Bucs don’t stop here, get PIAA win over Carlynton
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Jala Youngblood races down the court past Carylnton's Lexi Kowal during the first half of Tuesday night's game.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Jalynn Myers shoots for two during the first half of the game against Carylnton on Tuesday night.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's head coach Laura Montecalvo argues with an official over a possession call during the first half of the game against Carylnton.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Chartiers-Houston's Jalynn Myers loses possession of the ball to Carlynton's Conor Richardson during the first half of Tuesday night's game.
CANONSBURG – The gymnasium stands vibrated with every change of possession. The echo of fans chanting “Let’s go Bucs” grew louder as Chartiers-Houston girls basketball team attempted to do the unimaginable.
After mounting a comeback in the first round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs against Harbor Creek, the Bucs’ scrappy, never-give-up approach came alive again Tuesday night in the second round at Canon-McMillan.
The cheering began when Chartiers-Houston trailed by 17 points with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter against Carlynton and it did not stop until the final buzzer signaled the end of the game.
The Buccaneers made history. Chartiers-Houston went on a 14-1 run to cut the deficit to four points before taking a lead it would never surrender.
Freshman center Alexa Williamson had a game-high 24 points and the Bucs made five free throws in the final two minutes to defeat Carlynton, 57-49, in the second round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs.
The victory clinched the program’s first quarterfinal appearance since 1983. Chartiers-Houston (19-9) will face WPIAL runner-up and Section 3-AA rival Bishop Canevin (18-10), which defeated OLSH in the second round, Friday at a site and time to be determined.
Williamson also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked six shots.
As the Bucs drained the final seconds off the clock, C-H head coach Laura Montecalvo displayed a wide smile. Her young team had blossomed before her eyes.
“It makes me so proud because that’s the kind of kids they are becoming,” Montecalvo said. “At this point, I feel like we can be down any amount of points and all we need is that spark. They just grind out wins.”
The Cougars (20-7) led 34-23 at halftime and increased their lead to 17 points on Jordan Melko’s layup with 3:13 remaining in the third qurater. With a potential season-ending defeat in sight, Chartiers-Houston did not buckle under the pressure.
C-H cut Carlynton’s lead to six points at the end of the quarter and back-to-back layups by Williamson to start the fourth drew the Bucs to within two points.
The Cougars’ leading scorer, senior guard Conor Richardson, who was held to 10 first-half points, sat on the bench in foul trouble after picking up her fourth personal with less than three minutes remaining in the third. Carlynton head coach Tim Bonner, who was unavailable for comment, put Richardson back into the game early in the fourth quarter and stuck to his 2-3 zone.
The Bucs’ guards stopped attempting to dribble around the pressure and found open teammates around the key before dishing it inside.
Chartiers-Houston attacked using Williamson inside. The 6-1 freshman had 10 fourth-quarter points and her free throw with 1:52 remaining gave the Bucs a 51-49 lead.
After Richardson, a Duquesne recruit, came back in the fourth quarter, Williamson knew it was her time to play physical down low.
“I just wanted to keep driving it to the rim. I knew she couldn’t do anything to stop me because she had four fouls,” Williamson said. “I just kept doing that.”
The Cougars missed two three-point attempts and were forced to foul. Chartiers-Houston capitalized. Junior Cassidy Stollar, who did not play in the Bucs’ previous three games, made one free throw with 1:26 remaining and sophomore Jala Youngblood made three more to secure the victory.
Stollar, who entered the game because of foul trouble, scored five second-half points.
“It’s a little nerve-racking. I just knew I had to go out there and do what I have been doing in practice,” Stollar said. “We knew what we had to do and keep pushing. We couldn’t give up.”
The Bucs committed 18 turnovers in the first half, but had just three in the second half and none in the fourth quarter. They outrebounded Carlynton, 20-6, in the final 16 minutes and forced six turnovers during that span.
“I told her she’s the hero tonight,” Montecalvo said of Stollar. “It’s amazing to see a kid grow so much from the summer time to now, and I had no reservations about putting her in the basketball game. I knew she would go out there and do exactly what she was supposed to do.”
Chartiers-Houston expected the Cougars to utilize a pressure-heavy half-court trap, but practicing the system could not prepare the Bucs for the athleticism and speed of Richardson.
It led to countless turnovers as the Bucs attempted to escape by handling the ball around the Cougars’ guards. Carlynton capitalized in transition and built a 34-23 lead at halftime.
Sophomore guard Ashleigh Wilson led the Cougars with 17 points.
“The first half was pretty ugly, but I had a feeling that if we could survive the pressure in the second half we’d have a good shot,” Montecalvo said. “We had a really good defensive scheme to stop (Richardson) and that was actually working. It was just that we weren’t surviving their pressure. I told them at the half if we could survive the pressure, we could win the basketball game, so we did.”