Keystone Oaks gets defensive in Class 4A 1st-round win over Belle Vernon

By: Jeremy Sellew
Monday, February 18, 2019 | 10:19 PM

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Two long runs and 12 Belle Vernon turnovers in a span of two quarters helped Keystone Oaks advance to the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinals.

The eighth-seeded Golden Eagles will face No. 1 North Catholic Thursday at a time and site to be determined after defeating No. 9 Belle Vernon, 51-41, at Peters Township in a first-round contest Monday night.

The gameplan for coach Ron Muszynski’s team was to pressure the Leopards and force them into mistakes, and it began taking its toll in the second quarter.

“Coming in, I really thought we’d be able to pressure them,” Muszynski said. “We had a couple runs there and played well defensively.”

While Belle Vernon coach Ronnie Drennen had Lindsay Steeber tasked with guarding Kennesaw State recruit Gillian Piccolino, it was two other Golden Eagles doing most of the damage.

Isabela Bogdan finished with a team-high 18 points, and Jaylen Hoffman added 17 to lead the way for the Golden Eagles.

Piccolino finished with 14 points.

“I thought Lindsay did a fantastic job on Piccolino. It was Jaylen and Bogdan that really hurt us,” Drennen said.

Belle Vernon (14-9) used a late 7-0 run to take a 13-12 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Golden Eagles (14-8) used a 10-1 spurt to take a 23-16 lead with 2:15 remaining in the first half.

They used that run and seven Belle Vernon turnovers in the quarter to push their way to a 29-21 lead at the half.

“We started to turn them over. That was the difference,” Muszynski said. “Those girls are three-year starters. They were patient and executed exactly what we wanted to do.”

The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 31-21 in the third, but Steeber made a pair of 3-pointers and added two free throws in a span of two minutes to cut the KO lead to 33-29.

Steeber finished with a game-high 25 points in her final game as a Leopard.

The teams exchanged baskets to give KO a 36-31 lead at the end of three quarters.

Needing a run of their own, Belle Vernon faltered in the early-going of the fourth as the Golden Eagles held them scoreless until the 4:32 mark.

A 12-0 run extended the KO lead to 48-34 with just under a minute remaining.

Early foul trouble took its toll on the Leopards as Rachel Wobrak, who finished with eight points, fouled out along with Vienna Bertram.

Bertram was whistled for her fourth foul with just under seven minutes left in the second quarter.

“I’ll never question the effort from our team,” Drennen said. “That’s one thing, along with heart, that I can never second guess.

“We didn’t value the ball at times we needed to, and we gave up a couple runs. That’s the difference. That’s a good team. We prepared and they executed.”

For the Golden Eagles, it gives them a rematch with North Catholic.

“We played them earlier this year right after Christmas. It was a good game, they beat us by eight,” Muszynski said. “It’s going to be a battle, and we’re going to bring it against them again.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Keystone Oaks