Franklin Regional rides balanced attacked to win over Belle Vernon

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 7, 2018 | 10:12 PM

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Franklin Regional was in a giving mood in its season opener Friday night.

It might be holiday time, but the boys basketball team’s caring-is-sharing approach had a lot more to do with its unselfishness and ability to spread the ball as the Panthers took care of business. They used crisp passing and purposeful possessions to ring up a 68-41 victory over Belle Vernon in the Hempfield tip-off tournament at Spartans Field House.

High-percentage baskets led to 18 assists on 25 field goals — and a happy coach.

“We passed it really well and kept the ball moving, which was nice to see,” coach Steve Scorpion said. “They put some pressure on us, and I thought our guys handled it well.”

Franklin Regional (1-0), the returning WPIAL Class 5A runner-up that came into the season ranked No. 5 in the classification, got a game-high 16 points from senior guard Nick Leopold, the team’s lone returning starter.

“I think we really improved from the first scrimmage, to the second scrimmage, to now,” said Leopold, who had a four-point play in the first quarter. “We played really well defensively as a team.”

Senior guard Tom Merante, looking to have a more significant role this season, added 10 points as the Panthers built a 15-point halftime lead and only allowed the Leopards to get to within 17 in the second half before pulling away in the fourth.

Senior forward Adam Rudzinski, senior guard Aidan Wiley and 6-foot-7 junior forward Johnny O’Toole each scored eight points for the Panthers, with Rudzinski and O’Toole both clearing space in the paint and allowing the Panthers to gain a rebounding advantage.

“We didn’t rebound well in our scrimmages, but tonight we did a better job of boxing out and getting better position,” Scorpion said. “It was a good first game for us against a tough team. We held a good team to a couple of single-digit quarters.”

Belle Vernon (0-1), the No. 4-ranked team in Class 4A, is adjusting to a new system under first-year coach Joe Salvino. The long-time coach at Monessen, where he guided the Greyhounds for 34 years and won more than 600 games, thinks it will take time for his team to blend.

“We have to pressure better and play better on defense,” Salvino said. “We didn’t get a lot of dedication in the summer, so we’re kind of catching up. We don’t have a lot of scoring, so we have to make up for that in other ways to be successful.”

Belle Vernon led 5-4 early.

The Leopards seemed to pay more attention to the Panthers on the perimeter, which presented scoring opportunties around the basket.

“They were closing out on us,” Merante said. “But we were able to pass the ball well out of their traps.”

Franklin Regional made eight 3-pointers, two each from Leopold, Aidan Wiley, Merante and senior Mike Klingensmith. The Panthers made 10 of 13 free throws.

Junior Larry Callaway led the Leopards with 14 points, and junior Mitch Pohlot aded eight.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 10-2 run to increase their advantage to 44-21. Callaway, Andrew Pacak and Pohlot strung together hoops to cut the deficit to 17, but Leopold ended the quarter with an unconventional three-point play to get the advantage back to 22.

Back-to-back 3s from Klingensmith stretched the margin to 32 (66-34) as Belle Vernon went the final five minutes without a field goal.

Belle Vernon made just 10 of 22 free throws.

The event concludes Saturday with three games: Jeannette vs. Belle Vernon at 2 p.m., Franklin Regional vs. Greensburg Salem at 3:30 and Hempfield vs. McKeesport at 5.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional