Pipilo leads Chartiers Valley boys past South Fayette in Section 2-5A clash

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 | 11:27 PM

Senior guard Joe Pipilo scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as Chartiers Valley pulled away to a 61-54 victory over visiting South Fayette in a Section 2-5A boys basketball game Tuesday night.

The loss was the first of the season for the Lions as they fell to 1-1 in the section and 4-1 overall despite 18 points from sophomore Kade St. Clair.

Chartiers Valley (3-1, 2-0) used balanced scoring in the opening quarter to take a 12-9 lead.

But St. Clair scored eight points in the second quarter as the two teams went back and forth with the lead before South Fayette took a 27-24 lead at the half.

“The first half, we were cold,” Chartiers Valley first-year coach Brandon Sensor said. “They were doing a good job forcing us into tough shots. We didn’t take good shots in the first half. Then, in the second half we were able to get to the rim, which is our focus.”

The Colts’ focus became Pipilo as he took control, turning steals into layups and finally converting three times on shots behind the arc as he scored 10 in the third and 11 in the fourth quarter.

“Pips is an awesome leader for us. One of the best leaders I’ve seen as a coach,” Sensor said. “He was able to hit a couple of shots and take it to another level.”

While it took a half for Pipilo to heat up, the Colts stayed in the game thanks to junior Sean Banas, who scored eight of his 12 points in the first half off the bench.

“He stepped up big time for us,” Sensor said. “He’s starting to come around, and he plays really hard. He did a lot of the dirty work, and he passed the ball well. He gave us some tough minutes, especially near the end.”

In a game where the biggest lead for either team was five points through the first three quarters, Chartiers Valley started to pull away in the fourth and twice had a 10-point lead.

South Fayette’s Joe Alcorn hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth as the junior scored nine of his 14 points in the final quarter.

Going back to 2012-2013 and the 2013-2014 seasons, Chartiers Valley is now 5-0 in section games against South Fayette.

“We’re just trying to get better each day,” Sensor said. “As a staff, we are trying to get used to the players, and they are still trying to get used to us. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Chartiers Valley, South Fayette