Brad Everett's story on guards:

"Look up the word "guard" in the dictionary, and it will state something along the lines of "one assigned to protect or oversee another."

In other words, the remaining WPIAL boys teams competing for a PIAA title are in good hands.

It's a party of five for the WPIAL in the PIAA quarterfinals, which will be played tonight and tomorrow. New Castle (Class AAAA), Montour (AAA), Chartiers Valley (AAA), Beaver Falls (AA) and Lincoln Park (A) are the survivors of the nearly two dozen teams that qualified for the state tournament."

(Photo: Chartiers Valley's Matty McConnell is one of a squadron of strong guards still alive in PIAA tournament. John Heller / Post-Gazette.)

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Chartiers Valley goaltender Noah Stevenson gave up three goals in the first 21:20 and his team faced a 3-0 deficit heading into the third period of its PIHL Class AA semifinal against Latrobe Tuesday at RMU Sports Island Complex.

But Stevenson kept it from being completely out of control. Latrobe had numerous point-blank chances to make the game a blowout, but Stevenson stopped three shots on breakaways.

That allowed the Colts to make a game of it with two third-period goals.

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Brad Everett, on the Chartiers Valley boys' basketball team:

"As Chartiers Valley makes its annual trip deep into the postseason, a trio of players have been spending a lot of time behind the wheel.

Michael Boulos, Spencer Casson and Matty McConnell are the driving force for a Chartiers Valley team that finished as the WPIAL Class AAA runner-up and advanced to the PIAA playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years.

The Colts (24-4) routed District 6 champion Johnstown, 65-38, Tuesday. They advance to take on Archbishop Carroll of Radnor in Friday's quarterfinals."

(Photo: Chartiers Valley's Spencer Casson dunks against Montour during the WPIAL Class AAA championship game. Matt Freed/Post-Gazette.)

basketball

Chartiers Valley wrestling coach Bill Evans has a unique outlook on two losses suffered by Colts junior Noah Wilps over the weekend at the PIAA tournament in Hershey.

"It's the best thing that could have happened to Noah," Evans said. "He may not agree now, but he will when he gets to college."

Wilps placed sixth in the Class AAA 170-pound weight class, but finished up with three consecutive losses.

"I'm so happy for Noah," Evans said. "When you look at where he came from start to finish, it's all about hard work. It was just hard work all year long. There's no secret formula."

Wilps opened the tournament with a pair of one-point victories, including one that went to the ultimate tiebreaker, which earned him a spot in the semifinals.

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