Zion Moore leads Belle Vernon past Derry, running winning streak to 7

By:
Friday, January 24, 2025 | 10:44 PM


Late in the first half, Zion Moore saw two toddlers wander onto the court and waddle his way.

The Belle Vernon senior guard delicately picked one of them up and passed him over the scorer’s table and then directed the other back to the bleachers.

Moore knew them, so he felt obliged to go 2-on-1.

“They’re my little cousins,” Moore said with a laugh. “A lot of family was here tonight from New York.”

Moore did his best to escort visiting Derry to its seat Friday night, too, scoring 32 points as the No. 3 Leopards ran past the Trojans, 78-52, in a first-place boys basketball showdown in Section 3-4A.

It was the Leopards’ senior night, and the hosts were at full strength, with the exception of Alonzo Wade, who is likely done for the season with an injury.

Moore did not play against Derry in the teams’ first meeting as he and two teammates — senior Tommy Davis and junior Curtis Wade — sat out with a five-game suspension for disciplinary reasons. Derry won in overtime 67-61.

The rematch ended far from overtime as Belle Vernon (13-4, 8-1) cruised to its seventh straight win, using fast-break points and a 40-point second half to pull ahead for good.

“We work on that a lot in practice,” said Moore, who scored in a number of ways from various spots on the floor. “We call it 11-man. It’s 3-on-3 fast breaks. That’s how we like to play. We’re used to it.”

Moore, who is averaging 25 points, now has 1,892 career points in his pursuit of 2,000. He is the second all-time scorer at Belle Vernon.

He has made at least one 3-pointer in eight straight games.

Derry (10-6, 7-2) led briefly in the opening minutes and stayed within earshot of the Leopards — the Trojans trailed 24-19 after the first quarter and 38-30 at halftime — before Moore took over in the third.

He scored 13 in the quarter, teaming with fellow senior Trevor Kovatch to spark breakaway baskets.

“Early in the game, they shot lights out,” Derry coach Tom Esposito said of the Leopards. “There was a spurt there in the third quarter when we got careless with the ball and missed some bunnies. I was proud of our effort. That kind of effort is going to win a lot of games.

“Zion is a D-I kind of talent. He plays the right way. It’s no disrespect to our defense what he did tonight.”

After Derry closed the gap to 46-37, Kovatch found Moore for a layup. After Davis scored on a putback, Moore returned the favor to Kovatch and then drilled a straightaway 3-pointer to give the Leopards a 57-41 lead after three.

“Tonight was the type of basketball we want to play,” Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said. “We didn’t have three starters last time. That will hurt any team. We can do a lot more things with those guys.”

The speedy Kovatch finished with 17 points, eight in the fourth.

“It’s nice to see Trevor have this kind of senior year,” Salvino said.

The lead ballooned to 26 in the fourth.

Belle Vernon opened the fourth with a 12-1 run, with Moore stuffing home a dunk with five minutes left to make it 67-42.

Derry had only three field goals in the final quarter and, at one point, had three scorers combine for 39 of their 44 points.

In all, only five players scored for the Trojans.

Sophomore Stanley Rajkovich had 16, junior Brayden Robinson added 15 and senior John Wasnick had 13.

Rajkovich, the Trojans’ 6-foot-7 force, had one field goal after halftime. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds the first time he faced Belle Vernon.

“We knew we had to stop Stanley as much as we could,” Moore said. “Our enthusiasm has been great (during the winning streak). Practice, games, we’re playing so much more as a team.”

Wasnick made three 3s.

Wade scored nine for the Leopards.

“How many people thought we’d be tied for first with two weeks left in the season?” Esposito said. “Anything can still happen.”

Belle Vernon has three games in three days. The Leopards play Knoch at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Classic at North Hills, then face Greensburg Central Catholic at 7:30 Sunday night at the Shootout at Seton Hill.

Derry plays Jeannette at 6 p.m. Sunday in the latter event.

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

Tags: ,

More Basketball

High school roundup for Feb. 8, 2025: Penn-Trafford tops Upper St. Clair to finish regular season undefeated
WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 9, 2025
WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 9, 2025
Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: GCC’s Erica Gribble and Franklin Regional’s Max Firestine
Westmoreland County teams well-positioned for high seeds in WPIAL boys, girls basketball playoffs