Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Team of the Week for week ending Feb. 28, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, February 28, 2021 | 10:40 PM

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Chartiers-Houston entered its final girls basketball section game Feb. 20 with a chance to win and force a four-way tie for second place in Section 3-2A.

The Buccaneers lost at Fort Cherry, 35-30, dropping the team into fifth place.

“The loss to Fort Cherry was heartbreaking and really difficult to swallow,” Chartiers-Houston coach Laura Montecalvo said. “I felt that if we could bounce back from the loss, we had the opportunity to use those last two games to help us prepare for the playoffs.”

That’s exactly what the Buccaneers did.

On Monday, Chartiers-Houston beat Monessen, 50-33, and then Thursday, the Bucs closed out the regular season with a 60-41 triumph over Avella.

“Both Monessen and Avella are quality (Class) A teams that we knew would challenge us,” Montecalvo said. “Our kids stepped up, and I believe that helped us gain some momentum leading into Saturday.”

Saturday was opening day of the 2021 WPIAL girls basketball playoffs. In a Class 2A preliminary round home game, Chartiers-Houston totally shut down Frazier to advance to Round 1 with a grinding 27-18 win.

“My assistant and I agreed that it was certainly our best defensive effort of the year, and probably one of the best in several years,” Montecalvo said. “We were very proud of how well we executed and the effort that our girls showed for the entire 32 minutes.

“I preach defense every year, no matter our personnel, because playing great defense and giving maximum effort are two things we can always control. Our kids have bought in, and are really working well together on the defensive end.”

Chartiers-Houston didn’t score a lot, but as has been the case for most of the year, their points were spread out among several players.

Junior Dominique Mortimer led the Bucs with eight points while the trio of senior Zamierah Edwards, sophomore Kayden Buckingham and freshman Mia Mitrik each scored six.

“Scoring for us has varied as the year has developed,” Montecalvo said. “We have had several different players score in double figures. Our kids are unselfish and will do what it takes to get the ball in the basket. For us, it is not uncommon to have two or three kids score 10 points and another couple have six or eight.”

Chartiers-Houston has now won three straight games and five of its last six. That’s a far cry from where the Buccaneers were in mid-January after they lost their first three games.

“We certainly had a rough start, losing to Burgettstown in overtime to start the season, which was followed by a short skid of subpar play,” Montecalvo said. “We had a team meeting and we challenged them to lay it on the line and see what would happen. Since then, they have stepped up.”

Has this season played out the way Montecalvo anticipated?

“Some parts of the year have been what we expected, when we play to our potential,” she said. “However, there have been times when we feel we could’ve done more, played better, especially in the first part of the year. That is in the rear-view mirror, so we are trying to focus on the present.”

The present is a spot in the Class 2A Sweet 16 and a first-round playoff game with a 10-3 Winchester Thurston team that has not lost to a team smaller than a 5A school.

“Winchester Thurston is a very athletic team,” Montecalvo said. “They can run and jump and do a great job getting to the rim. We will need another strong defensive effort from our kids.”

2021 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Team of the Week

Week 6 – Oakland Catholic Eagles

Week 5 – Norwin Knights

Week 4 – Upper St. Clair Panthers

Week 3 – Armstrong River Hawks

Week 2 – Mohawk Warriors

Week 1 – Burgettstown Blue Devils

Tags: Chartiers-Houston