Dec 8, 2018 3 min read

COAL CENTER – Charleroi boys basketball coach Bill Wiltz said the goal for his team was to go to the Trojan Tipoff Tournament and have his Cougars leave with a 2-0 record along with the championship.

“Mission accomplished,” said a happy Wiltz after his team’s 60-50 win over California in the championship game Saturday night.

“We didn’t play as well as we could have, but we will continue to improve.”

California coach Aaron Balla was impressed with Charleroi.

“Charleroi is a good team that is very athletic and is well-disciplined,” he said. “I tip my hat to them.

“(Wiltz) has shooters and athletes and they are putting it all together.”

All five Charleroi (2-0) starters scored in double figures and scored all 60 of Charleroi’s points.

Wiltz said a part of the in-game strategy was to give his starters more minutes simply because of the experience factor.

“Five guys in double figures is very good because it provides balance,” he said. “We wanted to go deeper but today didn’t dictate that because of pressure. If we threw in inexperienced guys it was too tight of a situation.”

Marty Foster led Charleroi with 15 points while Legend Davis scored 12 and the trio of Joey Caruso, Zach Usher and Lee Zandardini each scored 10 points apiece. Malik Ramsey (22) and Jaeden Zuzak (10) hit double figures for the Trojans (1-1).

Foster scored six points in the first quarter to pace Charleroi as it took a 16-7 lead. California clawed back into the game in the second quarter as it outscored Charleroi 13-9 to make the score 25-20 in favor of the Cougars at halftime.

Davis ignited a pivotal 12-2 run for the Cougars in the third quarter that saw Usher make a pair of three-pointers to extend the Charleroi lead to 40-24.

The Cougars would extend the lead to 47-27 late in the third quarter before the Trojans trimmed their deficit to 47-31 entering the fourth.

The Trojans went on a 17-8 run to start the final quarter, but they could get no closer than seven points down the stretch.

Charleroi went into a stall and Wiltz was happy with what he saw from his team down the stretch.

“We maintained our composure in a close game and took minutes off the clock,” he said. “We did it flawlessly.”

Balla said his team learned from this game.

“The guys know that they can get there,” he said. “Now, we have to overcome adversity from getting behind early.”.