Chartiers Valley’s playoff run ends with bitter loss to Hershey in PIAA semifinals

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, March 21, 2025 | 10:04 PM

CLEARFIELD – Chartiers Valley’s mission was written across the chest of its opponent: Hershey.

But the school from the so-called “Sweetest Place on Earth” handed Chartiers Valley a bitter loss one round short of the state championships Friday night. A nearly four-minute scoring slump just before halftime put the WPIAL champion in a hole it never quite escaped in a 66-50 loss to Hershey in a PIAA Class 5A semifinal at Clearfield.

The District 3 champion scored 17 consecutive points late in the second quarter.

“I think we lost our composure a little bit,” Chartiers Valley coach Corey Dotchin said. “Part of that was the ball just kind of didn’t bounce our way during that stretch. I think we lost ourselves a little bit, so that’s on us. But I also think they got a couple of bounces that went their way that would’ve changed it.”

Chartiers Valley (26-4) and its first-year coach were trying to extend their season as far as possible and maybe reach the finals for the third time in team history. That became more difficult once Hershey’s run flipped a one-point Chartiers Valley lead into a 34-18 deficit.

Hershey shot 56% from the field in the first half and went 3 for 7 from beyond the arc. Chartiers Valley shot 27% in that span and made 3 of 14 attempts from 3-point range.

All combined, the Colts trailed by 15 at halftime.

“I feel like they shot it the best they did all season,” Dotchin said. “The amount of film me and my staff watched, we didn’t see them shoot it as well as they did in the first half. I keep going back to it, but that’s kind of the way the ball bounced.”

Hershey (25-3) advanced to the finals to face Neumann-Goretti at 8 p.m. March 28 at Giant Center. The Philadelphia Catholic League power has won nine state titles, but Hershey will surely have a homecourt advantage.

The school is about four miles from the area.

“Hershey is going to be full, and they’re going to be cheering for the Trojans,” Hershey coach Paul Blackburn said.

Hershey will make its first appearance in the state finals in Blackburn’s 15th season as coach. He said the school’s athletic director asked whether the team needed a school bus or a charter bus for the finals.

“We’re fine,” Blackburn said. “We’ll walk.”

Hershey held CV’s Jayden Davis to one point in the first half on a free throw with 21 seconds left. The Colts’ high-scoring senior was guarded often by Hershey’s Cameron Sweeney, a 6-foot-3 junior with a size advantage.

But after an 0-for-7 shooting start, Davis sparked a second-half rally with a couple of 3-pointers in the third. Davis and Julian Semplice combined for 24 points after halftime as Chartiers Valley cut the deficit to two.

A layup by Semplice narrowed Hershey’s lead to 37-35 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter. A runner by freshman Luca Federico in the fourth had the Colts again within two points, 50-48, with 6 minutes left.

But they never could close the gap.

“Down 15 at half, we could have packed it in,” Dotchin said. “They came out and fought and made it a two-point game a couple of times. We had our opportunities. A rebound here. A layup there. Maybe it could’ve been a little bit of a different game. But that’s just the way that it goes sometimes.”

Chartiers Valley was stuck on 18 points for much of the second quarter. The Colts were limited by four turnovers in the quarter and were outrebounded 12-3.

Hershey was focused defensively on cutting off Davis’ lanes to the basket and limiting the Colts’ transition chances.

“We wanted to take away what they did best, and for a time, we did that,” Blackburn said. “When they’re in the open floor, (Davis) can really make a play. But a lot of the time we had guys in gaps who could help. … We were able to keep him in front and have a little more size (to defend him).”

Semplice led Chartiers Valley with a game-high 15 points and Davis had 14.

Hershey had four players score in double figures. Sweeney scored 14 points, Drew Grana and Jack Zakovitch had 13 apiece and James Campbell added 11. The Trojans made only 13 for 26 foul shots overall but converted enough to win.

They made 5 of 9 from the line in the fourth.

Chartiers Valley’s second-half rally was spurred on by its trapping defense, but the energy needed to make that comeback surely took a toll. Hershey outscored the Colts 16-2 over the final five minutes to pull away.

Late foul trouble also limited Chartiers Valley.

“The rhythm wasn’t there to kind of sustain that push,” Dotchin said. “But the guys gave it their all.”

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.

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