Playoff bound Campy’s downs Howard Hanna

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Entering Thursday’s regular season finale with Howard Hanna Wilson Baum, Campy’s Pizza had one simple goal: Win and move on to the postseason. 

With Elite Physical Therapy’s loss to Farmers Insurance earlier in the night, Campy’s needed to topple the league’s third-place team in order to keep its season alive. 

That’s exactly what Naz Victoria’s group of resilient hoopers did as Campy’s punched its ticket into the Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League boys division playoffs with a 73-65 victory over Howard Hanna at Marx’s Court Time Sports Center. 

Campy’s and EPT each finished with identical 4-6 records and they split the regular season series. However, Campy’s had a larger margin of victory in its win, which determined the playoff berth. 

“I would say that this was the best my team has played this summer,” Victoria said. “They played as a team on defense to start and they played as a team on offense.” 

Five players finished in double figures for the victors as Washington’s Brandon Patterson led the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Charleroi’s Will Wagner came up clutch with 15 points and East Allegheny’s Nico Pugliano poured in a season-high 12 points and eight boards. 

Shady Side Academy freshman-to-be Eli Teslovich matched Ringgold’s Demetrius Butler with 10 points, while McKeesport’s Travarese Rowe had nine points and eight rebounds. 

Victoria was pleased with his team’s balanced scoring attack, but he was especially proud to see Pugliano have the performance he had. 

“He played a hell of a game off the bench,” Victoria said of Pugliano. “In tryouts, this is how he played. All season long, it took him a while to get going and he finally pulled it out. I am really happy for the kid.” 

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