Jan 18, 2020 3 min read

MONESSEN – Joe Salvino won 639 games as the head coach of the Monessen boys basketball team.

Saturday afternoon, he won yet another game in Monessen’s gym, but this time as the visiting coach as his Belle Vernon Leopards cruised to a 78-50 win over Monessen.

“It is good to win, but I didn’t look at it this year like I looked at it last year,” Salvino said of facing his alma mater. “Monessen, to me, was just another team we had to play. It was just another game.”

Also returning to Monessen was Belle Vernon sophomore point guard Devin Whitlock, who was an all-state guard a year ago for Monessen.

“It was exciting and fun coming back to face my old teammates,” said Whitlock, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “I take every game one at a time, but I was looking forward to this and excited.”

Salvino said he did not notice anything different about Whitlock heading into this game.

“Dev plays every game like he wants to win, and every game is the same to him,” said Salvino, who is in his second year as the Belle Vernon head coach. “He doesn’t do anything different.”

Belle Vernon placed all five starters in double figures and Salvino was happy with the balanced attack.

“That is impressive, and I like that,” said Salvino, who has a 659-275 record as a coach in 36 seasons. “It is good to have that and a plus.

“Right now, everyone is doing what they are supposed to do, and I hope it continues heading into a big week.”

Cam Nusser played a solid all-around game for the Leopards with 14 points and 10 assists while Mitch Pohlot (12), Ruokonen (10) and Jared Hartman (10) also scored in double figures.

Pohlot and Hartman each grabbed eight rebounds and Ruokonen tallied five.

The Belle Vernon full-court pressure caused havoc for Monessen as it committed 27 turnovers.

The Greyhounds turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter alone and the Leopards raced out to a 24-9 lead.

Belle Vernon extended its lead to 33-11 after a 9-0 run to start the second, and it closed the half on a 10-2 run to take a 43-18 lead into halftime.

“I am very happy with how we played the first two quarters,” Salvino said. “I thought we had good pressure and rebounded well, ran the offense well and hit shots. Transition points got us moving.”

Monessen coach Dan Bosnic admitted that Belle Vernon’s pressure defense gave his team plenty of problems.

“The pressure was the difference and we turned the ball over a lot,” he said. “We were bothered by their trap and they made us play faster than we wanted to.”

Both teams scored at will in the third quarter and both coaches emptied their benches midway through the fourth.

Marquell Smith led Monessen with 19 points while DaWayne Howell (16) and Carlton Jones (10) also hit double figures.

Belle Vernon leads the all-time series against Monessen, 31-29.