Chartiers Valley girls keep winning streak alive with win over game Baldwin squad

By: Don Rebel
Friday, December 11, 2020 | 11:02 PM

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Chartiers Valley waited exactly nine months to pick up their 59th consecutive victory toward breaking a state record winning streak.

Now the Colts will have to wait another four weeks before attempting to win No. 60.

The top-ranked girls Class 5A team in the district and the state bottled up one of the top teams in Class 6A on opening night of the 2020-21 season as Chartiers Valley defeated host Baldwin, 59-48.

“That’s a very good Baldwin team,” Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell said. “They beat the No. 1 team in the state last year, and they have everyone back. We knew our first game was going to be tough, but all of our games are going to be tough because we have a target on our backs.”

While Baldwin achieved one of its goals Friday against Chartiers Valley and held junior Aislin Malcolm, a Pitt recruit, to only nine points, it didn’t do as well against fellow junior Perri Page.

“Our goal was to hold Aislin Malcolm under 10 (points), which we did,” Baldwin first year coach Jamal Woodson said. “We were trying to hold (Page) under 10. That didn’t happen. Perri is the most athletic girl in the WPIAL.”

Paige led all scorers with 19 points while newcomer Marian Turnball chipped in 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter that triggered an 8-0 run for the Colts and put them in control, 31-18.

“She’s been working really hard for us,” McConnell said of the junior transfer from Virginia. “She came in late, we threw a lot at her, and she’s been a trooper.”

The opening quarter was tight with back-and-forth up-tempo action as Chartiers Valley led 17-11 after one. However, the Colts’ full-court pressure paid off into instant offense several times as they built their led to double digits for most of the contest.

Even though the lead was never threatened, Baldwin kept Chartiers Valley from pulling away, staying competitive for the second half.

Senior Anna Lucarelli led the Highlanders with 14 points while senior Kayla Radomsky added 10 points.

A lot of the early scoring for Baldwin came from junior Morgan Altavilla, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half.

“Morgan looked strong,” Woodson said. “It’s hard playing the whole game. I don’t think she came off the floor. We’ve been on her to be more aggressive. Our thing to her is when she gets the ball in the paint, you’re not allowed to pass the ball, you’re going up.”

Starting out with the top-ranked team in the state isn’t easy, but Baldwin (0-1) will have plenty of tough assignments once it gets into Section 2-6A action against ranked teams such as Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair.

Chartiers Valley is now four wins from tying the state record for most consecutive wins held by the 2017-19 Lancaster Catholic teams at 62 in a row.

For now, though, both teams, like all PIAA basketball teams, will sit and wait through the holidays after Gov. Tom Wolfe’s shutdown of interscholastic sports until Jan. 4.

It is a wait that McConnell is less than thrilled about.

“I think it’s mind boggling,” he said. “If you can have 800 to 1,000 kids in school, why can’t you have 50 people in a gymnasium like we did (Friday). How do you know it’s going to be any better in January?

“I heard that last year, ‘We’re going to close down for a couple of weeks, then we’re going to start back up,’ and that never happened. I see no reason to close it down.”

Tags: Baldwin, Chartiers Valley