Peters Twownship still perfect as CV trips on foul line
By Joe Tuscano
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
HEIIDELBERG – The first thing you notice about Natalie Wetzel is she is a tall girl, easily 6-3, which is a tremendous find for any basketball team.
The first thing you notice about Gemma Walker is that you can’t pinpoint her. She is faster than a roadrunner and can leave defenders in the dust with a quick shake of the head.
Any coach would give their eye teeth to have one of them on their team.
At Peters Township High School, head coach Steve Limberiou has both.
And the record shows it.
Peters Township, behind the shooting of Walker and the physical play of Wetzel, kept its record perfect with a 53-49 victory over Chartiers-Valley in a Section 2 game in Class 6A.
The win pushes Peters Township’s record to 11-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Chartiers Valley fell to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the section.
And it was Wetzel’s seventh rebound of the game that staved off a late CV charge and secured the victory.
“I needed to get that final rebound for our team because I gave up two on the line,” said Wetzel. “That kind of sealed the game. But I was really nervous.”
Wetzel and Walker each finished with 15 points and Daniela Radulovich finished with 12 points. Lilah Turnbull led all scorers with 20 points.
“How many people can say they are playing with a power-5 recruit,” said Walker. “She’s amazing. We work well off one another.”
Peters Township never trailed in the game. The Indians held a 34-26 lead at halftime but Peters Township scored only 10 points in the fourth quarter. Chartiers Valley cut the PT lead to 51-49 with 34 seconds left. Lyla Ozbey had a chance to tie the game for Chartiers Valley but missed two free throws. Chartiers Valley missed 10 free throws in the game.
“It feels really big,” said Limberiou, when asked how it felt to be in first place in the section. “We knew in the summer Char Valley was going to be real good this year. This was clearly one of the most challenging games on our schedule. To come in here and get the win is big no question.”
Last year, Peters Township came to CV losers of 9 or 10.
“Sometimes the results flag the process, and I thought our process was pretty good,” said Limberiou. “By the end of the year, I thought we were one of the better teams in 6A though the record was slow to show that. I thought we had a good summer and we’re 10 points better defensively.”
Chartiers Valley was without one of its better players in Ella Cupke, who averaged 11 points and three assists last year.
“She has an ankle injury,” said CV head coach Mike Semplice. “It was the same game plan as the first half. We just executed it a little better in the second half.”
A layup and an old-fashioned three-point play, a layup and foul, gave Peters Township a 5-0 lead. Peters Township stretched the lead to 7-0 on a basket by Daniela Radulovich.