Chartiers Valley fights off Moon rally in battle of the last 2 WPIAL 5A champs

By: Don Rebel
Friday, December 19, 2025 | 11:33 PM

Previous Next

On the night Chartiers Valley retired the No. 1 jersey of recent graduate Jayden Davis, the current Colts team had to hold on for dear life to remain No. 1.

The 2025 WPIAL Class 5A champions were dominant in the first half and led by 17 points at the break, only to watch 2024 Class 5A winner Moon come back but fall short in an early Section 4 showdown, 46-43.

“We knew they were going to come out and fight with a senior-laden team and one of the best coaches in the WPIAL,” Chartiers Valley coach Corey Dotchin said. “The best way to say it, it was the ugliest win of the season, and I’m glad we can say it was a win.”

It looked like it was going to be an easy win after the Colts galloped to a comfortable lead at the half, 33-16.

Chartiers Valley used a suffocating half-court defense and strong takes to the rim to score the basketball in the first two quarters.

Runs of 11-0 in the first quarter and 12-0 in the second sent the Tigers befuddled into the locker room.

“We were not ready to go (Friday) to start the game,” Moon coach Gino Palmosina said. “That’s totally on me. I didn’t have us ready.”

The one-two punch on offense for Chartiers Valley was senior guard Julian Semplice and sophomore guard Luca Federico. They each scored 12 points in the first half.

“Julian is a four-year starter, and we lean on that experience he has,” Dotchin said. “Since he was a freshman, he’s played in a lot of big games and he has taken the reins this year. He’s taken on a lot, and he got us off to a good start.”

The game of runs between the last two 5A champs continued in the third quarter, only this time is was Moon that flipped the script, outscoring the host Colts 13-2 at one point in the third quarter.

“In the second half, all the credit goes to our kids,” Palmosina said. “You find out a lot about yourselves when you are in a game like that, down 17 at the half. Our kids showed a ton.”

The Tigers offense came to life in the third quarter as they matched their total points scored in the entire first half with 16 points.

Another key to the second-half run was Moon coming out in a full-court press that Chartiers Valley struggled with. Even when they broke the pressure, the Colts seem flustered on offense in their half-court set.

Dotchin said his team was caught off guard by the pressure.

“I think we got lackadaisical and we got comfortable with the 17-point lead, and they came out and punched us in the mouth,” he said. “Luckily, we were able to answer them enough to come out of there with a win.”

One of the key series of plays came with about three minutes remaining after Moon cut the lead to three points. Colts senior Julius Best missed a 3-pointer, leading to a Tigers fast break.

Just when it looked like A.J. Buford would cut the lead to one, Best came back and blocked the layup from behind, leading to a CV fast break that Federico finished to restore the lead to five at 43-38.

Following a Danny Slizik free throw to make the score 46-43, Moon came to the forecourt and called timeout with 18 second remaining.

However, the Colts’ stifling half-court defense resurfaced as they did not allow a Tigers shot attempt, even after three timeouts.

“At the end, we were not ready to go after three timeouts,” Palmosina said. “It’s the head coach’s fault.”

Moon drops to 0-2 in section and 3-2 overall with the loss. Junior Brody Bauman led the Tigers with 11 points before fouling out while older brother Jackson Bauman added 10 points.

They look to get their first section win before the holidays Tuesday when they host Blackhawk.

Chartiers Valley improves to 3-0 in Section 4-5A and 6-1 overall.

After each scoring 12 points in the first half, Semplice and Federico finished with 16 points apiece for the Colts.

At halftime, Chartiers Valley retired the jersey of 2025 grad Jayden Davis, who averaged more than 23 points per game in the team’s title run in the spring and finished with 2,213 career points.

Tags: Chartiers Valley, Moon