Brayden Reynolds scores 42; No. 2 Chartiers Valley tops No. 1 New Castle

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, February 12, 2021 | 9:42 PM

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Chartiers Valley’s Brayden Reynolds says his Colts weren’t themselves last month when they hosted New Castle and maybe focused too much on the hype.

They saw Friday’s rematch as a chance to show who they really are.

“We wanted to come out and make a statement,” said Reynolds, who shook off last month’s loss and scored 42 points as the second-ranked Colts ran away with a 77-59 section win at No. 1 New Castle.

When the Section 2-5A teams met Jan. 19, Reynolds made only eight of his 27 shots and Chartiers Valley lost at home by 28 points. This time, the high-scoring senior went 15 for 21 from the field including 6 for 9 from beyond the arc in likely his best game of the year.

He also grabbed 15 rebounds.

“It wasn’t even about winning or losing the game,” Reynolds said. “We just wanted to show that we can compete with anybody in the WPIAL. They came to our place and kicked our butt. We wanted to show that we could at least compete with them.”

Chartiers Valley (15-1, 7-1) showed that and more with help from one of the WPIAL’s top scorers.

Reynolds’ second quarter alone was electric, scoring 16 points on 6 of 6 shooting with four 3s. He scored twice in the final 30 seconds, making a steal and layup followed by a 3-pointer before the buzzer.

The 6-foot-3 guard finished the first half with 25 points, and the Colts led 43-19.

“We came in confident this time,” CV coach Brandon Sensor said. “I thought in the first game, (the team had) a little bit nerves and was afraid to make mistakes. This game, we attacked them from the start.”

Reynolds agreed that his team’s focus was better.

“We let a lot of the emotions get to the (first) game,” he said. “Just like today, it was one vs. two. We all wanted to come out and show it. We kind of laid an egg. But today, we weren’t as tense. We came out and played better. That’s the bottom line.”

Sheldon Cox led New Castle (13-2, 8-1) with 24 points, Isaiah Boice had 16 and Michael Wells added 14. But the Red Hurricanes held a lead for only 10 seconds early in the first quarter. They trailed by 12 points after one quarter and by 24 at half.

“Teams never come in here and do that to us, but they did tonight,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said. “So, give credit to them. They should feel great about what they did. Certainly, we hope we get another opportunity to see them.”

New Castle went 6 for 23 from 3-point range and shot just 35% from the field overall (20 for 57).

Wells tried to rally New Castle with 11 points in the third including the first five in a row after halftime, but the Red Hurricanes never got closer than 14 points in the second half.

Chartiers Valley headed to the fourth leading 58-38 when Reynolds finished the third with a deep, step-back 3 from the top of the key.

Reynolds averages 25.8 points per game. This was the seventh time this season he scored at least 30, with his previous best being 36.

“When I see the ball go through the net, confidence just keeps going up and keeps going up,” Reynolds said. “I was able to keep it the whole game.”

Blundo’s teams are known for their defense, but he was critical of Tuesday’s effort. The Colts shot 58% from the field (25 of 43) and 38% from beyond the arc (8 of 21).

“Just not enough engagement,” Blundo said. “Not enough real engagement on the ball and off the ball. We took possessions off and you do that against a good team.”

Still, there were time Reynolds and his teammates were just hot, Blundo said, regardless of the defense.

“Put it all together and you’ve got a 20-point loss,” Blundo said.

The outcome was a reversal from 24 days earlier when Chartiers Valley was outmatched in its own gym. The Colts missed 10 of 13 shots in the first quarter that night and Reynolds missed his first four 3s.

They trailed early and never recovered.

“We wanted to come here and show we’re not that same team,” Reynolds said. “We’re a lot better than we were then. Our chemistry keeps going up, going up, going up. We are that good. It was good to show it.”

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, New Castle