Dec 13, 2017 By Bill Hughes for The 3 min read

ROSTRAVER TWP. — Belle Vernon played sluggish at times Tuesday night, but it pulled out a 63-45 win over Greensburg Salem in a girls non-section basketball game.

“We started strong and instead of being calm, we kind of lost our poise,” said BV coach Lisa Fairman. “But we gathered ourselves and got it going in the second half.”

The Leopards (2-1) raced out to a 13-1 lead, and it looked as if they would cruise over the Golden Lions (1-2).

However, the guests countered with a 12-0 run to tie the score at 13-13 before Caitlyn Trombley and Keira Boff hit consecutive three-pointers and BV held a 19-15 lead after one quarter.

Greensburg Salem went on an 11-3 run to open the second quarter to take a 26-22 lead, but BV went on a 10-5 run to close the half.

Megan Kallock (21) and Nikki Mellinger (10) combined for all 31 of Greensburg Salem points in the first half, and Fairman talked about adjustments that she and her staff made in the second half.

“We went into a box-and-one on (Kallock) and Keira did a great job and we had to make an adjustment,” she said. “So did Lindsay (Steeber) and Vienna (Bertram), and the move was the difference in the game.”

Boff shut Kallock down in the third quarter as she watched her for most of the first seven minutes and Kallock did not score in the frame with Boff guarding her.

“Keira is disciplined and she could have stayed on (Kallock), but we needed her on the offensive end as well,” Fairman said. “All three girls did a solid job on her, and it was Vienna’s first varsity time.”

Belle Vernon outscored Greensburg Salem 16-9 to take command of the game heading into the fourth quarter up 53-38.

With 4:21 to go in the third quarter, Greensburg Salem’s Elizabeth O’Neal hit a basket and it would be the only points that Kallock (29) and Mellinger (14) did not score in the game.

The Leopards maintained at least an 11-point lead throughout the fourth quarter as they geared up for Section 3-AAAA play Thursday night when they host Yough.

Boff led BV with 19 points, Trombley scored 18 and Rylee Campbell tied a career high with 14 points.

Taylor Kovatch finished with a solid six points, five assists and three steals while Kelsey Green had nine assists and eight rebounds.

Belle Vernon finished 21 of 53 from the floor (40 percent) but was only five of 22 (23 percent) from three-point territory.

The Leopards forced 25 Greensburg Salem turnovers and committed 12 of their own.