Belle Vernon shakes off rust, beats Freeport in Class 4A quarterfinals

By: Jose Negron
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 | 10:05 PM

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For the first time in nearly two weeks, the Belle Vernon boys basketball team stepped on the floor for a meaningful game Wednesday night.

The Leopards last played in their regular season finale against Elizabeth Forward on Feb. 11 before being awarded a bye in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs.

Third-seeded Belle Vernon didn’t look like a team feeling the effects of a long layoff as it used a fast start to cruise to a 62-42 victory over No. 12 Freeport.

The win gives the Leopards (19-3) a berth in the semifinals, where they will meet up with No. 2 Montour on Saturday.

“I didn’t think there was any rust at all in the beginning, but I was worried because I knew we didn’t want to give them any momentum,” Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said of the Yellowjackets, who pulled off an upset of sixth-seeded Uniontown in the first round.

“That team plays hard, they work hard, and their coaches do a good job with them.”

A strong defensive performance allowed the Leopards to gain separation early as they forced nine turnovers and used a 15-0 run to take a 23-4 lead after one quarter.

Belle Vernon led 4-2 before Quinton Martin (six), Devin Whitlock (five) and Alonzo Wade (four) combined to score all of their team’s points during the lengthy spurt.

“Our defense made a huge impact, and I think we ran our offense the way we expected to,” said Salvino, who is now one win shy of 700 in his career. “I thought we did a nice job both ways tonight.”

The Leopards continued to add to their lead in the second quarter.

After Vinnie Clark converted on a bucket inside, Whitlock scored on a back-to-back possessions and Martin capped off a short spurt with a thunderous dunk to push the Belle Vernon lead to 29-6 two minutes in.

The Leps scored four of the next six points before five straight from Freeport cut its deficit to 33-13 with 3:41 to go.

The final three and a half minutes belonged entirely to Belle Vernon.

A 12-4 run was highlighted by Evan Pohlot, who had four points, including an inside basket in the final seconds that gave the Leopards a commanding 45-17 lead at the half.

While players like Pohlot, Braden Laux and Logan Cunningham came up big with a couple of timely buckets, the trio of Wade, Martin and Whitlock led the way for Belle Vernon.

Wade netted a game-high 17 points to go with five rebounds, while Martin had 15 points and six boards. Whitlock also had 15 points. All three netted 11 heading into the halftime break.

“That’s just the way this team has been throughout the year. When somebody isn’t on, other people try to pick things up,” Salvino said. “That’s what has made us a competitive team. We’re not selfish as far as them thinking they have to score all of our points. They know that if they’re not feeling it, they have to do their other parts of the job with rebounding and defense.”

The Leopards put the running clock into effect seconds into the start of the second half, but they didn’t have the same success on the offensive end of the floor.

The Yellowjackets (13-10), however, didnt go away quietly. They outscored the Leopards by a 25-17 margin in the final 16 minutes.

Clark and Jason Kijowski led Freeport with eight points apiece.

“When we got out to that big lead, we kinda relaxed on the defensive end,” Salvino said. “We just didn’t put enough pressure on them.”

The Leopards will now set their focus on their third straight semifinal appearance as they seek their second trip to the WPIAL championship game in three years.

The team standing in their way is a familiar foe, though.

Belle Vernon and Montour met Feb. 6 with the Spartans capturing a 65-48 victory.

In that game, the Leopards played without Martin, and Whitlock missed the entire second half.

“We’ve played them already, and I think a revenge factor is going to come into play,” Salvino said. “Hopefully we go in and show them that we’re a better team.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Freeport