Belle Vernon rewards retiring coach with school’s 1st WPIAL title since 1978
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Thursday, February 27, 2025 | 11:18 PM
Belle Vernon’s Trevor Kovatch celebrates with the trophy after beating North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Tommy Davis blocks the shot of North Catholic’s Owen Maddalon during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Curtis Wade drives over North Catholic’s Donnie Schubert and Joe Waskiewicz during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Tommy Davis scores past North Catholic’s Jude Rottmann during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Tommy Davis scores above North Catholic defenders during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Trevor Kovatch scores past North Catholic’s Jason Fredericks during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Dominic Ghilani (left), Tommy Davis and Curtis Wade (right) fight for a rebound with North Catholic’s Joe Waskiewicz during the WPIAL Class 4A championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon celebrates with the trophy after beating North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
Belle Vernon’s Tommy Davis blocks the shot of North Catholic’s Tom Rottmann during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
A retirement party at Petersen Events Center for one of the WPIAL’s winningest boys basketball coaches might seem a bit outlandish. Yet three weeks after Joe Salvino shared his retirement plans, he and his Belle Vernon players were there to celebrate.
North Catholic tried to crash the party, but the Leopards kept crashing the boards.
Belle Vernon’s Tommy Davis posted a double-double, Dominic Ghilani grabbed 13 rebounds and the top-seeded Leopards earned their first WPIAL title since 1978 by defeating No. 2 North Catholic, 54-49, in the Class 4A final Thursday night at Pitt’s arena.
The WPIAL title was the seventh overall for Salvino but his first since becoming the Leopards’ coach in 2018.
“It means a lot to me,” said Salvino, who left Monessen for Belle Vernon seven years ago. “When you are a coach and this is your final hurrah and you win a WPIAL championship, it doesn’t get any better than this, I don’t think.”
A 6-foot-6 senior forward, Davis had 20 points and 10 rebounds as Belle Vernon out-rebounded North Catholic 40-17. Clinging to a late one-possession lead, the Leopards grabbed three key rebounds in the final 45 seconds, including two on the offensive end.
Those extra possessions kept North Catholic at bay.
“We knew they had a decided advantage,” North Catholic coach Jim Rocco said. “They have a decided advantage all the time against everybody. On average, they offensive rebound 40% of their misses. That’s a ridiculous percentage.”
Belle Vernon hadn’t won a WPIAL title in 47 years. Not since they beat Norwin, 62-58, in the Class 3A final at the Civic Arena almost half a century ago.
“Coming into this season, it was always the goal,” Belle Vernon senior Zion Moore said. “That was our big goal, to win a championship.”
The Leopards with Salvino had come close before, finishing as the WPIAL Class 4A runner-up to Highlands in 2020. A year later, a top-seeded Belle Vernon team was tripped up in the semifinals by North Catholic. In 2022, the Leopards lost in the semis to Montour.
This time, they broke through.
“I have to give all the credit to my players,” Salvino said. “They withstood a lot the last couple games we played. Every game was close. They never gave up. They just kept coming and coming. We did what we had to do.”
Belle Vernon built a 12-point lead in the third quarter and tried not to get nervous as North Catholic cut it to one. The Leopards’ lead was 44-43 with 5:36 left after three free throws by North Catholic’s Jason Fredericks.
After a three-point play by Moore gave Belle Vernon a small cushion, Fredericks answered quickly with a 3-pointer, cutting the gap to 47-46 with 5:02 left.
The score remained unchanged for almost 4 minutes until Moore scored on a driving layup with 1:17 left.
“I knew we needed a bucket,” Moore said. “It was a major bucket. Coach wanted us to get a stop and get a basket. I saw a lane and went to the basket.”
Moore and Trevor Kovatch scored 12 points apiece.
Fredericks led North Catholic with 20 points, and Jude Rottmann had 15.
The 73-year-old Salvino ranks second all-time among WPIAL boys basketball coaches with 744 career wins. He accumulated the large majority in 34 seasons at Monessen, where he won six WPIAL titles and two state championships.
“It was his last year,” Kovatch said. “We had to go out with a bang.”
Five WPIAL teams from Class 4A qualify for the PIAA playoffs. The WPIAL champion opens against the fifth-place team from District 10. The WPIAL runner-up faces District 10’s third-place finisher. The first round is March 7.
Belle Vernon benefited from six first-half steals and three blocks by its defense to lead 34-22 at half.
Kovatch alone had three steals in the first half, turnovers that helped spark a momentum-shifting 9-0 run in the first quarter. He and Davis accounted for all nine points in the run, flipping an 8-4 North Catholic lead into a 13-8 edge for the Leopards.
A putback by Davis capped the run. Belle Vernon out-rebounded North Catholic 19-9 in the first half, boosted by eight offensive boards.
Belle Vernon led 19-14 after one quarter and stretched its lead to 12 points in the second thanks to those second chances. The Leopards led 34-22 at halftime after consecutive baskets by Cameren Jenko, the first scored on a putback after a missed free throw.
Davis led all scorers with 14 first-half points.
Throughout the half, North Catholic double-teamed Moore whenever he had the ball. Moore, who averages 27 points per game, scored only four in the half on 1 of 4 shooting.
North Catholic successfully used that doubling strategy in the semifinals to limit Beaver’s Brady Mayo, who’s the WPIAL’s second-leading scorer, just ahead of Moore. The strategy was less effective against Belle Vernon because Moore’s teammates found chances to score.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Belle Vernon, North Catholic
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