Jan 6, 2023 4 min read

BELLE VERNON – Class 4A Section 3 boys basketball is supposed to be a three-team race between Uniontown, Laurel Highlands and Belle Vernon.

Friday night, Uniontown went to Belle Vernon and defeated the Leopards, 79-64, to gain an early edge in the section.

“It is a quality section win in a tough environment. They are a really good team, and this is a big win for us in a tough environment,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky. “We did a great job and kept scoring.

“They are such a physical basketball team, and they make you play their style of game. We made some open shots in the first quarter and did a good job with that.”

Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino has never been known to mince words, and he didn’t after the game.

“Uniontown wanted it more and they put forth the effort,” he said. “They had more confidence in their shooting and in their defense, and they played more as a team.”

The Red Raiders placed four players in double figures while Belle Vernon had three.

Uniontown’s Calvin Winfrey III led all scorers with 23 points while Notorious Grooms (21), Bakari Wallace (11) and Jamire Braxton (10) combined for 42 points.

Grooms had seven assists, six rebounds and three steals while Braxton grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Zion Moore finished with 22 points, Alonzo Wade scored 20 and Quinton Martin scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds for Belle Vernon.

Both teams used pressure defense for most of the game, and this caused plenty of turnovers as Uniontown had 22 and BVA gave the ball away 19 times.

There were four ties in the first half and Uniontown led 17-14 after the first quarter.

Belle Vernon tied the score at 24 three minutes into the second quarter, but Uniontown used an eight-point run to take control of the game and the Leopards never led again.

Uniontown took a 40-32 lead into halftime and a 20-9 advantage in the third gave the Red Raiders a 60-41 lead heading into the fourth.

Belle Vernon used a 14-4 lead early in the fourth to trim Uniontown’s lead to 64-55 with under three minutes to go, and the Leopards cut the Red Raiders’ lead to 70-64 with 1:20 left on a pair of free throws by Moore.

Grooms, a sophomore, made seven of eight free throws in the last minute to put the game away for Uniontown as it scored the last 10 points.

“Notorious, he did so well, as did our guards,” Kezmarsky said before pointing out foul trouble caused Uniontown to get solid contributions from the bench. “Actually, all nine of our guys who played. They all played well.”

A key difference was from beyond the arc as Uniontown hit seven three-pointers, paced by Winfrey as he finished with a trio of three-pointers, while Belle Vernon was limited to one apiece by Wade, Moore and Trevor Kovatch.

Salvino spoke about how his team was watching Moore try to do too much early and how it dug the Leopards a hole.

“We didn’t run an offense early and I told our guys beforehand that their defense would stop our penetration,” he said. “Once we started to run our offense, it was way too late.

“This group is going to have to understand this is a team sport with five guys working toward one goal.”

Kezmarsky said the Red Raiders have to keep improving and that they would see the Leopard again.

“While this is a great win, we have to get ready for our next game,” he said. “We have a long way to go before they come to our court (on Jan. 31).”

Both teams return to action Tuesday with section games as Uniontown hosts Southmoreland while Belle Vernon is at Laurel Highlands for another tough matchup.

“We know how good they are,” Salvino said. “We are going to have to learn from this game real fast and prepare for a tough one on the road Tuesday.”