Feb 26, 2015 By Eleanor Bailey 4 min read

For Chartiers Valley boys’ basketball teams under the direction of Tim McConnell competing for championships is not a dream. It’s an objective.

“It’s what we shoot for,” said the Colts’ head coach. “We set three goals at the beginning of the season. Win the section. No. 2 go for a WPIAL championship. No. 3 go for a state championship.”

By virtue of the their victory against North Hills, 78-53, in a semifinal game at Moon High School, the Colts aim for their second goal. Chartiers Valley (21-3) will now play North Allegheny (22-22) at 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Petersen Events Center for the WPIAL Quad-A boys’ championship.

It will mark the 11th time in McConnell’s 22-year coaching career that the Colts are in the finals. CV has won five WPIAL championships, two at the Quad-A level, with McConnell at the helm.

“It never gets old,” he said. “We are going to go back and battle and do the best we can.”

The Colts had one of their best games against North Hills. In fact, they tied their own WPIAL record when they buried 15 shots from behind the 3-point arc.

Jake Ritson connected on seven long-range shots and finished with 23 points. Matty McConnell had two 3s and also finished with 23 tallies. Ross Wilkerson added three triples and finished with 13 tallies. Coleman Vaughn also had a pair of treys, including one at the buzzer to end the third quarter with CV leading 55-29. Vaughn fired in nine points. Eddie Flohr also had a 3-pointer. He added seven points to the final score.

“I love when we shoot the ball well,” McConnell said. “Jake played well and Ross started off great. I’m real pleased with the way we shot the ball.”

From the opening tip, the Colts were on fire. They bolted to a 20-3 lead and stretched the margin to 38-18 by halftime, thanks to eight 3-point field goals against the 2-3 zone defense played by the Indians.

“We watched a lot of tape on North Hills and we knew they would come out in that zone. We knew we would get open looks,” McConnell said.

“With us, you have to pick your poison. Defend against the dribble-drive or our outside shooting.”

Chartiers Valley, meanwhile, defended well. The Colts held the Indians to 29 points through three quarters and opened up their largest margin, 63-31, after Vaughn’s 3-pointer with 6:16 to play.

“We defended well and made good decisions, particularly in the first half. We knew who was hot and who was not and got the ball to those people,” McConnell said.

Now, McConnell hopes his team stays hot and plays strong defense in the championship. In North Allegheny, they face a team that has 22 victories, including a 71-44 decision against Fox Chapel in the other semifinal game. In that victory, the Tigers received double-digit scoring from four players: Cole Constantino (20), Curtis Aiken (18), Will Sandherr (13) and Griffin Sestili (10).

“NA is a very good team. They make great shots. They are good on dribble-drive and they can shoot the three. They mirror us,” McConnell said. “It’s going to be a chess match.”

SLS in AA finals

Seton-La Salle (23-2) returns to defend its WPIAL title when the Rebels take on Aliquippa (24-0) at 1 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Petersen Events Center.

The Rebels advanced to the AA boys’ championship contest by beating Quaker Valley, 80-63.

Cletus Helton led the attack with 21 points. Paris Ford followed with 19 markers while William O’Malley and Andrew Rodgers provided 13 and 11 tallies.

The Quips, who are ranked No. 1 in the tournament, defeated Greensburg Central Catholic, 85-61, in the other semifinal game..