Out with a bang
Retiring Salvino guides Belle Vernon to second WPIAL title while winning his seventh
PITTSBURGH – As his team received the WPIAL championship trophy, Belle Vernon boys basketball coach Joe Salvino stood off the side, took a sip of water and watched the celebration unfold.
“I love to watch them, because it’s for them,” Salvino said. “I’m just a part of it. I like to watch them celebrate and see what it meant to them.”
Getting to see the smiling faces of his players was the perfect ending for Salvino to his WPIAL basketball coaching career.
The Leopards earned a 54-49 victory over North Catholic in the Class 4A final, giving Salvino a WPIAL title in his final season Thursday night at Petersen Events Center.
Not only did the Leopards send Salvino out a winner in the district and give him his seventh title overall, they won their first WPIAL title since 1978 and second overall.
Salvino took a modest approach after the game. He didn’t even take one of the gold medals that were handed out to the Leopards.
“That’s not for me,” Salvino said. “I’m well past that stage.”
But make no mistake, getting the job done in Salvino’s final season was a focal point for the players.
“It was his last year, so we had to go out with a bang,” Leopards guard Trevor Kovatch said.
They did it by holding off a late rally by the Trojans.
North Catholic got it to one point in the fourth quarter, but Zion Moore made a driving layup to give Belle Vernon a 49-46 lead with a minute remaining. The Leopards led the rest of the way.
“I knew we needed a bucket,” Moore said. “Coach Salvino said we needed a stop and a score and we did it. I saw the lane open up and took it.”
Curtis Wade, Trevor Kovatch and Tommy Davis made crucial free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
Davis, a 6-foot-6 senior, had a huge night for the Leopards, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Davis was seven of nine from the floor and made all six of his foul shots.
Belle Vernon had a huge advantage on the boards, out-rebounding North Catholic, 40-17, with the Leopards’ Dominic Ghilani pulling down a game-high 13.
North Catholic does not list a forward on its roster and the tallest player is 6-foot-4, and the Leopards capitalized on the size discrepancy.
“That was our plan coming into the game today, because we knew that we had more size than them,” Davis said. “That was our goal and we accomplished it.”
Belle Vernon led by a dozen at halftime, but North Catholic chipped away in the third quarter.
The Trojans ended the third on an 8-2 run, which included a pair of baskets off rebounds by Joe Waskiewicz. Davis made a bucket at the buzzer, one of only three in the quarter for Belle Vernon, to make it 43-37.
Belle Vernon led by five at the end of the first quarter and quickly added on.
Davis had a basket on a rebound, a layup and a dunk on a runout on three consecutive possessions for Belle Vernon in the second, which extended the lead to 27-19.
Cameren Jenko scored off a rebound on a missed free throw by Curtis Wade to give the Leopards their first double-digit lead at 32-22. Jenko added another basket just before halftime, making the score 34-22 heading into the break.
Davis scored 14 of his 20 in the first half. Kovatch and Moore scored 12 each.
Jason Fredericks led North Catholic with 20 points and Jude Rottman scored 15.
Belle Vernon will play the winner of the District 10 fifth-place game between Farrell and Oil City In the first round of the state playoffs on March 7 at a site and time to be determined. North Catholic gets the winner of the District 10 third-place game between Grove City or Hickory.