Belle Vernon runs past Southmoreland in stat-filled ‘track meet’

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, January 26, 2024 | 10:56 PM

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Given room to run, Belle Vernon feasted on transition points and loaded up the stat sheet Friday night, ringing up a season high for points in an 85-73 victory at Southmoreland in Section 3-4A boys basketball.

Junior 6-foot-6 forward Tommy Davis and junior guard Trevor Kovatch had career scoring nights, and junior Alonzo Wade produced a triple-double as the Leopards (9-4, 4-2) completed a season sweep of the Scotties (14-4, 3-3) and broke a second-place tie.

How good were the Leopards? They also had two double-doubles as they took the Scotties to school on youth night.

Davis had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Kovatch had 18 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists and Wade added 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

Junior guard Zion Moore fouled out with 24 points for Belle Vernon, which shifted gears and scored 29 in the third quarter, turning a one-point halftime lead into a 64-45 advantage after three.

“It was a good game for us after some good practices,” Leopards coach Joe Salvino said. “It was a team effort, and everybody did something for us.

“Tommy really stepped up. He rebounded and played well defensively. He is capable of doing that every single game.”

Davis, who added four blocks, made 12 of 15 shots.

The Leopards forced the Scotties into mistakes, then took off down court and filled passing lanes.

“We were prepared and played as a team,” he said. “I got some low passes and made shots inside.”

Wade’s efforts were also quite noticeable on defense, as he face-guarded Scotties senior guard Ty Keffer and pulled the strings tight, holding him to two points.

Keffer had 43 points Tuesday against Valley.

Sophomore Noah Felentzer picked up the scoring slack as he tied a career high with 30 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, and senior Wyatt Richter added 20 for the Scotties, who scored 28 in the fourth.

Wyatt was 7 for 7 at the free-throw line.

Southmoreland had 18 turnovers.

“They did a great job defensively with their pressure,” Scotties coach Frank Muccino said. “We let that pressure bother us. We let it turn into a track meet, an AAU track meet. And Belle Vernon is better at it than we are.”

The Leopards, who played a seven-man rotation but got all of its scoring from starters, used a 16-1 run late in the third, holding the Scotties without a field goal for more than four minutes, to establish their dominance.

During the pull-ahead surge, Kovatch made a floater in the lane, and Wade delivered a lob to Moore for a near alley-oop before Wade made a layup on a feed from Kovatch.

“We didn’t want to play defense, and our shot selection was poor,” Muccino said. “Rebounding is all about toughness. It’s an effort thing.”

Despite a back-and-forth final eight minutes, Belle Vernon let the Scotties close the gap to only 10 (83-73) on a 3 from Felentzer.

“They got a lot of rebounds, and the turnovers were a big difference,” Felentzer said. “We have to come back to work Saturday morning.”

While the lead never reached 20, the Leopards led by 19 three times in the second half.

“When you play as a team and have four guys in double figures, you should win games,” Salvino said. “Hopefully, this gets us going with Uniontown coming up Tuesday.”

Belle Vernon shot just 13 of 25 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Curtis Wade also fouled out for the Leopards.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Southmoreland