Feb 26, 2022 4 min read

BETHEL PARK – For the second straight year, the Belle Vernon boys basketball team saw its quest for a WPIAL boys basketball championship come to a heartbreaking end in the Class 4A semifinals as they lost to Montour Saturday afternoon, 64-53, at Bethel Park High School.

A disappointed Leopards coach Joe Salvino spoke moments after the final horn.

“It was their type of game,” he said of Montour controlling the tempo. “The momentum was on their side, early on we missed a lot of easy shots and we also missed foul shots.

“That kept the momentum on their side because we couldn’t score, which meant we couldn’t pressure the ball.”

The game was a rematch of Montour’s 65-48 win over Belle Vernon on Feb. 6, when the Leopards played without Quinton Martin while Devin Whitlock missed the second half with an injury.

Almost on que Saturday, Martin grabbed an offensive rebound on the first possession of the game and scored to give Belle Vernon a 2-0 lead.

Another Martin basket and a Whitlock bucket gave Belle Vernon (19-4) a 6-2 lead, but then the Leopards went cold from the field as they made only one more basket until the 2:41 mark of the second quarter. That basket, a Daniel Gordon three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, cut the Montour lead to 12-10 heading into the second.

“I think we went back to our old habit of trying to play one-on-one stuff,” Salvino said. “We didn’t score for a long time. I think that’s the frustration of us not scoring when we had opportunities and having to play defense.”

The Spartans (20-4) opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 22-10 lead, but Alonzo Wade’s basket with 2:41 to go in the half halted the Montour run.

Wade’s basket initiated an 8-2 run that also included two Gordon layups and an offensive rebound putback by Martin at the buzzer to trim Montour’s lead to 24-18 at halftime.

In the first half, Montour made seven-of-11 free throws and Belle Vernon made one-of-three.

Like he has done so many times during his career, Whitlock took the game over in the third quarter.

After scoring just two points in the first half, the senior dynamo scored nine points in the third and Belle Vernon was able to make it a one-possession game for most of the quarter.

Montour slowly grabbed momentum late in the third quarter and it took a 42-36 lead into the fourth.

The Leopards went on a 5-0 run to open the fourth and had a chance to tie the game with 6:04 left. With Belle Vernon trailing 42-40, Whitlock stepped to the free-throw. After making the first, he missed the second attempt.

Montour scored four straight points and Belle Vernon got within two points only one more time – when Wade hit a shot to make the score 53-51 with 2:16 to play.

“It seemed every time we were right there, there was a foul that negated what we tried to do,” Salvino said.

Belle Vernon was called for 22 fouls and finished 16 of 25 from the foul line while Montour was called for 18 fouls and made 14 of 21 free-throw attempts.

The Spartans outscored the Leopards 11-2 after Wade’s basket.

Gordon led Belle Vernon with 16 points and four steals, and Whitlock had 15 points and four steals. Martin scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Wade had 10 points.

It was an emotional locker room after the game for Belle Vernon, and Salvino, who remains at 699 career wins, didn’t try to give his team a pep talk.

“Sometimes its’s best not to hear ‘keep your head up’ or ‘we have the state playoffs to go to,’ especially for the seniors,” Salvino said. “In football, they didn’t win the championship and we fell short here. Sometimes it’s just best to not say anything.”

Belle Vernon now waits to find out who it plays in the first round of the PIAA tournament March 8.