Dec 11, 2021 3 min read

McMURRAY – The Chartiers Valley girls basketball program has long been known as a power in the WPIAL by virtue of their stifling defense and a smooth motion offense.

Facing such a challenge this early in the season, coach Bob Miles knew his Peters Township squad would be in for a tall mountain to climb Saturday afternoon in the second game of the Baldwin/Peters Township Tournament at AHN Arena at Peters Township High School.

The young Indians hung close with the powerful Colts into the second quarter, but Chartiers Valley’s trapping defense and timely shooting eventually wore down the hosts in an 81-58 loss.

The Colts entered this season as three-time defending WPIAL champions in Class 5A. They gave no indication of stopping there as they eventually pulled away against the host Indians and didn’t look back.

Pitt recruit Aislin Malcolm paced Chartiers Valley with 20 points and orchestrated the offense much of the night from her point guard position. Hallie Cowan, a Seton Hill commit, chipped in 18 points while Ella Cupka added 11. Helene Cowan rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Colts as she contributed 10 points.

The Indians were led by senior forward and Delaware commit Journey Thompson’s 33 points. Natalie Wetzel added 14 for Peters Township.

Thompson kept the Indians afloat early with 10 points in the first quarter. But a balanced Colts attack led the way to a 19-14 lead at the end of the first stanza.

“I thought we shared the ball and played very well in the first quarter,” Miles noted. “I told our kids to focus on that.”

Chartiers Valley busted the game open in the second quarter with a 26-11 scoring burst that gave the Colts a 45-25 halftime advantage. Malcolm paced the visitors with 11 points in the quarter as the Colts seemingly grabbed every loose ball off the offensive glass and forced seven turnovers in the quarter. Thompson did what she could by scoring eight of the Indians 11 points in the period.

“I think that their pressure got to us a bit,” Miles added. “We had three underclassmen in there at the time. But we didn’t case necessarily. I think a lot of our turnovers there were more unforced than they were forced turnovers.”

A Hallie Cowan three pushed the Colts lead to 60-37 midway through the third, but Thompson did everything she could to keep the Indians close by scoring 13 points in the third to pull the Indians to within 63-48 late in the quarter.

Hallie Cowen’s seven points early in the fourth, one of them a three-pointer from the wing put the dagger in the Indians as the Colts cruised home from there.

“It’s a learning process now going through this with a young team this early in the season,” Miles added. “They shoot like crazy, they’re a very good team. How many teams have five college players in their line up like that?”

Thompson added a game like this can help the squad down the road.

“Coach told us how important it is to play a really hard team early and see where we are and what we need to work on going forward,” Thompson said.