Defense a delight as Burgettstown stays undefeated
BURGETTSTOWN – Monday night’s Burgettstown-Chartiers Houston girls basketball game tipped off at 7:30 p.m.
At 7:51 p.m., Chartiers-Houston still didn’t have a basket.
The Bucs eventually scored on a three-pointer by Ava Capozolli with 5:04 left in the first half, but they never became a serious threat to Burgettstown’s unbeaten 2021-22 campaign.
Behind 16 points from Kaitlyn Nease and 13 rebounds from Addie Cairns, the Blue Devils improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in Class 2A Section 3 with a 49-26 win over the Bucs.
The Blue Devils’ offense struggled, particularly in the first half. Despite not giving up a point through nearly the first 11 minutes, Burgettstown only led by 10 after the first quarter and 11 at halftime.
“We had a little bit of a slow start, but I think that was partially due to Chartiers’ defense,” Burgettstown coach Megan Zitner said. “They played some good defense, and it took us a little bit of time to figure out how to navigate that. We kind of grinded it out in the second half and started to find some of the looks finally.
“It was a little frustrating to not find the basket early on. But we got it going in the second half.”
For Chartiers-Houston coach Laura Montecalvo, Burgettstown’s defense was a big part of the Bucs (1-2, 6-6) being shut out for a quarter. But Montecalvo also knows her team’s offense has to be better.
“We weren’t cutting hard enough,” she said. “We weren’t making good passes. We were having trouble catching the ball. So, just some basic fundamentals that have to happen in order for any offense to work, we were struggling to do those things well.”
Along with Nease’s 16 points, Jillian Frazier (10) and Madeline Newark (10) also scored in double figures.
Zitner said that Nease had been struggling offensive this season, partially because of having to play against a lot of zones. Against Chartiers-Houston, however, she had a lot of one-on-one opportunities and took advantage.
“She’s struggled a lot with her scoring,” Zitner said. “It’s because we’ve been playing a lot of teams with zones, and she’s doubled teamed a lot against a zone. But today, we were lucky to have her just against one defender, and she was able to use some of her moves that she’s been working on all summer. So, yeah, she played really well.”
Chartiers-Houston will look to get back on track Thursday against Sto-Rox. For Montecalvo, little things done well will lead to big things taking care of themselves.
“I told the girls that they have to stop looking at the big picture,” she said. “We have to try to win possession by possession and quarter by quarter. If we do that, then we take care of small things each quarter that can result in wins at the end of the game and a score on the scoreboard that’s in our favor.”
Burgettstown’s next game is Thursday night at Carlynton. For Zitner, the essential thing in the quest to repeat as section champion is to think only about the next game.
“We’re just trying to think about one game at a time,” she said. “At this point (in the season), the section is obviously our priority, trying to defend our title. So one game at a time.”