Mustangs turn up the pace to topple Leopards
The first half finale of the Section 3-AAA schedule at Laurel Highlands Tuesday night pitted the classic battle between the Mustangs’ size and Belle Vernon’s speed. While the Leopards weren’t able to stretch out any, the Mustangs turned up the pace, especially with freshman forward Kaleb Ramsey on the bench with foul troubles, to finish the halfway point of the season with a hard-fought 75-65 victory over visiting Belle Vernon.
Victories are important in the well-balanced Section 3-AAA, especially winning at home. Laurel Highlands (8-8) shares the top spot in the section with Yough at 6-1. Belle Vernon (8-6) is a game behind, tied with Greensburg Salem at 5-2. The top four teams advance to the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.
“The section is real balanced. There are no blowouts,” said Belle Vernon coach John Dudzinski. “The key is definitely winning at home. This is a section that had three Quad-A teams dropped into it.”
“We’ve already lost one at home to Yough. That’s not the type of situation you want to get into,” said Laurel Highlands coach Rick Hauger. “The section is so well-balanced. Anyone can beat anyone in the section.”
It looked as though the Mustangs were in danger of dropping a second section game at home because the Leopards came out firing in the first five minutes of the game, pulling out to a 17-6 lead.
Chris Sillence was golden in the first quarter, scoring all 11 of his points of the quarter in the early run. Sillence finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Matt Rowland, one of the top scorers in the WPIAL, added four points in the early surge.
“That’s not the way you want to come out on our home court,” Hauger said.
The Mustangs settled down over the final three minutes, going on a run of their own to finish the quarter down by only two points, 21-19. Kaleb Ramsey scored four points and Gregg Forse added five to help the Mustangs finish on a 13-4 run.
Belle Vernon clung on for the first minute of the second quarter, but the tide turned in favor of the home team with a 10-4 run and a 30-25 lead. The two teams matched baskets and free throws in the final two minutes to allow the Mustangs to finish the half with a 34-30 lead.
“Laurel Highlands’ size took over in the second quarter. That, more than anything, was the difference,” said Dudzinski.
The Mustangs were able to solve Belle Vernon’s 2-2-1 full-court pressure better in the second half, picking up the tempo and finding open gaps along the baseline in the Leopards’ 1-3-1 half-court zone.
“That’s their philosophy, the things that they believe in. Belle Vernon does it well,” Hauger said of Belle Vernon’s game plan.
Hauger’s game plan took a detour when Ramsey picked up his second foul in the second quarter and his third early in the second half. While taking a big body out of the lineup, the Mustangs gathered the troops to pick up the tempo.
“We have the capability to play that type of game,” Hauger said of an up tempo game. “But there’s nothing consistent.”
Behind Rowland’s drives to the basket, he finished with a team-high 25 points, and Sillence’s hard play in the paint, Belle Vernon edged back until finally the Leopards took a 42-40 lead on a Rowland field goal. Tyler Foreman responded for the Mustangs with a 3-pointer and Seth Packrone’s two foul shots extended the lead to 45-42.
The lead exchanged hands a couple more times in the final two minutes with Laurel Highlands holding a 50-47 lead after three quarters.
Ramsey picked up his fourth foul 46 seconds into the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs weren’t fazed, maintaining a lead that wouldn’t drop any lower that the three-point advantage they had at the start of the quarter. Despite the foul woes, the freshman finished with 11 rebounds and 14 points.
As it so often happens, free throw shooting makes or breaks a team down the stretch, and it made the Mustangs this time. Laurel Highlands made 9-of-13, including 5-of-8 by Chris Miller, in the final eight minutes to seal the win. Ramsey was also strong, making 4-of-5.
“They made the foul shots. We knew the first one to 70 (points) would win, and they were the first to 70,” said Dudzinski. “Rick has done a great job. They have an excellent defense.
“We wanted to take the big guys out, but Laurel Highlands has kids that can run.”
“We did what we had to do,” said Hauger. “We’ve progressed, made strides. Everything we’ve done to this point we have to do and do better. We can’t be satisfied with anything.”
Dan Stefancin had a double-double for the Mustangs with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Forse had 12 points and Gaydos added 10. Belle Vernon’s Matt Sasko was strong on the boards with 10 rebounds.