Chartiers Valley punishes Thomas Jefferson’s mistakes in Class 5A 1st-round win

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | 11:04 PM

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Early in the first two quarters of their WPIAL Class 5A first-round boys basketball playoff game, No. 13 Thomas Jefferson was able to go toe to toe with No. 4 Chartiers Valley.

However, lapses and mistakes at the end of those two quarters allowed the Colts to gallop free and easy into the quarterfinals and avoid being bracket-busted by the Jaguars.

Senior Jayden Davis scored 24 points as Chartiers Valley eliminated Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday, 72-50.

Davis, in what might be the final home game of his successful career, hit from long range, mid-range and on short shots in leading the Colts. Combined with his distribution of the ball on offense and his lighting quickness on defense, Davis could not be slowed by the Jaguars.

“That’s been our big message to him since I got the job was we have a lot of talent around him, and if he uses it to his advantage, it’s going to make his job easier,” Chariters Valley first-year coach Corey Dotchin said. “We have a lot of guys around him that can make plays, and his playmaking and leadership go a long way toward us being a special team.”

The pace was frantic early on as both teams came out shooting the ball well and exchanging leads.

However, Thomas Jefferson got sloppy near the end of the opening quarter, allowing Chartiers Valley to build up a six-point advantage after one, 22-16.

The Colts’ lead ballooned to 11 points early in the second before the Jaguars started to hammer away and pulled to within four points.

Again though, TJ got sloppy with turnovers and empty possessions, and Chartiers Valley built the lead back up to double digits, 41-31, when CV junior Logan Helfrick drilled a 3-pointer from the corner right before the buzzer.

The Colts were dictating tempo, and their efforts paid off handsomely in the final two minutes of each quarter.

“We lack size and an inside presence,” Dotchin said. “Being able to play fast and dictate the tempo where we’re taking comfortable shots and the flow of our defense has everybody involved plays to our advantage.”

It didn’t help Thomas Jefferson’s upset bid that leading scorer Nick Trklja and sophomore Kane Eggleton got into early foul trouble, forcing them to play a little more tentative.

That may have played a factor in the smaller Chartiers Valley lineup having success on both defensive and offensive rebounds.

“That’s another one of those keys me and my staff have talked about,” Dotchin said. “We knew with our lack of size, we’d have to gang rebound. It’s something that doesn’t take talent, just play hard and go do those little things that help us get an extra possession.”

Steady play in the second half allowed Chartiers Valley to constantly enjoy a double-digit lead that was never threatened and slowly ballooned to a 22-point victory.

The loss ended the season for Thomas Jefferson at 10-13.

Trklja, a junior, led the Jaguars with 13 points, sophomore Justin Fry added 11 and senior Noash Kaszer had 10.

Besides Davis, junior Julian Semplice scored 19 points, while off the Colts bench, freshman Luca Ferico had 13 points and junior Julius Best added 10 points.

Chartiers Valley improves to 20-3 and has clinched a PIAA Class 5A playoff berth.

Up next, CV will battle defending champion and No. 5 seed Moon for a third time this season at a site to be determined Friday.

The Colts swept the Tigers in their two Section 4-5A meetings in the regular season.

Tags: Chartiers Valley, Thomas Jefferson