BVA dominates the boards, shuts down Vikings

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

The Belle Vernon Area girls basketball team is starting to get in its groove, gaining confidence and causing a stir in the Section 3-4A standings.

The Leopards downed Mt. Pleasant Thursday, 40-22, to leapfrog the Vikings in the standings.

While it doesn’t matter with an open tournament for the playoffs, BVA head coach Kaitlyn Slagus is happy to see the team’s confidence growing.

“They saw that Southmoreland lost to West Mifflin the other day. They know we only lost by one to them, so they know they can compete for a section title,” Slagus said. “They know they have the ability and their confidence is growing with each game.”

Thursday, the key to the game for the Leopards (3-2, 2-1) was their defensive pressure and rebounding.

“The difference of this game was the rebounding and the turnovers,” Mt. Pleasant coach Scott Giacobbi said. “Then our free throw shooting was horrendous and we couldn’t make our layups.”

The Vikings (4-2, 1-2) were 4 of 16 from the line. BVA was 7 of 11. The Leopards won the rebounding battle, 37-20. Grace Henderson finished with 10 boards for BVA.

“I’m glad to see the rebounding was as good as it was tonight, especially because they go up against us in practice,” Slagus said, referring to herself and assistant coach Taylor Waltenbaugh. “Rebounding was a big focus for us because were weren’t real happy with it in the Elizabeth Forward game. It really improved tonight.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.