Quaker Valley dethrones defending champ Belle Vernon in Class 4A quarterfinals

By: Liam Belan
Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 12:29 AM

Previous Next

Belle Vernon knew that it would have to be mistake-free on offense and defense if it wanted to travel to Quaker Valley — the top seed in Class 4A — and return home with a victory Wednesday night.

Despite meticulous preparation from the No. 8 Leopards, it was the Quakers who played mistake-free and coasted to a dominant 72-41 win.

“It’s hard to face the team after a loss like that,” Belle Vernon coach Ricky Tyburski said. “We thought we prepared pretty well over the past few days, but it’s hard to simulate that team. They’re a really good team with a legendary coach. Obviously they know what they’re doing. They put the ball in the hole at the hoop and shooting 3s, so hats off to them.”

Quaker Valley (19-3) kept its winning formula the same, according to coach Mike Mastroianni: Take care of the basketball, and share it in the process.

His group executed to perfection, and the result was a strong offensive performance with four players in double digits and one more player with eight points.

“For being off for nine days, we played pretty well on both ends of the floor,” the longtime coach said. “We had a good start to the game, and any time you’re off that long, that’s important. I just thought we did a lot of the things we did all year. We were consistent with sharing the ball, our half-court defense was solid, and I thought we took care of the ball. They’re really good with on-ball defense, so I thought we did a really good job of taking care of the ball.”

The Quakers, who will move on to play No. 13 Deer Lakes in Saturday’s semifinals, were paced by a game-high 18 points from Zach Washington.

Nic Cohen scored 17, Sam Chapman added 14 and Kolton Johnson put up 13 while being a strong force on the glass. Harrison Kerley chipped in with eight more points.

“We’ve been pretty consistent because we share the ball and different guys take different opportunities,” Mastroianni said. “That we’re able to play different guys on the point has been a luxury all year, and it’s a luxury at the high school level. Our guys are really unselfish.”

Belle Vernon (14-10) will now match up with Hopewell in the four-team consolation bracket that will decide the fifth and final state-playoff qualifier in Class 4A. They’ll play at a site to be determined at 7 p.m. Monday.

Elijah Majors led the way with 12 points for the Leopards while Vincenzo Francia added nine more.

After an even start to the action, Quaker Valley wasted little time taking complete control.

Johnson scored the first four points for the home side while Francia and Daugherty matched it for Belle Vernon, but from there, the Quakers outscored the Leopards 21-5 over the rest of the first.

Washington started the game-changing run with a jumper before Chapman battled for a putback and Johnson added another layup. Washington then nailed the first triple of the game to put the Quakers up 13-4.

Daugherty then interrupted Quaker Valley’s scoring with a three of his own, but Cohen, Washington, Chapman and Johnson combined for 12 more points to suddenly make it 25-7. Francia made another jump shot to end the first quarter at 25-9 in favor of the victors.

Belle Vernon scored the first six points of the second quarter and went on a 10-2 run to begin the quarter, cutting its deficit to 27-19 as Majors scored seven of those points.

But Quaker Valley steadied itself and fired back with an 11-2 spurt as it found its stroke from the outside. Cam Jenko made a layup during that span between two 3s and a layup from Chapman and another triple from Cohen. Once that run ended, QV had restored a large lead at 38-21.

Majors and AJ Watson added five more points for Belle Vernon and Cohen knocked down two free throws to end the half at 40-26 in favor of the Quakers.

While the Leopards had shown some life in the second, things fell apart in another lopsided frame when play resumed.

The Quakers won the third quarter 21-6 to put the game to bed.

“Do I think we tried our best today? I can’t really say that with honesty,” Tyburski admitted. “We went over a lot of things and we tried to do a lot of things in practice, but at certain times today, our energy and our effort probably could have been a little bit more.

“We really only played the second quarter. We had a good second quarter. In the third quarter, we got shut out for over six minutes. That’s hard to overcome, especially at this stage against the No. 1 team.”

Quaker Valley scored the first 17 points of the second half to pull ahead 57-26 and start a running clock. Cohen had the final seven points over that span.

Francia and Watson finally got Belle Vernon on the board with four points. Johnson then made free throws before Majors added another layup and Washington hit another jumper to end the third quarter at 61-32.

Majors and Francia did the majority of the scoring for Belle Vernon in the fourth while Jude Minniti and Anthony DiCenzo also got on the board. For Quaker Valley, Kerley knocked down two 3s before the final score read 72-41.

Now, the Quakers will get back to their typical preparation as they’re one step closer to a trip to the Petersen Events Center.

“We have a process of two days to prepare, and we’ll stay within that window,” Mastroianni said. “It’s not surprising that Deer Lakes has made it here. They’re an excellent team, a winning program, with a top-level coach.”

As for Belle Vernon, it will have to scratch and claw its way out of the consolation bracket and into the PIAA playoffs.

“It’s a short turnaround, and then we’re back at it,” Tyburski said. “We have to decide if we want the season to be over, or if we’ll still try to put up a fight to get a ticket to the PIAA.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Quaker Valley