Defending WPIAL champ Belle Vernon smothers Burrell in Class 4A 1st round

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, February 13, 2026 | 10:03 PM

Previous Next

Belle Vernon boys basketball coach Ricky Tyburski picked up his first career playoff win Friday as his Leopards dominated No. 9 Burrell to open defense of last year’s WPIAL Class 4A championship.

The No. 8 Leopards used smothering pressure and multiple defense to roll to a 60-45 win over the Bucs (10-13) in a chippy game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

“This week at practice, it was all about reestablishing who we are, what we do and what we’re good at,” Tyburski said. “We realize the havoc we can cause defensively and put the other team at a disadvantage. Everything comes from the pressure, and our kids buy into that.”

Belle Vernon forced 29 turnovers in the win and limited the jump-shot heavy Bucs to only a trio of 3-pointers heading into the fourth quarter.

“We were worried about them shooting all those 3s,” Tyburski said. “We did a great job of switching up our defenses. The kids played their roles, whether it was us in our man-to-man or trapping out of the zone or just going full court.”

The Bucs never led as the Leopards (14-9) used a 9-0 run to jump out to a 15-5 lead with just under three minutes remaining.

Senior Dane Daugherty hit a 16-foot jumper to make it 18-8 and Vincenzo Francia was fouled hard under the basket by Burrell’s Ryan Wass just before the time expired.

A scuffle ensued and Francia picked up the first technical of the game.

“For the most part, we did a good job of having each other’s backs out there and pulling teammates away from stuff like that,” Tyburski said.

After Wass hit 1 of 2 from the line, the first quarter ended with Belle Vernon leading 20-9.

Belle Vernon maintained its double-digit lead throughout the second quarter. The lead swelled even more after the home team closed the half with a 9-0 run to make it 33-14 at the half.

Just before the half, Adam Wass picked up a technical for shoving Belle Vernon’s Elijah Majors during a dead ball after a Bucs turnover.

“We wanted to be sure not to get involved because we’ve seen it before,” Tyburski said. “We talked at halftime that with the game in hand and in the playoffs, we still have a lot to play for and a lot to lose.”

Burrell tried to get things started coming out of the locker room, scoring the first six points of the half to cut the lead to 33-20.

But after a timeout, the Leopards came out like a team on fire.

AJ Watson, who led the Leps with 12 points off the bench, scored the first two buckets in a 12-0 run. During that span, which lasted over three minutes, Belle Vernon turned over the Bucs five times and score eight points off steals. The Leopards went on to lead 48-26 after three quarters.

Luca Ghilani and Cam Jenko each scored 10 points for Belle Vernon. Majors finished with nine.

The Bucs won the fourth quarter by a 19-12 margin as the Leopards went all the way to the end of their bench in the frame.

“Our goal was to play four quarters of basketball, a good four quarters. I know it’s cliche, but it’s true. That’s what we aimed for,” Tyburski said. “But I’ll take three when we’re able to get all 16 players into the game, especially in the playoffs. That’s good for the entire team, and it brought a lot of energy to the floor. This truly was a team win.”

Ryan Wass led Burrell with 12 points. Sam Conte finished with 10.

With the win, the Leopards travel to Quaker Valley to face the No. 1 Quakers on Wednesday.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell