Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore zeroes in on big scoring milestone
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Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 11:01 AM
Belle Vernon senior basketball star Zion Moore has crept to the doorstep of another milestone. And this is a big one.
Moore, one of the WPIAL’s top volume scorers, needs 36 points to reach 2,000 for his career.
The Leopards (16-4), the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class 4A, host East Allegheny on Friday night. Belle Vernon has won 10 straight games.
Moore is averaging 26 points and consistently has been one of the WPIAL’s top scorers throughout his prep career.
Since he transferred from Ringgold after his freshman season, he has scored in double figures in every game he has played in a Belle Vernon uniform and stands at 1,964 points.
There are 38 players in WPIAL history to achieve the 2,000-point milestone, most recently Roman Carmichael of Avonworth.
Terek Crosby of Yough was the most recent player from Westmoreland County to reach 2,000, doing so last season in a WPIAL playoff consolation game.
Another side note on Moore, courtesy of team historian Jack Backo: The 6-foot-3 guard has made at least one 3-pointer in 21 consecutive games.
Moore has the Belle Vernon record for career 3-pointers with 164.
“Getting 2,000 was a goal coming into the season,” Moore said. “I know it will come. I am not (forcing) it to happen. It will come.”
Moore recently took over the No. 2 spot on Belle Vernon’s scoring list, passing Jacob Dudzinski (1,436), who was an assistant at Ringgold when Moore played there.
Moore scored 406 points at Ringgold and has 1,558 at Belle Vernon.
“Zion is a great scorer,” Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said. “He plays the game as hard as he can. He has really worked to improve his outside shooting.”
In 41 years, Salvino has not coached a 2,000-point scorer. A.J. Jackson is the all-time top scorer with 1,757 points at Monessen, Salvino’s previous coaching home.
Ten players have topped the 2,000-point mark in Westmoreland County. One is Belle Vernon’s scoring leader, Vince Graham, who netted 2,429 before graduating in 1995.
Graham is third in the county in career points.
The others are Tom Pipkins, Valley (1993), 2,838; Joshua Tomson, Westmoreland Christian (2008), 2,572; Jacob Tomson, Westmoreland Christian (2015), 2,400; Terrelle Pryor, Jeannette (2008), 2,285; Ben McCauley, Yough (2005), 2,283; Jeremy Tomson, Westmoreland Christian (2010), 2,215; Eric Roslonski, Southmoreland (1992), 2,192; Bill Gales, Ligonier Valley (1956), 2,099; and Crosby, Yough (2024), 2,036.
Vinnie Cugini of Aquinas Academy, a 2023 graduate, is the WPIAL’s all-time scoring leader with 3,189 points.
Moore also could be nearing a college decision. Mercyhurst, a new Division I member program, has inquired, along with Division II Gannon and Edinboro and Division III Saint Vincent.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Belle Vernon
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