Sports
Second Half Run Propels Lady Colts
Chartiers Valley shook off a slow start on the road to beat McGuffey
The Lady Colts were starting to get used to blowing teams out in the first half of games and coasting the rest of the way. However, in Monday night’s 61-38 road victory over Section 5-AAA opponent McGuffey, the recipe may have been different, but the result remained the same.
“It was the polar opposite of the last few games. It was an absolute grind for the first half,” Chartiers Valley coach Spencer Stefko said. “We weren’t very sharp at the beginning and our defensive intensity wasn’t there to begin with. That eventually came along, but not without us struggling for a little.”
Chartiers Valley (10-3, 4-0) was without leading scorer Lexy Herron once again, who missed her second consecutive game with knee pain. Herron’s absence, as well as Mariah Wells and Kristin McGeough getting into early foul trouble, led to the Lady Colts’ first half trouble.
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However, sophomore point guard Alex Coyne was in the lineup, doing what she always does.
“She kept us together and she did a good job at pushing the tempo but also letting the game come to her,” Stefko said. “Kristina Coyne hit a couple big baskets when we needed them, and Lauren Herron and Lindsay Richardson came in and gave us a spark when we needed it.”
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In the second half, the Lady Colts seemed to wear down McGuffey. The 10-point halftime lead turned to a 42-26 advantage at the end of the third quarter, despite McGuffey’s Jocelyn Lucsko doing her best to keep the Highlanders in the game. Lucsko finished with a game-high 21 points.
For the Lady Colts, Coyne had another stellar game with 14 points, while Wells recovered from her first half foul trouble to chip in 12.
Stefko thinks that the ugly win wasn’t such a bad thing.
“It was a neat win for us. It sure wasn’t the way we drew it up, but you know when you’re playing well and beat some of the better section teams, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot each night,” he said. “We have to grow and get better at dealing with that, but I’m pretty excited about the way we responded tonight.”
The Lady Colts are back at home Friday at 6 p.m. when West Allegheny travels to Chartiers Valley as the first game of the boys-girls double header. The Chartiers Valley boys, who play at Moon tonight, will be the second game Friday as they play host to Upper St. Clair.
