Chartiers Valley buries Exeter with 3-point shots
The road to a PIAA basketball championship is paved with potholes like any Pittsburgh street in mid-March when the weather warms. Perhaps, however, the biggest sinkhole for WPIAL teams is coming off wining the District 7 title in front of packed crowds at the Petersen Events Center.
Exeter attempted to throw up a roadblock in Chartiers Valley’s path but the host Colts dodged that cavity and posted a 68-44 victory on Feb. 6 in a first-round state Class 5A playoff game.
“I think it’s hard just because we have such a long layover,” CV coach Corey Dotchin said of the week between playing for the WPIAL title and the start of the PIAA tournament. “We know we’re playing at home and it’s easy to kind of get excited.
“I’m glad that we got this one under our belt and we can get ready and move forward.”
The Colts (24-2) moved on to the second round of action to face Cocalico, a 61-58 winner over Hampton, because they buried a record 15 long-range shots to dispatch Exeter, which was the ninth-place team out of District 3, sporting a 17-10 record.
Of the 3-point shot Dotchin said, “That’s always a strength for us.
“We shoot every day in practice and these guys are good shooters. And,” he added, “playing at home always helps. Our shooters got the shots that they’ve been taking and making all season.”
It took some time for the shots to finally drop as the Colts and Eagles were engaged in a tight battle throughout much of the first half.
CV lead, 9-7, after the first frame, thanks to triples by Julian Semplice (2) and Logan Helfrick. The duo snapped an 11-11 deadlock by burying back-to-back 3s to take the lead for good.
The Colts, who connected on eight 3-pointers in the game’s first 16 minutes, held a 26-17 halftime advantage before pouring it on in the third quarter. Twenty-one of their points in the frame came off five treys and Silvas Verzich sinking three foul shots after being fouled beyond the arc as CV’s advantage swelled to 47-33.
The Colts spread the wealth around.
Julius Best came off the bench and pumped in 18 points. He buried four, 3-point field goals.
Semplice followed with 14 tallies. He had three triples.
Verzich pitched in with 13 markers. He had two 3s in the game as did Helfrick, Danny Slizik and Jake Lewis.
“I think that 15 (3-pointers) was probably the most in a game that we’ve had,” Dotchin said.
“It was good because we’re sharing the basketball,” he added. “We have multiple guys that are hitting in rhythm shots. We have all the confidence in our guys to make those shots. That’s why we work on it daily.”