Chartiers Valley girls battle-tested ahead of WPIAL playoffs

By: Nathan Breisinger
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 | 12:01 AM

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At the end of the year, when teams sit down and take a trip down memory lane on how their seasons unfolded, there’s usually a game that sticks out among the rest.

The Chartiers Valley girls basketball team has a few selections to choose from. It could be the 40-point win against Canon-McMillan in December or even a four-point loss against eventual Section 2-6A champion and the top team in the classification in Peters Township.

One, however, seems to stand out just a little more than rest, and it happened to be against nonsection opponent Trinity.

It was a contest in which the Colts were without two of their top players in Ella Cupka and Lilah Turnbull. Trailing by a handful of points heading into the second half, the Colts willed their way back to force overtime as they eventually walked away with a victory.

“They’ve been in a lot of hard situations,” coach Mike Semplice said. “We went into Trinity and had to call on kids off the bench. That’s when I really started to see that everyone was buying in, and whoever has to go in is going to do their job. I felt pretty confident after that point.”

With double-digit contributions from the likes of Rachel Boehm (15) and Emma Reynolds (12), Chartiers Valley understood what type of team it would become in the remainder of section play.

“There was never a game we were truly out of it and even if we won, we never had it secured,” Semplice said. “Every team is talented. It’s a lot of work, so I give a lot of credit to the girls because they’ve stayed invested.”

Leading up to the Trinity game, adversity hit Chartiers Valley as Cupka broke her ankle in a game against Upper St. Clair.

“It is hard to adjust after our team was playing so well and changing the whole team dynamic,” said Cupka, one of two seniors on the team.

After starting 7-2 in section play, the Colts dropped their last three games in February.

“That first half of the section, those games were all neck and neck. We made plays when we had to. We were on the reverse end on the second half of section play,” Semplice said.

“A couple games, we didn’t start fast enough and we gave the other team some advantages. Some games we couldn’t buy a bucket and other games it was mistakes in crucial parts.”

Despite the bumpy road down the stretch, the Colts still finished with a 7-5 section record and 15-6 overall mark in their second season of 6A competition.

With Cupka out for a month, the Colts needed someone like Turnbull to step up and lead the offense. That’s exactly what she did, as the junior averaged 9.4 points per game.

“She really stepped up into her position, especially when I got hurt,” Cupka said. “She was the reason we won games or was the reason that they were close. Lilah can score at any time she wants throughout the game, and that is huge down the stretch of a tight game.”

Turnbull’s impact couldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the close-knit team approach the Colts have, she said.

“My team has definitely created those opportunities for me to be able to score, and I wouldn’t be able to achieve the scoring without them.”

Along with Turnbull, Reynolds, who also battled her own injury from the summer, was vital in the Colts’ success, as she paced her squad with 11 points and four rebounds per game at the starting center position.

“I knew it was going to take her a little while to get her legs back under her from coming off of that injury,” Semplice said. “She really hit her stride when January came around. She can shoot the 3, she can take you off the dribble and she’s good around the hoop.”

While Chartiers Valley has poured the ball in at a strong clip, its defense has been more important. Holding teams to 42.5 points per game checks in at the fourth-best in the classification.

“We watch a lot of film on teams, and we try to pick apart teams’ strengths and weaknesses,” Turnbull said.

For Semplice, two players have stepped up when it comes to the Colts’ defensive efforts.

“Natalia Palumbo and Iyla Ozbey are two of the best defenders we have,” he said. “They are in there fighting for rebounds and doing a lot of the dirty work and give us different contributions on things that don’t show up in the score column.”

Even with the late three-game losing skid, the Colts found their formula for success on both sides of the floor, and it helps that Cupka returned to the lineup on senior night against Mt. Lebanon.

“It’s nice to be getting her back this time of year,” Semplice said. “She’s a kid that gives us some poise with the ball. She makes good decisions. I always feel comfortable having her in there.”

With the Colts back to full strength, they were primed for another first-round clash with the Blue Devils Thursday, a team that Semplice spent time with briefly as an assistant coach.

“They’ve beaten us four out of five times, so as much as I like them, I’m sick of losing to them,” he said.

A year ago, the Colts fell to the Blue Devils in the first round by one point after squandering a 16-point lead in the last four minutes.

“The game last year does not feel real. We played so well for three-and-a-half quarters, and we thought we had it in the bag and let up off the gas and ended up ending our season short,” Cupka said. “This game is personal for the whole team.”

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