Barrage of 3-pointers lifts Charleroi past Waynesburg

By ADAM BREWER

MVI Sports

After struggling with its shooting for most of the season, Charleroi exploded Saturday afternoon and nailed 13 threes in an 82-58 rout of Waynesburg in a Section 4-3A contest.

“Our outside shooting carried us today,” Charleroi coach Bill Wiltz said. “We always say that when we hit our threes consistently, we are a pretty good, competitive group. It only takes one kid to get hot from the outside and it seems like it’s contagious.”

Coming into the game, the Cougars (4-3, 3-2) were averaged 52.3 points and their season high for a game was 59.

“We had a talk before the game about team chemistry,” senior guard Zach Usher said. “I think we were playing by ourselves these last couple of games, so we stress about sharing the basketball and playing a team game today. Our outside shots started to fall and I think our ball movement gave us some open looks.”

Jake Caruso collected a team-high 23 points for Charleroi and knocked down seven treys. Will Wagner compiled 20 points, while Usher finished with 19 points and had three threes of his own.

Usher was also a focal point for the Cougars’ crisp passing game.

“Zach is just an intelligent point guard,” Wiltz said. “He has been starting for us the last three years and we expect his leadership every time on the court. He sees the floor so well and distribute the ball so well. He is just a very unselfish player.”

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