Baldwin avenges loss to South Fayette, nears 1st section title since 1986
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Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 12:24 AM
Baldwin’s Nate Wesling drives to the basket to score past South Fayette’s Dylan Monz during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Nate Wesling takes a 3-point shot against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Caden Cherico scores past South Fayette’s Tyson Wright during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Caden Cherico celebrates after being fouled while scoring against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
The Baldwin student section celebrates a Highlanders’ steal and score against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
The Baldwin’s Evan Golvash shoots a 3-pointer against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Nate Wesling works past South Fayette’s Dylan Head during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Matthew Schenk celebrates after blocking a South Fayette shot during the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Matthew Schenk blocks a shot by South Fayette’s Tyson Wright during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Max Marzina drives to the basket against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Caden Cherico scores off a steal against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Max Marzina celebrates with head coach Jeff Ackermann after defeating South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Nate Wesling brings the ball upcourt against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
Baldwin’s Nate Wesling brings the ball upcourt against South Fayette on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at Baldwin.
The boys basketball banner that lists section titles was conspicuously missing from Baldwin’s gym, moved instead to the locker room at coach Jeff Ackermann’s request.
Before it goes back on the wall, the Highlanders are hoping to add “2025” next to “1986” as their newest section title. With that goal on their minds, second-ranked Baldwin moved another win closer by successfully pushing the pace in a 62-36 victory over visiting South Fayette on Tuesday night.
“I had the banner in the locker room with me right before the game,” Ackermann said. “The last thing they did was they saw that banner. I said, ‘This is why we’re here today. We’re here to hang banners.’”
The win avenged a low-scoring loss to South Fayette on Jan. 3, which was Baldwin’s only blemish this season. But more importantly, Tuesday’s win has Baldwin (17-1, 8-1) alone atop Section 3-5A.
“Hopefully we can hang something on there,” Ackermann said. “We don’t have anything to hang on it yet.”
Baldwin holds a half-game lead over South Fayette (13-6, 8-2) with three section games remaining. That means the Highlanders are increasingly close to winning their first section title in 39 years.
“It’s special,” Baldwin senior Nate Wesling said. “We talk about it every day at practice: 1986. That’s what we compete for. That’s what we play for.”
Wesling scored a game-high 16 points with 14 in the first half. Sophomore Evan Golvash added 15 points with three 3-pointers, and senior Caden Cherico had 13 points.
Key was a decisive second quarter that Baldwin won 15-4 thanks to a defensive effort that kept South Fayette’s offense out of sync. The Lions went 2 for 10 shooting in the quarter, a slump that let Baldwin’s lead swell from two points to 13 by halftime.
Baldwin led 30-17 at the break.
“It was so much more physical (than the first game), and they just win that battle,” South Fayette coach Dave Mislan said. “It’s exactly what we expected was coming – the speed – and we didn’t match it. We didn’t come close to matching it.”
South Fayette stayed close early, trailing 15-13 after one quarter.
But Baldwin went 6 for 11 shooting in the second quarter with a trio of 3-pointers from Wesling, Golvash and Max Marzina. Those shots helped the Highlanders open the quarter on a 12-0 run.
“When they hit some 3s, that’s a dagger for them,” Mislan said, “because they’re so fast up and down the court.”
South Fayette had dictated the tempo in their first matchup and won 37-32. Mislan said his team doesn’t necessarily strive to hold the ball but rather runs a deliberate offense seeking quality shots.
Those shots weren’t there this time.
South Fayette shot 38% from the field in the first half. Owen Keener was the Lions’ leading scorer with nine points, all in the fourth quarter,
By then Baldwin’s lead had already surpassed 20 points. The Highlanders were ahead 41-19 after a steal and layup by Golvash midway through the third. They entered the fourth leading 43-24.
“We like to play fast, and we felt the first game was super slow, not really how we want to play,” said Ackermann, whose team averages 64 points per game. “We wanted to make sure tonight we got it as fast as we could.”
Baldwin also shot better in the rematch. But Wesling said his team’s intensity was the biggest difference.
“The first game we played them, we came out real slow,” he said. “We thought we could show up and win. We figured out that’s not going to work.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Baldwin, South Fayette
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