Chartiers Valley girls cruise past Warren in PIAA quarterfinals

By: Don Rebel
Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 4:09 PM

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Despite a “flawed” game plan, Chartiers Valley scored 26 of the final 37 points in the first half, then used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to blow open a tight game and roll to a 61-38 victory Saturday afternoon.

The win lifts the three-time WPIAL champions and defending state champions into Tuesday’s PIAA semifinals against the winner of Spring Grove and Hollidaysburg.

District 10 champion Warren (19-3) played a strong first quarter and held a 14-8 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by juniors Riley Childress and Emma Ruhlman. Ruhlman was the hero of the Dragons District 10 title game victory when she hit three free throws with no time left on the clock in a 40-39 thriller over Slippery Rock.

However, the Colts answered with the final 11 points of the opening quarter to lead 19-14.

Junior Perri Page had a big opening quarter with 10 of her team’s 19 points.

”We thought we had an inside presence with Perri and her athleticism,” Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell said. “Perri did a great job of getting points around the basket. Then they started double teaming her, which opened the outside for us.”

The rest of the Colts started taking advantage of the Dragons’ double teams as Chartiers Valley extended the lead to nine points by halftime, 34-25.

Last year, Chartiers Valley jumped all over Warren in a PIAA first-round playoff game and cruised to a 71-39 victory.

“We wanted to keep that game a distant memory,” Warren coach Lisa LaVan said. “Obviously, Coach McConnell does a great job with this program and we know them very well with all the AAU relationships. I was really proud of how we handled their press early on.”

McConnell admitted that decision to pressure Warren was not a good one.

“I thought our defense in the second half was much better,” he said. “We stopped pressing, we stopped trapiing and giving them easy looks. When we settled down and guarded them in the second half, they only scored 13 points.

“That was totally my fault. The game plan was to speed them up a little bit and they did a nice job of handling it and getting open looks. We made the adjustment at halftime to just get down and guard and our girls did a great job.”

Whatever hope Warren had of clawing back into the game was dashed in the third quarter when Chartiers Valley went on a 13-0 run that extended its lead to 52-32 going into the fourth quarter.

“The big adjustment they made in the second half was to set more ball screens and we struggled,” LaVan said. “On offense, they kept us at bay. Every shot we took was very challenged, so we struggled a little more. They took that pressure off, so we weren’t getting those easy looks off of the press.”

Childress led the Dragons with 12 points while Ruhlman and senior Kelsey Stuart each added 10 points.

Page finished with 19 points to lead Chartiers Valley. Juniors Hallie Cowan and Aislin Malcolm scored 16 and 11 points, respectively.

“Both twins (Hallie and Helene Cowan), along with Aislin, have been playing solid,” McConnell said. “If we’re going to get back to Hershey, we need them to keep doing what their doing.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley