Leopards headed to WPIAL Championship game for first time since 1978
Jonathan Guth | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 players and coaches celebrate after defeating New Castle, 56-46, on Wednesday in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals at North Allegheny High School. The Leopards advance to the WPIAL Championship game for the first time since 1978.
Jonathan Guth | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Devin Whitlock drives to the basket before being fouled by New Castle鈥檚 Michael Graham in Wednesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class 4A semifinal playoff game at North Allegheny High School.
Jonathan Guth | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Jared Hartman moves the ball up court while being defended by New Castle鈥檚 Michael Graham in Wednesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class 4A semifinal playoff game at North Allegheny High School.
Jonathan Guth | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Daniel Gordon puts up a three-pointer in Wednesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class 4A semifinal playoff game against New Castle at North Allegheny High School.
WEXFORD 鈥� Belle Vernon is headed to the WPIAL Championship game for the first time since 1978 after going on an 11-0 run in the last 3:22 in a 56-46 victory over defending three-time District 7 gold medalist New Castle on Wednesday in the Class 4A semifinals at North Allegheny High School.
The Leopards (19-6) will play Highlands (21-3) on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
鈥淚t never gets old,鈥� said Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino in reference to getting back to the district title game. 鈥淲e are just glad to be playing in the finals. We really don鈥檛 care who it is against. We will be ready to go.
鈥淲e had some obstacles early in the season, but sometimes those are good because now you know what you need to do. We had obstacles in this game, too, but that is life in general. You have to fight through the hard stuff to get to the easy stuff.鈥�
BVA (19-6) trailed 46-45 when the Red Hurricanes鈥� Isiah Boice executed on a three-point play and Salvino took a timeout.
鈥淲hen I called that timeout, I told them, 鈥榯here is a lot of basketball left, you don鈥檛 have to rush anything.'鈥� Salvino said. 鈥淲e were only down one point. We didn鈥檛 rush anything, and consequently, we were able to win the game.鈥�
The Leopards鈥� run started when Thomas Hepple put back an offensive rebound for a one-point lead and Hunter Ruokonen scored on a layup following a New Castle turnover for a three-point advantage.
Daniel Gordon threw a lob to Hepple, who instead of going for the slam dunk, went with a layup for a 51-46 lead with 1:02 remaining.
鈥淭he most important thing about that play was that he made the basket,鈥� Salvino said.
鈥淚 am so happy for Daniel,鈥� Whitlock said. 鈥淗e was able to throw that lob and he also hit some big shots.鈥�
Jared Hartman made 1 of 2 at the foul line for Belle Vernon, Devin Whitlock made a pair at the line for two of his team-high 17 points and Hepple put an exclamation point on the victory with a two-handed slam as time expired.
鈥淚t was great for Thomas to get that dunk,鈥� Whitlock said. 鈥淭hat kind of put an exclamation point on the game. We are going to the Pete.鈥�
New Castle (17-8) had a 16-14 lead after the first quarter, as the Red Hurricanes鈥� Michaels Wells scored his team鈥檚 the first 12 points. Wells finished with a game-high 18. Boice added 14 and Sheldon Cox 10.
Belle Vernon used a 6-0 run to open the second period for a 20-16 advantage before Cox cut the deficit to one with a three-pointer. The Leopards scored the next five points for a 25-19 lead with 3:14 remaining in the first half. Hartman鈥檚 three gave Belle Vernon a 28-21 halftime cushion.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud of these kids because they never quit,鈥� Salvino said. 鈥淭he defense also played a big part in this win.鈥�
The Red Hurricanes opened up the second half on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 28-27 with 6:42 left in the period, but the Leopards went on a 12-7 run to extend their lead to 40-39 with 1:15 remaining in the quarter. Gordon and Hartman connected on one three-pointer apiece in the run. Hartman, who had nine points, made two 3-pointers.
鈥淚 love competing and we definitely want to win a championship this time after losing in football,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淚 was glad to be able to hit my shots. Teams leave me open, so I just shoot it.鈥�
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Mitch Pohlot scored eight points on four field goals, and was also a force on the boards with 12 rebounds.
鈥淚 feel like at the end of the year, we just bought into the system and it has come together,鈥� Pohlot said. 鈥淲e had a lot of guys step up tonight, and the young guys really stepped up. We will be ready to go on Saturday. I knew that we had a size advantage coming into the game, not to underestimate them, and we just used that. Good teams use their advantages, and that鈥檚 what we did.鈥�
鈥淢itch, Jared (Hartman) and (Thomas) Hepple all did a good job rebounding,鈥� Salvino said. 鈥淛ared also hit some big shots. He has been playing really well lately, and he didn鈥檛 pass up shots tonight. He passed up a lot of shots in the season.鈥�
Whitlock, who lost in the semifinals of the district playoffs last year while attending Monessen, was glad to get some redemption this season.
鈥淭here definitely was a chip on my shoulder from last year after losing in the semifinals,鈥� Whitlock said.
Whitlock, who has 990 career points, would trade all the individual accolades for a title.
鈥淚 really try not to think about how many points I have,鈥� Whitlock said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know how many I had until somebody told me. I would trade all the points for a championship.鈥�
Even though the Leopards were a No. 6 seed against No. 7 New Castle, they came into the game as underdogs, but that didn鈥檛 matter to Salvino, Whitlock and company.
鈥淚 saw the potential in this team from Day 1 with the people that we have,鈥� Salvino said. 鈥淚 think the second game against Uniontown was a confidence booster for us because it helped us to realize that we can play with anyone when we play our game, even though we lost that game.鈥�
鈥淲e really didn鈥檛 think about being the underdog in this game,鈥� Whitlock said. 鈥淲e just take it as another game, and we got to do what we do and play our game.鈥�
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Jake Haney filled in nicely for senior Cam Nusser. The absence of Nusser was not due to the injured ankle he sustained in the first round of the postseason.
鈥淐am鈥檚 ankle was hurt so we didn鈥檛 know how much he would have played, if he would have played at all, so we were prepared for that,鈥� Salvino said. 鈥淗e (Haney) made the best of the situation, and everybody coming off the bench, (Daniel) Gordon and (Thomas) Hepple did a good job.鈥�