Whistles rule as Leopards top Cougars
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
In a game that featured 34 personal fouls called and a pair of technical fouls, Belle Vernon Area managed to keep its composure long enough to move its winning streak to five games Tuesday at Yough.
The Leopards (5-1, 4-0) were whistled for 21 of the 34 fouls, but got some gaudy stat lines from its stars in an 87-71 win.
“For the most part, we did keep our composure,” BVA head coach Joe Salvino said. “It definitely was a little frustrating at times. But you have to watch how things are being called and we were forced to adjust some things. But in the end, we need to understand that our offense starts with our defense and we can’t keep having these slow starts.”
BVA dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 52-17, as Daniel Gordon and freshman Quinton Martin each finished with a double-double.
Martin set a career-high in both points and rebounds with 14 points and 15 boards. Gordon added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
As impressive as those numbers were, Devin Whitlock continued his all-out assault on Section 3-4A.
Whitlock, who scored only two points in the opening quarter, finished one steal shy of a quadruple double.
The junior guard finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and nine steals.
“Devin was really impressive and it all started with him defensively,” Salvino said. “I think Gordon has been doing a great job. I was glad to see him hit a couple threes, he’s been struggling with that a bit. But he’s doing so many other things.”
The Leopards did start slow and trailed 17-16 after one quarter. The Cougars (2-5, 1-4) took the lead in the final two seconds as freshman phenom Terek Crosby closed the quarter with an emphatic dunk to bring the Yough bench and small crowd to their feet.
But from there, it was all Leopards as the Cougars couldn’t muster much offense in the second and third quarters. BVA won the second and third quarters by a combined score of 54-31.
Over the first four minutes of the second, the Leopards went on a 19-6 run behind 11 combined points from Whitlock and Gordon.
After Jake Haney hit a trey to make it 35-23, Crosby followed with a jumper to cut the lead back to 10.
But the Yough freshman was outdone by the Leopards’ frosh Martin.
Martin scored in transition on a layup after a great feed from Whitlock, then picked up a steal and threw down a monster jam of his own to bring the Leopards to life.
“Quinton did a lot of good things tonight and I think he showed some people that’s he’s going to be someone that will have to be reckoned with,” Salvino said.
Whitlock buried a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to give the Leopards a 46-33 lead at the break.
By the end of the third quarter, the lead swelled to 22 at 70-48. Tyler Kovatch scored the opening four points of the frame as Gordon and Whitlock each hit 3-pointers.
“This was our first road game, which is one reason why I wasn’t happy with our start,” Salvino said. “We have to understand that everyone wants a piece of us and we’re going to take everyone’s best shot.”
BVA increased its lead as high as 81-57 midway through the final frame before the JV roster made its appearance.
Gamal Marballie led the Cougars (2-5, 1-4) with a team-high 21 points. Crosby finished with 17 and Christian Park added 13, eight in the first quarter.
There were a few chippy moments in the game in which Martin and Park were whistled for a double foul and Whitlock and Yough’s Tyler Zerone were each hit with a technical after Whitlock retaliated following a late shove from Zerone under the basket.
“We kept our cool enough,” Salvino said. “That’s part of taking a team’s best shot. We have to watch how we react to things like that.”
The Leopards will host Southmoreland Friday while the Cougars travel to South Park.
