The Belle Vernon Leopards have some size, plenty of athleticism and certainly some talent. That’s why coach Joe Salvino admits frustration over his team’s inconsistent season, and he pulls no punches when it comes to the reasons.
“It’s very hard to figure out in a way, but I kind of know why,” Salvino said. “We’ve been selfish, we’ve played very lazy defense and at times we play too much 1 on 5. We’ve been up and down the whole season.”
But Belle Vernon picked a good time to move the needle upward.
The Leopards played their first WPIAL playoff game Monday night and also played one of their best games of the season. A lot of those things Salvino lamented seemed to disappear when Belle Vernon beat host Quaker Valley, 81-55, in a Class 4A first-round game.
Quaker Valley is the defending WPIAL 4A champ. Although this team doesn’t compare to last year’s, these Quakers did enter the playoffs with a 14-6 record and tied for a section title in the regular season. Plus, coach Mike Mastroianni’s teams don’t lose in the first round very often. This was the 19th consecutive year the Quakers made the playoffs, and the first time they lost in the first round since 2010.
Meanwhile, the win evened Belle Vernon’s record at 11-11 and put the Leopards into the quarterfinals against Laurel Highlands. Belle Vernon started the season 1-4 while it played without some of its top players who were on the football team that won a state championship. Even when those football players came back, things didn’t always mesh.
“We ran offense in this game and we played defense,” said Salvino, who picked up a convenience store victory with career win No. 711. “We can be a very good team. I’ve said that all along. The thing was, we didn’t know if it ever was going to happen. I know football has something to do with it, but football has been over a long time. Sooner or later, you just have to do it.”
And against Quaker Valley, Moore was plenty. Zion Moore, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, poured in 32 points to lead the Leopards to the win. Moore made 10 of his 14 shots in the first three quarters, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Not only did he hurt Quaker Valley with outside shots, but also on drives to the basket.
“Oh my goodness, he’s so good,” Mastroianni said.
Moore believes Belle Vernon could be a changed team for the playoffs.
“We’ve been playing selfish. For real, I admit it,” Moore said. “We haven’t been on the boards a lot, either, or playing great defense. We’ve been playing one-on-one ball.
“Coach has been on our butts, but we had very good practices last week. We got the intensity up at practice, came into this game with confidence and just took over.”
It has been an up and down season for Belle Vernon. Well the Leopards were certainly “up” tonight - and this sophomore guard was one of the main reasons.
— Mike White (@mwhiteburgh) February 21, 2023
Zion Moore scored 32 in 81-55 victory against defending WPIAL 4A champ Quaker Valley. pic.twitter.com/f380Ys0gAQ
Belle Vernon jumped to a seven-point lead in the first quarter and opened up an 11-point advantage in the second quarter before Quaker Valley cut it to 35-31 at halftime. But Belle Vernon shot a sizzling 64% (22 of 33) in the second half while Quaker Valley shot only 30% (9 of 30). Belle Vernon opened up a 56-39 lead with 2:41 left in the third quarter and breezed from there.
One of Quaker Valley’s top players, senior guard Troy Kozar, was limited because of a sprained ankle, did not start and scored only three points.
“Even saying that, we knew we would have to play a great game,” Mastroianni said. “We said at halftime that we were only down four and we didn’t even compete at all. We needed some defensive stops, but we could never stop them. I’m not sure how many games that has happened to us, but we weren’t good at any matchup.”
Junior guard Joseph Coyle led Quaker Valley with 20 points and senior guard Noah Jordan added 14.
Quinton Martin, a junior forward and Belle Vernon football star, showed his athleticism at various times and scored 15 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Trevor Kovatch added 13 points.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: February 21, 2023, 3:50 a.m.