Leopards wrap up section title by rolling past Warriors
By Jose Negron
jnegron@yourmvi.com
Belle Vernon Area captured the Section 3-4A championship outright with a convincing triumph over Elizabeth Forward Saturday afternoon.
The Leopards outscored the Warriors, 18-0, in the first quarter and rolled to an 81-53 victory that extended their winning streak to 11 games.
“I’m glad we got out to that type of start because if you give this team any bit of momentum, we would have been in for a long day,” BVA head coach Joe Salvino said. “We did well against a good shooting team.”
Devin Whitlock and Jake Haney helped lead the way for BVA (11-1, 9-0), combining for 46 of the Leopards’ points.
Whitlock was held scoreless in the first quarter before nailing three 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 26 points. He added a team-high 10 assists to finish with a double-double.
Haney, who battled foul trouble in the first half, hit three of his four 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the first quarter on the way to a 20-point performance.
“Jake hitting those threes was big because then they had to come out and guard him,” Salvino said. “Jake is the kind of kid who can go to the hole and take the ball to the basket, too.”
Elizabeth Forward (8-4, 8-2) struggled to develop any sort of fluidity on offense in the opening quarter.
The Warriors didn’t take their first legitimate shot of the game until the 4:18 mark and committed nine turnovers in the first eight minutes.
“That obviously was not an ideal start,” EF head coach Matt Loftis said. “They punched us in the mouth and once you get out to a start like that against a great team, they’re just going to keep piling it on you.”
Loftis said BVA’s intensity is what stood out to him as the difference in the game-changing first quarter.
“They have an intensity that you just don’t see from every team,” Loftis said. “There is just a level of engagement there that you can’t simulate in practice, so you literally have to be ready to go and turn it up to another level that we’ve never been forced to go to.”
EF settled down and began to hit shots in the second quarter as Zach Boyd scored nine of his team-high 19 points and Matt Daniels added seven of his 13 points.
While the Warriors were able to collect 24 points in the frame, the Leopards didn’t slow down their pace, scoring 32 points to take a commanding 50-24 lead into halftime.
“When you’re playing the No. 1 team in 4A, this is the first time some of these guys have seen that level,” Loftis said. “They are a much better team than they were the first time we saw them and that comes from practicing and having a lot more games under their belt. They’re improving and they’re everything everybody talks about.”
BVA left no doubt in the second half, outscoring EF, 31-29, to seal the win.
“I was proud of the way we battled in the second half,” Loftis said. “This will be a good learning experience for our guys. We see where the bar is at and we see where we need to get to moving forward.”
Tyler Kovatch joined Whitlock and Haney in double figures with 10 points, while Quinton Martin added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench. Daniel Gordon was all over the floor, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, seven assists and nine steals.
Vernon Settles was limited to five points in the first half, but ended up scoring 12 for EF, which travels to Yough tonight.
BVA resumes play Tuesday night at Southmoreland before traveling to McKeesport Wednesday for a non-section clash.
“It’s been great to have a season like this. I knew with the guys we had coming back that we would be good,” Salvino said. “My system is the only system they know, so it was a lot easier coming in because they already knew what to expect.”
