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Red Raiders still atop standings after 81-68 win at BVA

By Stephen Flinn for The 4 min read
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Holly Tonini

Belle Vernon’s Brennan Morgan (13) finds himself in trouble as Uniontown’s Phil Mosley (14) and Joe Campbell (33) close in during Friday’s Section 4-AAA at Belle Vernon Area High School.

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Belle Vernon's Noah Burkowski (2) goes up and under the basket for a shot around Uniontown's Joe Campbell (33) during Friday's Section 4-AAA at Belle Vernon Area High School.

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Holly Tonini

Uniontown’s Lyric Ellis (5) makes a pass over Belle Vernon’s Travis Snyder (22) during Friday’s Section 4-AAA game at Belle Vernon Area High School.

BELLE VERNON — Uniontown sits tied with West Mifflin for first in Section 4-AAA after winning at Belle Vernon Friday night, 81-68, and Steel Valley losing to the Titans.

“It was a big win for us. It was a total team effort,” said Uniontown head coach Rob Kezmarsky. “Now we have a one-game lead over Steel Valley and are tied with West Mifflin.”

Uniontown (15-2, 9-1) swarmed on defense early, and wreaked havoc on Belle Vernon (6-10, 1-9), causing 21 turnovers overall, then settled down into a zone and pulled away from the Leopards in the fourth quarter to seal the section win.

“I thought the key to the game was getting out of the press and into our zone,” Kezmarsky said. “Our zone helped us win against West Mifflin. Our kids are real active on defense and do an excellent job in the zone.”

Senior center Joey Campbell led all scorers with 25 points. Lyric Ellis added 18 points and DeAundre Winfrey finished 16.

“Joey is a senior leader. That’s what he does,” Kezmarsky said. “We have eight seniors and they’ve have played in a lot of big games.”

Campbell credited his size and quickness to the basket in being a key to controlling the paint on both sides of the ball.

“I used a little bit of (speed and size). I knew (Belle Vernon’s) weaknesses and I was able to take advantage of them,” Campbell said. “We played team ball, just like we always do.”

Kezmarsky felt Winfrey played solid away from the basket as well.

“DeAundre had a great floor game,” Kezmarsky said. “I thought he played well against the pressure and I don’t remember him having a turnover.”

Uniontown’s swarming defense caused five Leopard turnovers on their first six possessions, which fueled a Red Raider 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter. The Red Raiders extended their lead to 24-12 at the end of the first quarter after Phillip Mosley drained a 3-pointer. He was the sixth Raider to score in the first quarter.

After being hounded by Uniontown’s defense early on, Belle Vernon stormed back in the second quarter by breaking the Raider press. The Leopards tied the game at 30-30 midway through the second on a Brennan Morgan 3-point play.

Uniontown responded with an 18-7 run to end the first half and took a 48-37 lead at the break. The Raiders got in foul trouble in the first half, however, as starters Rodney Harris and Nate Guerriere each picked up three fouls before the break.

After scoring 10 points in the first half, Ellis hit a 3-pointer to start the third quarter to give Uniontown a 51-37 lead. He hit a free throw midway through the third and the Raiders led by 15 points, 57-42.

Campbell hit a layup and a putback late in the third and after a Harris free throw, Phil Baldini hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the third and the Leopards trailed 66-50, but Ellis hit two free throws to end the third with the Raiders leading 68-50.

Uniontown took its biggest lead of the game at 73-52 with five minutes left, but got sloppy as Belle Vernon turned up the defense. Three Uniontown turnovers led to nine points by Belle Vernon fueled by a Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer, and a 3-point play and Belle Vernon trailed 73-61with three minutes left.

“We got a little sloppy at the end,” Kezmarsky said. “I thought we rebounded the ball a lot better though in the second half.”

The Leopards would get no closer though, as the Raiders closed out the game with a 8-7 run to keep Belle Vernon at bay. The Leopards were led by Tommy Rodriguez’ 25 points and Phil Baldini with 21.

Section 4-AAA

Uniontown      24-24-20-13 — 81

Belle Vernon   14-23-13-18 — 68

Uniontown: Joe Campbell 25, Lyric Ellis 18, DeAundre Winfrey 16. Belle Vernon: Tom Rodriguez 25, Phil Baldini 21. Records: Uniontown (15-2, 9-1) Belle Vernon (6-10, 1-9)

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