Chartiers-Houston downs Brentwood with power of press
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Alexa Williamson makes a jumper over Brentwood's Nikki Zorojewski (33), Molly Hoffman (22) and Emma Betz (24) in the 2nd quarter. Chartiers-Houston Bucs routed Brenteood at Chartiers-Houston gym in Chartiers Township Monday night.
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Jalynn Myers (15) drives past Brentwood's Alecia Forino (14) and Molly Hoffman (22) in the 2nd quarter for a basket. Chartiers-Houston Bucs routed Brenteood at Chartiers-Houston gym in Chartiers Township Monday night.
HOUSTON – It was a simple case of one team overpowering another Monday night at Chartiers-Houston High School. For the second time this season, the Buccaneers’ girls basketball team defeated Brentwood by double-digits, winning 57-31.
“In these kind of games you never know what can happen, so I am pretty excited about the win,” C-H’s first-year head coach Laura Montecalvo said.
Like she did in the first meeting, freshman Alexa Williamson took advantage of her size, posting a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Williamson finished with 10 points and five rebounds alone in the first quarter, helping the Lady Bucs build a lead. In the quarter, the Bucs went on a 13-0 run after trailing 5-4.
“She (Alexa) is performing at a level that most freshmen don’t,” Montecalvo said. “She is a very, very skilled player but the best part about Alexa is that she is coachable. As good as she is right now, I see a bright future for her because there are things that she can improve on to make her game better. Her performance tonight was huge for us.”
Chartiers-Houston (6-2, 11-5), which is in third place in Section 3-AA, opened the floodgates early on with their full-court pressure defense that forced the Spartans to turn the ball over 10 times in the first quarter.
“I think it made all the difference in the world,” Montecalvo said. “We have been working on it all year and we are finally getting it together. We are doing it better now than we have all season. We want to put a lot of pressure on their guards and get as many turnovers as we can and it was pretty successful tonight.”
Brentwood (3-4, 9-5) turned the ball over 21 times, a number Spartans coach Rachel Thomas doesn’t deem to be a recipe for success.
“I felt we were prepared for that but we made a lot of mental mistakes,” Thomas said. “If we can’t control those mistakes than it is hard for us to win. You can’t win ball games with that many turnovers.”
Another mismatch the Bucs had in their favor was on the boards. When they weren’t making their shots, they were outrebounding the Spartans 35-17.
“I will not deny that Alexa (Williamson) is an incredible player,” Thomas said. “She jumps really high and I think that was a little intimidating to our girls tonight. If they get in proper position we would have a chance to get rebounds but we couldn’t get in position. We have to be able to get better position.”
Also scoring in double figures for the Bucs were senior Jalynn Myers and sophomore Jala Youngblood with 10 points each.
Junior Alecia Folino led Brentwood with nine points.
With a starting five consisting of two freshmen and one sophomore, Chartiers-Houston is primed to be good for years to come, but Montecalvo doesn’t want to count out a run at the section title this season.
“It looks good for the future here,” Montecalvo said. “I am not trying to look too far ahead because I think we can make a good run at it this season. The kids are buying into it and it has been pretty good so far.”