Chartiers Valley exploits Johnstown’s ‘rough’ shooting night, charges into PIAA semifinals

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, March 15, 2025 | 12:16 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Chartiers Valley likes to counterpunch whenever an opponent’s shot misses, and Johnstown gave the Colts plenty of chances Friday night.

The District 6 champion struggled from 3-point range and missed 24 of its first 25 attempts from beyond the arc, empty possessions that propelled Chartiers Valley to a 58-38 victory in a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal at Norwin.

The shooting woes let the WPIAL champion Colts lead from start to finish.

“It feels good for us because we’re getting an opportunity to push the ball to the other end,” CV junior Julian Semplice said. “We feed off that energy — playing fast, playing quick — and it played to our advantage.”

The Colts pulled away with a 13-2 run to start the fourth quarter.

Jayden Davis led Chartiers Valley (26-3) with 19 points, Semplice had 17 and Logan Helfrick added 10. The Colts (26-3) advance to face District 3 champion Hershey (24-3) in the semifinals March 21 at a site and time to be announced.

Johnstown (26-2) is usually a good 3-point shooting team and has averaged around 11 or 12 makes per game, said Trojans coach Ryan Durham. But his team went 3 for 29 from beyond the arc this time, boosted only by a couple of late 3s in the fourth quarter.

Chartiers Valley went 6 for 9 from 3-point range and shot 57% overall (22 for 37).

“Basketball is like that sometimes,” Durham said. “Sometimes it just comes down to makes and misses. Boy, we had a rough night shooting.”

Johnstown shot 26% from the field.

Two players accounted for 35 of Johnstown’s 38 points. Junior Amire Robinson scored 19 points and senior Donte Tisinger added 16. Four teammates combined to go 1 for 17 shooting — all on 3-point attempts.

“We contested and tried to make everything as difficult as possible on (Robinson and Tisinger) because we know they’re good players,” first-year Chartiers Valley coach Corey Dotchin said. “Me and my coaching staff watched enough film, and we identified guys we thought weren’t consistent shooters. That factored into our game plan.”

A Boston University recruit, Tisinger went 5 for 20 shooting including 2 for 10 from 3-point range. Robinson went 7 for 13 overall and 0 for 2 from beyond the arc.

Both are 6-foot-3 scorers.

“Obviously, those two are really good players, so we had to have some extra help on them,” Davis said. “We knew we had to communicate on that end of the floor and fly around on closeouts.”

Chartiers Valley had six players score at least one point.

The Colts led 17-10 after one quarter, 29-18 at half and 39-30 after three. Their lead was down to four points early in the second quarter, but they were back ahead by double digits at the break.

Johnstown was held scoreless for the final four minutes of the first half. Chartiers Valley closed the half with a 3-pointer by Helfrick and a layup by Semplice in the final 36 seconds to lead by 11.

“When shots don’t go in and the score is fluctuating from six to 10 (points), coach Dotchin does a good job of controlling clock,” Durham said. “When you get down and you’re not hitting shots, they do a good job of shrinking the game.”

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: Chartiers Valley