Bethel Park Gets Defensive in Beating Char Valley & Winning Girls AAAA Gold

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, March 2, 2013 | 9:56 PM

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It was not a thing of beauty to the average fan, but to Bethel Park, it turned out to be a work of art. In a defensive struggle, the Black Hawks won their first ever WPIAL basketball championship defeating Chartiers Valley for the third time this year, 48-34 Saturday evening at the A.J. Palumbo Center. 

This was Chartiers Valley’s first trip to the title game, but it turned into a silver weekend for the Colts as both the boys and girls ended up with runner-up trophies.

Bethel Park jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Man to man pressure was the theme, forcing 17 turnovers in the game. Chartiers Valley was unable to get many good looks at the hoop the entire game. Bethel Park led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and 18-11 at halftime. Chartiers  Valley did not cut the deficit  below 5 at any point in the 2nd half.

Chartiers Valley was down by 7 with 3 minutes remaining in the 3^rd quarter, but missed 4 opportunities to cut further into the lead. Then Bethel Park would take advantage, scoring to increase the lead to 9 and were not challenged the rest of the way.

Mariah Penascino controlled the pace for the Blackhawks, scoring 15 points and connecting on 9 of 13 free throws, including 6 down the stretch when the Colts were forced to foul. Harper Zimmer chipped in 11.

The Colts were led by Jenna Devinney, who had three 3-pointers for a total of nine points.

Bethel Park improves to 23-3 and will open up the PIAA tournament with a rematch against rival Mount Lebanon. Chartiers Valley drops to 19-7 and will play Allderdice from District 8.

                                      1       2      3      4        T

Chartiers Valley         6       5       5     18      34

Bethel Park                12     6       7     23       48

Tags: Bethel Park, Chartiers Valley