Leopards battle past Quakers, 66-61
PLUM — Quaker Valley seemed to have all the momentum as the clock ticked down late in Saturday afternoon’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal boys basketball game against Belle Vernon.
The third-seeded Quakers had rallied from a four-point deficit to take a 61-60 lead, had possession of the ball and were in the double-bonus at the foul line.
Then the quick hands of the Leopards’ Devin Whitlock turn the tide dramatically the other way.
Whitlock came up with a steal and layup to put Belle Vernon ahead to stay with 1:07 left and the Leopards’ defense and foul shooting did the rest to sew up a 66-61 victory.
“I was trying to get back on defense and I saw the ball go up in the air and I tried to make a play,” said Whitlock, who scored 14 points. “It turned out pretty good.”
Good enough to send sixth-seeded Belle Vernon into Wednesday’s semifinals against seventh-seeded New Castle, which upset No. 2 Knoch, 56-50, also on Saturday. The site and time for that game has yet to be set. BV also earned a spot in the PIAA tournament for the second time in three years.
It was a strong all-around performance by the Leopards, who played almost all of the fourth quarter without Cam Nusser. The senior guard led the Leps with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, but fouled out with 7:14 left.
His teammates picked up the slack offensively and defensivley, especially Mitch Pohlot, who totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Whitlock, who contributed 10 assists and three steals. Jared Hartman also came up big for Belle Vernon with a pair of 3-pointers in tallying 13 points with six boards and three assists.
“That just goes to show you when a team plays together, good things can happen,” said veteran coach Joe Salvino, now in his second year with the Leopards. “Our bench played great today and that was important.”
That included Jake Haney, who chipped in with four points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal, and Daniel Gordon, along with Thomas Hepple, Tyler Kovatch and Larry Callaway.
After Whitlock’s clutch play, Belle Vernon played solid defense as Quaker Valley missed its final five shots.
Pohlot made two pressure free throws with 28.5 seconds left after collecting a defensive rebound to put his team up 64-61. The senior forward was thinking of his family when he was on the foul line.
“My dad lost to Quaker Valley in his senior year 31 years ago — he was here with all his buddies — and my mom couldn’t be here because she had to work, so I kind of wanted to make those for my dad and mom,” Pohlot said.
Whitlock’s two free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining sealed it.
The Leopards (18-6) trailed 15-11 after the first quarter and the Quakers (17-6) dominated play early in the second to take a 29-18 advantage, thanks to a couple 3-pointers by Adou Theiro, who had 15 points, and four straight foul shots by Frank Markus, who scored a game-high 23 points.
Salvino called timeout to settle his squad down.
“I told them we don’t have to rush anything, we’ve just got to start playing better defense and be smarter offensively,” Salvino said. “Sometimes when you’re down, players try to do too much.
“We’ve been in situations like that in a lot of games this year and we’ve never gave up.”
The Leopards stormed back as Hartman hit a pair of 3-pointers and Nusser added a trey and got to within 36-33 by halftime.
The Quakers pushed their lead up to six twice in the third quarter but could never shake Belle Vernon, which gradually clawed its way back, and even put on a show in doing so when Whitlock sent a lob to Pohlot for a two-handed dunk that energized the Leopards fans in attendance.
Quaker Valley ended the quarter with a 51-49 lead. The final frame featured five lead changes and three ties. Belle Vernon surged ahead 60-56 with a seven-point run that included a three-point play and driving basket by Hartman and a pull-up jumper by Whitlock.
A basket by K.C. Johns, who had 13 points, a free throw by Thiero and two foul shots by Markus put the Quakers back on top by one, but that just set the stage for Whitlock and the Leopards’ strong finish.
“It was the aggressiveness, it was intensity on defense and the foul shooting,” Pohlot said of the keys to the victory. “Foul shooting wins games.”
Belle Vernon made 13 of its 14 free throws.
The Leopards played zone most of the afternoon but Salvino switched his team to straight man-to-man early in the fourth quarter despite Quaker Valley being in the double-bonus and his team responded.
“I think today we played four quarters of basketball,” Salvino said, “and that’s something that we haven’t done.”
The Leopards haven’t reached the WPIAL championship game since 1978 but will look to end that drought on Wednesday.