Quaker Valley overwhelms Leopards, 72-41
Top-seeded Quaker Valley raced out to a big early lead and went on to defeat visiting Belle Vernon, 71-41, in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal boys basketball playoff game Wednesday night.
Quaker Valley advances to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 13 Deer Lakes, which upset No. 5 Hopewell, in a 3 p.m. game at Pine-Richland.
The eighth-seeded Leopards (14-10) fall into the consolation bracket and will travel to Hopewell on Monday for a 7 p.m. game. Belle Vernon will have to win two consolation games to earn the fifth and final PIAA spot out of the WPIAL.
The Quakers (19-3) put four players in double figures with Zach Washington’s 18 points leading the way. Nicholas Cohen was right behind with 17 points, Sam Chapman added 14 and Kolton Johnson had 13.
The Quakers rolled to a 25-9 lead in the first quarter. The Leopards held a 17-15 edge in the second quarter and went into halftime down 40-26.
Quaker Valley extended its advantage to 61-32 in the third quarter, opening the frame with a 17-point run, to put the game away.
Elijah Majors led Belle Vernon with 12 points and Vincenzo Francia tallied nine points.