Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 20, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Monday, December 20, 2021 | 12:01 AM

While many folks prepare to celebrate Christmas this weekend, there is one local boys basketball team that celebrates a different holiday on game day.

For Steel Valley, every time the team hits the court, it’s Valentine’s Day.

Junior Makhai Valentine has exploded out of the gates this season, showing a scoring touch that is better than any bouquet of flowers or box of chocolates.

“We expected him to be the leader after he had great success in the summer,” Steel Valley coach Dale Chapman said. “He worked hard in the fall. We as a team need him to lead us.”

After splitting their first two games of the season in the Keystone Oaks Tip-off Tournament, Steel Valley hosted last year’s WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champions, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The matchup featured two of the district’s most prolific scorers in Valentine for the Ironmen and Jake DiMichele for the Chargers.

Neither disappointed as Valentine scored 37 and DiMichele pumped in 33 points.

However, Chapman was only interested in the end result, a 93-57 OLSH win.

“We lost to a very good OLSH team,” he said. “It didn’t really matter to us who outscored who individually. We lost.”

Steel Valley bounced back Thursday with a 70-59 nonsection road victory at Chartiers-Houston as Valentine led the way with 30 points.

“(Valentine) played well considering he had four fouls in the second quarter and finished the game,” Chapman said. “Cruse Brookings and Greg Smith also played a great game.”

The next night, the Ironmen opened up their Section 3-3A schedule with a home loss to No. 3 Shady Side Academy. Despite not playing his best game and getting banged up, Valentine still finished with 26 points for Steel Valley.

“He played average against Shady Side Academy,” Chapman said. “They sent two players at him all night, and he took some shots he normally makes. When he got hurt, he wasn’t the same.”

Chapman has been impressed with how hard Valentine worked in the offseason to improve certain aspects of his game.

“He’s worked extremely hard on his jumper and his first step in the weight room,” he said. “Mikhail has always been very good at getting to the rim. Now he’s improved his rebounding, averaging eight a game.”

While it has been a sweetheart of a start for Valentine, Steel Valley is 2-3 with a section game at Apollo-Ridge on Tuesday coming up before the holiday break.

“We need to win our next game. We’ll make the adjustments that need to be made,” Chapman said. ‘We’ll (continue to) rely on Mikhail and Cruse to get it done.”

2021 Trib HSSN Players of the Week

Week 11 – Dante Spadafora and Jake DiMichele, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

Week 10 – Brandin Cummings, Lincoln Park

Week 9 – Sheldon Cox, New Castle

Week 8 – Luke Banbury, Upper St. Clair

Week 7 – Michael Dunn, Trinity

Week 6 – Adou Thiero, Quaker Valley

Week 5 – Brayden Reynolds, Chartiers Valley

Week 4 – Damon Astorino, Ambridge

Week 3 – Jackson LaRocka, Burgettstown

Week 2 – Vinnie Cugini, Aquinas Academy

Week 1 – Jackson Juzang, Winchester Thurston