Leopards’ defense stymies Burrell in 1st round victory
BELLE VERNON — Belle Vernon used a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter and its defense suffocated Burrell’s offense in a 60-45 victory on Friday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball playoffs at Belle Vernon Area High School.
The postseason triumph was the first in the career of Belle Vernon head coach Ricky Tyburski, who replaced a legend in Joe Salvino, who retired after last season.
The Leopards (14-9) advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinals against top-seed Quaker Valley (18-3) at Quaker Valley High School. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“It’s going to be a challenge on Wednesday,” Tyburski said. “When we did our bracketology before the brackets were released, we sort of guessed where we were going to be at. We couldn’t really guess 1-2-3, but right now, you are going against the one. We are in the top eight in the playoffs, and it feels good to be moving on.”
The Buccaneers’ season comes to an end at 10-13.
Belle Vernon had a 6-5 lead early in the opening period before Cam Jenko put in a field goal for two of his 10 points and Elijah Majors connected on a three-pointer for an 11-5 advantage, and A.J. Watson fired a pass inside to Jenko to increase the home team’s lead to 13-5 with 3:46 remaining in the quarter. Jenko, who had nine points in the first period, converted on a layup following a steal for a 15-5 advantage at 2:25 of the opening frame.
The Leopards closed out the quarter, 5-4, for a 20-9 lead. Belle Vernon outscored Burrell, 13-5, in the second period for a 33-14 halftime cushion.
“The first quarter was absolutely amazing,” Tyburski said. “We put up 20 points and played the defense that we did. We came out and determined the pace of the game from there.”
The Buccaneers opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-20, but the Leopards responded with six straight points on back-to-back layups from Watson and a Dane Daugherty field goal.
The home team had a 15-12 edge in the third, while the visitors had a 19-12 advantage in the final frame.
“With the score like it was entering the fourth quarter, you want to give an opportunity to some of the other players to gain some experience in the playoffs,” Tyburski said. “This team won the WPIAL championship last year, but we have a lot of new faces, so this was a first for them. I think they responded well, especially in the beginning.”
Watson and Burrell’s Ryan Wass scored 12 points apiece to lead their teams. The Bucs’ Sam Conte dropped 10 points.
Belle Vernon’s Luca Ghilani was in double figures with 10 points. Teammate Elijah Majors added nine points.