Belle Vernon boys win thrilling opener against Ringgold

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, November 28, 2025 | 9:53 PM

There’s nothing like an old-fashioned rivalry game to start the season, and in the third game of the MVI Shootout Classic on Friday, Ringgold and Belle Vernon didn’t disappoint a capacity crowd.

In a battle of first-year coaches at their schools, it was Belle Vernon’s Ricky Tyburski coming away with his first win behind the strong play of Curty Wade.

The senior played the hero for the Leopards (1-0), ending a three-minute scoreless drought with a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining to give Belle Vernon a thrilling 70-67 win over the Rams.

“It was just get the ball and drive to the hoop,” Wade said of the Leopards’ plan out of a timeout. “If they crash, it was kick out to the open shooter. I was honestly a little surprised (Elijah) kicked it out. I just happened to be the man out there and knocked it down.”

The game was tied 67-67 when Ringgold’s David Wachinski went to the line for two shots with the Rams in the bonus, but the junior transfer from Greensburg Central Catholic missed both shots and the Leopards’ Dane Daugherty came down with the rebound to get his team the timeout.

The Rams elected not to pressure the inbound pass, and Majors was able to get into the paint before delivering the winning assist to Wade.

“This first one is one I will always remember for sure,” Tyburski said. “It definitely kept the fans excited. It was a great atmosphere, and the crowd was definitely in it.

“It was a really great game, a great rivalry and Ringgold played a great game. Both teams struggled a little bit, but we were able to force some turnovers and get out to a lead. It went back and forth from there.”

The score was tied 50-50 with 1:14 remaining in the third before Wade went on a tear. He scored 11 straight points into the fourth quarter to give Belle Vernon a 61-50 lead with about six minutes to play.

The Rams (0-1) chipped away behind strong play from Braylen Lomax and Chris Wilson, who struggled through foul trouble early.

“I thought our guys battled hard,” Ringgold coach Scott Stephenson said. “We just had some bad turnovers at critical times. We set a goal of 10 in a game, and we had that many in the first half.

“I think the guys were a little nervous, which I don’t really understand because we have a lot of guys with varsity experience.”

The Leopards led 67-59 with 3:29 remaining before the Rams went on an 8-0 run in the final minutes.

Takeo Tolliver hit two big 3-pointers, including the tying shot with 1:48 remaining. Lomax added five points in the final quarter to finish with a team-high 18 points.

Tolliver finished with 13 points for Ringgold.

Majors had 15 points for Belle Vernon with Cameren Jenko, Daugherty and Vincenzo Francia each finishing with eight.

“We talked about that last week,” Tyburski said. “There are guys on this team that can step up for us. Any night can be anyone’s night. Not just someone like Curty finishing with 24 points, but if six people can score 8-10 points, we’re going to be in a good spot.”

The Leopards led 20-15 after a quarter but saw their lead evaporate thanks to a 10-0 run from the Rams.

Lomax and Wachinski hit 3-pointers in the spurt, which helped the Rams tie it 34-34 heading into the half.

Wachinski finished with 15 points, and Dennis Hawkins added 12 points and eight rebounds for Ringgold.

“I’m not even mad about David’s missed free throws,” Stephenson said. “I’m more upset about the dumb technical in the first quarter. They hit both free throws off that. In the long run, I don’t know how much it hurt us in the end, but you can’t do that.”

The Shootout Classic resumes Saturday at West Mifflin. Belle Vernon will take on Bishop Canevin at 3 p.m.

Wade said he was proud of the team for getting Tyburski his first win in the opener.

“Oh, it’s a pleasure,” Wade said with a smile. “I love this guy. Tomorrow we want to just bring that pressure and slow our offense down a little bit more. It’s going to be a great game.”

The Rams will open the day with a noon start against Elizabeth Forward.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Ringgold