Alle-Kiski Valley girls basketball notes: Pair of teams kick off holiday event at PPG Paints Arena

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | 5:58 PM

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The second annual Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic will be Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, and two Alle-Kiski Valley girls teams will kick off the quadrupleheader.

Past section rivals Kiski Area and Fox Chapel will play at 1 p.m.

“The girls are super excited,” said Foxes coach Marty Matvey, who has his team sitting at 4-2 overall and 2-0 in Section 1-5A.

Fox Chapel captured the Freeport tournament earlier this month and has won three of its last four games. It hosts nonsection Allderdice on Thursday.

“We were trying to go away for the holiday, but that wasn’t fruitful, so I talked with (Fox Chapel AD) Michael O’Brien,” Matvey said.

“The boys were down there last year, so why not us this year? We surprised the girls with the news early in the season, and they were super pumped to play in a venue like that against a Kiski team we’re familiar with. Kiski has started out strong, and I think it should be a pretty good game.”

The Cavaliers are 5-2 overall and 0-1 in Section 2-5A heading into a home game Friday against Greensburg Salem. Kiski hopes to bounce back from a tough loss Monday to section leader Indiana.

“It’s a tremendous honor and opportunity to play in an atmosphere like this and in an arena like this. It should be a very spirited atmosphere,” Kiski Area coach Dave Williamson said. “We’re pretty familiar with the playing style of Fox Chapel.

“We’re excited to be 5-2 at this point, but we also had two bad losses (Indiana, Plum), and one was in the section. We have to rebound, and it would be nice to do that Friday and Sunday.”

For those who can’t make it to PPG Paints for the games, KDKA News Radio will broadcast them.

The final three games are boys contests starting with South Fayette and Moon at 3, Montour and Lincoln Park at 5 and Peters Township playing Fox Chapel at 7.

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

More holiday hoops

Dec. 27-29 will be a busy few days as many of the Alle-Kiski Valley teams will be in action.

Seven teams will play in two tournaments as Apollo-Ridge hosts Deer Lakes, Burrell and River Valley from District 6 while St. Joseph welcomes Fox Chapel, Valley and Freeport.

Knoch will travel to the North Allegheny tournament and face the host Tigers (Dec. 27) and Penn Hills (Dec. 29). Plum is scheduled to take on Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley at the Shady Side Academy tournament.

Springdale will play at the Bentworth tournament with the host Bearcats, Ringgold and Propel Montour.

Highlands won’t be in tournament action, but the Golden Rams will host Southmoreland in a single game Dec. 27.

St. Joseph keeps rolling

The Spartans host Eden Christian on Thursday in a Section 2-A matchup, and coach Geoff Dutelle hopes his players can keep up their strong start.

St. Joseph is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the section with its losses coming by two points to Serra Catholic and by a slightly larger margin against Class 5A West Allegheny at the season-opening St. Joseph tournament.

With only one starter back — senior guard Gia Richter — Dutelle said many on the roster have stepped up and performed well in new roles.

“We’ve had to figure a lot of things out between our inexperience from having to replace so many players and bringing in freshman,” he said.

“Also, we only have two post players, and we’ve been playing without (senior forward) Riley (Wilbert) since before the start of games. We kind of had to alter the system from three guards to four guards. Those are different offensive philosophies. But we’ve been adapting well to that.

“We have also been doing a really good job defending on the ball and not fouling as much. That has been key for us.”

Wilbert suffered a foot injury in preseason practices, and Dutelle hopes she will be able to return to the lineup in a week or two.

“We’re definitely excited to get her back,” Dutelle said.

Riverview wins short-handed

With just five starters and one on the bench, Raiders coach Jill Catanzaro said perseverance helped her team score a 44-34 victory over Freeport at home Tuesday.

Senior Lily Bauer and junior Isabel Chaparro battled through foul trouble. Senior Kat Tsambis and Chaparro led the way with 22 and 19 points, respectively.

“(Freeport) had three foul out. It was a physical game,” Catanzaro said. “Despite Lily having four fouls for a lot of the second half, she still finished with seven blocks.”

Riverview, 4-2 with the Section 4-2A opener at home against Jeannette set for Thursday, led the Yellowjackets, 16-1, after the first quarter and withstood any Freeport rally attempts.

“We kept the gas on the best we could from beginning to end,” Catanzaro said.

Sophomore starter Blake Huffman, a guard/forward hybrid, was injured in Saturday’s win over Sewickley Academy and didn’t play against Freeport. Fellow sophomore Juliette Brun is studying in Belgium until next month, and a couple of other players have school commitments that have kept them away from games.

Catanzaro said only five players will be available for Thursday’s game.

“They are physically tough and are still developing that mental toughness,” Catanzaro said. “It was a great win for us, to beat a 4A school. We were due against them.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Kiski Area, Riverview, St. Joseph