You need to get rolling because we go to Burgettstown and it’s always a slugfest when we play those guys,” Briggs said.