BVA’s upset bid falls just short

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

After a 27-point beating at the hands of Uniontown Jan. 3, the Belle Vernon Area boys basketball team wanted nothing more than their next shot at the Red Raiders.

They got it Friday and gave Uniontown all it could handle.

A pair of free throws by Keondre DeShields with five seconds remaining ended up the difference, though, as the Red Raiders escaped the Leopards’ den with a 59-57 win, their closest of the season.

“I’m really proud of the way we played,” BVA head coach Joe Salvino said. “This was a great game. There was no doubt this week at practice how bad they wanted it. We played well, and while it’s disappointing, we can take something positive out of this. We competed with them and had a good chance at the end.”

DeShields hit a pair of free throws with 20.7 seconds to go to give the Red Raiders (14-1, 7-0) a 57-53 lead, but Devin Whitlock grabbed the inbound pass and went coast to coast for a layup to cut the lead back to two. 

After Billy DeShields missed the front end of a one-and-one, BVA’s Mitch Pohlot grabbed the rebound but lost the ball out of bounds. Uniontown returned the favor after the bad turnover with one of their own on the ensuing inbound with just under 12 seconds to go.

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