Chartiers Valley girls fight through challenges

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 3, 2018 | 2:03 AM

Coach Dan Slain knew it would be difficult for his Chartiers Valley girls basketball team to defend its WPIAL Class 5A title even though he returned eight of his top nine players.

Then injuries made the job more difficult.

Gabrielle Legister, the Colts' 6-foot-2 post presence, was lost for the season to a torn ACL suffered in the offseason. Lauren Wagner also suffered an ACL injury in the offseason and just returned to the lineup in January.

“I told the girls that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it,” Slain said.

The Colts have responded. As of Feb. 1, they were 7-2 in Section 1-5A, one game behind South Fayette (12-4, 7-1). They avenged one of those losses with a 49-39 victory over West Allegheny (14-5, 7-1) on Jan. 25.

Slain said the team became more guard-oriented, riding the play of Megan McConnell and Mackenzie Wagner. Players who were reserves last season — Alex Farrella, Mariah Demus and Carleea Webb — moved into more prominent roles, and the Colts also got a lift from a first-time varsity player.

Tia Horew was a basketball player in her youth but gave it up in favor of soccer in high school. With a little prodding from Colts boys coach Tim McConnell, Horew came out for her senior year and recently worked her way into the starting lineup on the strength of her defense.

“She has great feet, which, if you're going to play defense and play it well, you have to play it with your head and your feet,” Slain said. “That's what we had to hang our hat on was playing defense and rebounding and getting timely offense.”

With the playoffs a week away, Slain hopes his team has found its footing.

“I do see us starting to round into playoff mode,” he said. “And as we told them from the get-go, play like champions, because that's what you are.”

The Colts' reign could be threatened by a team from their own section: South Fayette. The Lions were 8-1 in the section through Feb. 1, including a win over Chartiers Valley in mid-January.

The Lions are just two seasons removed from winning a WPIAL title and will have revenge on their minds after being knocked out by Char Valley in the quarterfinals last season.

In Class 3A, meanwhile, everyone will be after Bishop Canevin, a two-time reigning WPIAL champion. Entering February, the Crusaders were 10-0 in Section 3 and 14-3 overall, with only one of those losses coming to a WPIAL team: Vincentian on Jan. 6. The Crusaders won their next seven and appear ready to go after a third consecutive title.

“I think we're getting there,” first-year coach Scott Dibble said. “We've got a few little things we're tweaking, but I think we're ready to go. We've been preparing for every game as if it's a playoff game.”

The Crusaders have a lot of players who lack varsity experience, so Dibble has relied heavily on six players to carry the load. One of them is senior Kasey Kaczorowski, who didn't play last season but returned to give the team much-needed experience.

She scored a team-high 19 points in a recent win over Avonworth.

While the Crusaders might not be deep, Dibble said he believes the experience of the core players can carry them a long way in the playoffs.

“We're battle-tested, and I think that's a huge advantage going into the playoffs,” he said. “We've been there before. We're not scared.”

Chuck Curti is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at ccurti@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CCurti_Trib.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Chartiers Valley, South Fayette