Dec 14, 2021 4 min read

CHARLEROI – Charles Dickens wrote his legendary classic “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1859.

Tuesday night, 162 years later, longtime rivals Charleroi and Monessen wrote a story of their own, and it should be titled “A Game of Two Halves” as the Cougars pulled out a thrilling 73-66 come-from-behind win over the Greyhounds after trailing by as many as 17 points.

“(The second half) was the best of times and (the first half) was the worst of times,” Charleroi coach Bill Wiltz said, using a play of words from the Dickens novel. “We played their style in the first half but was able to slow things down in the second half.”

Monessen coach Dan Bosnic spoke about the difference of the two halves.

“We played well in the first half but in the second half, I felt like we lost our composure and turned the ball over. We let them back in the ballgame and it was downhill from there.”

Charleroi’s Will Wagner put the Cougars on his back in the second half and willed his team to victory.

The senior scored a career-high 41 points, two off the school record of 43 set by Sam Miceli. He scored 18 straight Charleroi points between the end of the third quarter until there was 1:46 left in the game.

“Will is a complete player at this point,” said Wiltz with a grin, knowing he just witnessed something special. “He rebounds, shoots well, handles the ball well and makes great decisions. He is phenomenal at this point.”

Bosnic said his team sometimes made it easy for Wagner to score.

“We knew what Wagner could do and he is a good basketball player,” said Bosnic. “In the second half, I thought he got some easy offensive rebounds and putbacks because we didn’t box out. We didn’t challenge shots and he got comfortable.”

When asked about his performance after the game, the humble Wagner focused on the team instead of what he had just done.

“We made some adjustments at the half and were able to make plays,” said Wagner, who finished with eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. “We were able to come back, and this was a good win for us.”

Monessen led 42-28 at the half by controlling play and forcing Charleroi into what resembled a track meet. The Greyhounds used a 13-0 run at the start of the second quarter to take control of the game.

Wiltz had a heart-to-heart with the Cougars in the locker room at halftime.

“It was a little intense in there,” he said with a smile. “It wasn’t one of my marque performances, but the message was sent and received.

“We were able to play our style of basketball in the second half.”

Trailing 45-28 after the first possession of the third quarter, Charleroi began chipping away at Monessen’s lead.

Wagner scored 12 points in the quarter, and his last bucket of the frame trimmed Monessen’s lead to a single point, 51-50, heading into the fourth.

The game was physical in the second half and was called tightly, which led to both teams entering the bonus in the third quarter.

While Wagner was doing his part for Charleroi down the stretch, he scored 18 points in the fourth, Lorenzo Gardner and Kody Kuhns did their part to keep Monessen in the game.

Gardner finished with a team-high 27 points while Kuhns added 18.

There were seven lead changes in the fourth quarter, and the game felt like some of the classic battles of yesteryear between the Greyhounds and Cougars.

After Wagner gave Charleroi a 63-62 lead on a three-pointer with 3:03 to play, Gardner countered with one to give Monessen a 65-63 lead with 2:49 to go.

Wagner answered with another three to give Charleroi a 66-65 lead with 2:32 to go, and the Cougars outscored the Greyhounds 7-1 down the stretch to put the game away.

Charleroi made 20 of 37 free-throw attempts while Monessen made 13 of 16.

Bosnic said his team will improve because of the game.

“We have to learn from this,” he said. “It is our third tough game, and we have to take something from it to get better.”

Charleroi opens Section 4-AAA play Friday when it heads to Brentwood.