Red Raiders defeat Leopards to secure PIAA playoff berth
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
The Red Raiders鈥� Levi Garner (11) goes up strong for a layup inside Belle Vernon鈥檚 Alonso Wade (4) and Curtis Wade (1) in the fourth quarter of Saturday鈥檚 opening game of the WPIAL Class AAAA consolation playoffs at Uniontown.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
The Red Raiders鈥� Tanner Uphold defends Belle Vernon鈥檚 Zion Moore in the first quarter of Saturday鈥檚 opening game of the WPIAL Class AAAA consolation bracket at Uniontown.
The Red Raiders' K'Adrian McLee (4) lays the ball off the glass for two points in the third quarter of Saturday's opening game of the WPIAL Class AAAA consolation bracket at Uniontown.
Belle Vernon's Zion Moore hits mid-range jump shot despite the defensive efforts by Uniontown's Bakari Wallace (5) in the second quarter of Saturday's opening game of the WPIAL Class AAAA consolation bracket.
Both Uniontown and Belle Vernon entered Saturday鈥檚 opening game of the WPIAL Class AAAA consolation bracket after tough, disappointing losses in Thursday鈥檚 quarterfinal.
And, both teams were down a key player (around 15 points per game) with the Red Raiders鈥� Jamire Braxton out with an injury and the Leopards鈥� Quinton Martin sitting after disqualification in the Laurel Highlands game.
Sparked by a solid box-and-1 defense and control of the boards, Uniontown rebounded from the loss to North Catholic with a 70-58 victory over the Leopards in front of the Red Raiders鈥� home crowd.
Uniontown (20-4) hosts Hampton Wednesday night in the 5th-place consolation game with both teams guaranteed a berth into the PIAA playoffs.
鈥淭his is the first time in my whole career we had a consolation game like this. I didn鈥檛 know if we鈥檇 both come in depressed. We want to learn from that playoff loss,鈥� said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e 2-1 in the playoffs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 another chance for our younger kids to practice a week-and-a-half. We鈥檇 like to win. We鈥檙e happy for our program to be in the state playoffs. It鈥檚 nice to win today rather then Wednesday because you know you鈥檙e in the state playoffs.鈥�
Kezmarsky added, 鈥淭hat was a really good game. The environment was great.鈥�
Belle Vernon (11-13) travels to South Allegheny to play in the 7th-place consolation game with the winner advancing to the state tournament and the loser closing out the season.
鈥淚 told them it has to be a short memory. We can鈥檛 think about the game that was just played. That鈥檚 gone,鈥� said Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino. 鈥淲e win we鈥檙e moving on, lose we鈥檙e done.
鈥淚t comes down to how bad you really want it. That鈥檚 what it comes down to.鈥�
Zion Moore really wanted it in the first half after he carried the Leopards鈥� offense by scoring 20 of their 26 points, including 15 of the visitors鈥� 17 points in the first quarter. Moore hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and reached 1,000 career points in the first half.
Tanner Uphold hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the first quarter to give Uniontown a 20-17 lead.
Moore鈥檚 3-point play tied the game at 20 just 20 seconds into the second quarter. Notorious Grooms鈥� steal and layup gave the Red Raiders a 30-24 lead with 1:57 to go in the half.
Uniontown maintained the six-point lead at halftime, 32-26.
Calvin Winfrey III stepped up for the Red Raiders with 10 of the home team鈥檚 20 first-quarter points. He scored 12 in the first half.
Kezmarsky changed the defense in the second half with a box-and-1 on Moore, rotating Bakari Wallace and Tanner Uphold on Moore.
The adjustment threw the Leopards out of synch and slowed down Moore. He scored 14 points in the second half, but was silent for large segments of the final 16 minutes.
鈥淭he box-and-1 helped. Zion鈥檚 a good player. We went to the box-and-1, and they stopped looking for him,鈥� said Kezmarsky. 鈥淲e split Bakari Wallace and Tanner Uphold on him. Two seniors that have been so loyal to this program. Bakari would play him real well, then we would put Tanner on him.
鈥淲e wanted to keep someone fresh on him.鈥�
Kezmarsky praised Uphold鈥檚 effort, adding, 鈥淭anner is made for that. This was a big game for him.鈥�
Salvino also adjusted the Leopards鈥� offense, but his squad did not respond, accordingly.
鈥淲e set up the offense to where it should have been, but they didn鈥檛 look for Zion after that,鈥� explained Salvino. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 look for him coming off any screens. We had the ball in the right position in the middle and couldn鈥檛 score from that.鈥�
While Uniontown was slowing down Moore, the Red Raiders鈥� Winfrey and Notorious Grooms picked up steam with drives to the hoop.
Grooms scored 12 of his 22 points in the second half and Winfrey finished with eight points in the second half to finish with 20.
鈥淚 thought Calvin and Tori took the ball to the basket, not like sophomores. Both are sophomores,鈥� praised Kezmarsky.
Bolstered by five points from Moore late in the third quarter, Belle Vernon entered the quarter trailing by five points, 42-37.
Levi Garner came up big in the fourth quarter as the Red Raiders steadily pulled away to a double digit lead. Garner scored all 10 of his points in the final eight minutes, including a dunk late in the quarter after Uniontown broke the press.
Fellow big man K鈥橝drian McLee also scored 10 points, four coming in the final quarter.
鈥淜鈥橝drian and Levi controlled the boards,鈥� said Kezmarsky.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 rebound real well. Not having Quinton is a big loss. That鈥檚 14 rebounds right there and 16 points he averages,鈥� said Salvino, adding, 鈥淭hey had a lot of second-chance shots and that鈥檚 the difference.鈥�
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Curtis Wade scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.