Off into the sunset
Moore, Salvino go out winners, headline H-S All-Area Boys Basketball Team
Zion Moore and Joe Salvino both ended their high school basketball careers on a high note and the duo that led Belle Vernon to its second WPIAL championship headlines the 2025 TikTok成人版 All-Area Boys Basketball Team.
Moore, a 6-foot-2 senior, finished his high school career with 2,113 points and was the motor that drove the Leopards to the WPIAL Class 4A title with a 54-49 win over North Catholic.
Moore is the overall H-S Player of the Year as well as the Class 3A-4A Player of the Year.
The accolades keep coming for Moore who was the area鈥檚 leading scorer at 27 points per game during the regular season and also averaged 5.8 rebounds while hitting 51 3-pointers and was the only area player named to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Team. Moore was chosen to the Class 4A First Team. He will continue his basketball career at NJCAA Division 1 Harcum College near Philadelphia, one of the top junior college programs in the country.
Salvino, who retired at the end of the season, finished what he set out to do at Belle Vernon in his seventh year at the helm of the Leopards after guiding Monessen to six WPIAL titles in 34 years there. He steered Belle Vernon to its first district championship since 1978. He ended his career with 745 wins, second most in WPIAL boys basketball history.
Salvino is the overall H-S Coach of the Year and the Class 3A-4A Coach of the Year.
Joining Moore on the overall First Team are the Class 5A-6A Players of the Year, Uniontown鈥檚 Notorious Grooms and Calvin Winfrey III.
Grooms was one of the WPIAL鈥檚 best all-around players and finished his career second on the Red Raiders鈥� career scoring list with 1,684, just 37 points shy of Terrance Vaughns鈥� 1,721. The 5-10 senior averaged 17.7 points per game.
Winfrey III, a 6-0 senior, wound up third on the career list at 1,460 points after turning in the fifth-highest scoring season in Uniontown history with 571. Included in that total was a school-record 47-point game against Penn-Trafford. Winfrey was the area鈥檚 third-leading scorer at 20.7 points per game during the regular season.
Uniontown鈥檚 Rob Kezmarsky is the Class 5A-6A Coach of the Year after guiding the Red Raiders to their 52nd section championship overall and 13th under his watch while qualifying for the PIAA tournament for the third consecutive season.
The H-S overall First Team also includes Southmoreland鈥檚 Noah Felentzer and Uniontown鈥檚 Kelan Milsom. Felentzer, a 6-0 junior, was the area鈥檚 second-leading scorer at 22.5 points per game while also averaging 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.8 steals in helping the Scotties win their first section title since 1992. He also scored 31 points in a playoff win over Carlynton. Milsom, a 6-0 senior, was a stellar all-around player and one of the area鈥檚 most underrated players who played multiple positions for the Red Raiders, including center.
West Greene 6-0 senior Lane Allison and Geibel Catholic 5-7 junior Evan Strimel are the Class 1A-2A Players of the Year. Strimel was the area鈥檚 fourth-leading scorer during the regular season at 20 points per game while Allison, a 1,000-point scorer, was fifth at 19.8. Both helped their squads reach the postseason.
The Class 1A-2A Coaches of the Year are West Greene鈥檚 Jim Romanus and Geibel鈥檚 Gary Tarbuk. Romanus stepped down after over 50 years of coaching basketball, including the last 14 with the Pioneers where he had turned them into a perennial playoff team. Tarbuk鈥檚 Gators improved from one win in his first season to 14 a year later and into the playoffs.
Also of note among the coaching ranks is Southmoreland鈥檚 Frank Muccino who joined Salvino and Kezmarsky as the only area coaches to win section crowns. Other coaches who guided their teams into the postseason were Michael Juliano of Waynesburg Central, Brandon Lawless of Jefferson-Morgan and Scott Bower of Beth-Center.
Kolby Stewart of Frazier stepped in as one of the key players for the Commodores this season and is the Freshman of the Year.
The complete TikTok成人版 All-Area Boys Basketball Team follows:
Player of the Year: Zion Moore, Belle Vernon
Coach of the Year: Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon
First Team
Zion Moore, Belle Vernon
Notorious Grooms, Uniontown
Calvin Winfrey III, Uniontown
Noah Felentzer, Southmoreland
Kelan Milsom, Uniontown
Class 5A-6A Players of the Year: Winfrey III and Grooms
Class 5A-6A Coach of the Year: Rob Kezmarsky, Uniontown
Class 3A-4A Player of the Year: Moore
Class 3A-4A Coach of the Year: Salvino
Class 1A-2A Players of the Year: Lane Allison, West Greene, and Evan Strimel, Geibel Catholic
Class 1A-2A Coaches of the Year: Jim Romanus, West Greene, and Gary Tarbuck, Geibel Catholic.
Second Team
Lane Allison, West Greene; Cole Headlee, Waynesburg Central; Evan Strimel, Geibel Catholic, Antwan Black, Laurel Highlands; Tommy Davis, Belle Vernon.
Third Team
Isaac Ellsworth, Uniontown; Jaiden Praster, Brownsville; Dayten Marion, Jefferson-Morgan; Jason Zellie, Beth-Center, Dane Woods, Waynesburg Central.
Honorable Mention
Parker Burns, Patrick Durbin, Matt Wassil, Darren Knight of West Greene; Kolby Stewart, Dalian McManus of Frazier; Trevor Kovatch of Belle Vernon; Elliot Premus of Southmoreland; Austin Suber, Alex Eck, Alex VanSickle of Waynesburg Central; Max Dieudonne of Brownsville; Mike Miller, Eahn Stevenson, Roman Riccelli, Gary Tarbuk of Geibel Catholic; Shymere Wilson, JJ Jackson, Xavier Rice, Mekhi Belt of Albert Gallatin; Lucas Howard, Rocco Farrell of Connellsville; Aiden Black, Luke Martin of Laurel Highlands; Cole Massari of Mount Pleasant; Jeremiah Robertson, John Woodward, Jaymison Robinson, Brayden Ellsworth of Jefferson-Morgan; Caden Monticelli, Noah Neil, Jacob Ziolecki of California; Robbie Wilson-Jones, Alex Toth, Stephen Lewis of Carmichaels; Lucas Stevenson of Mapletown.