Belle Vernon defeated Avonworth 57-56 in a thrilling 4A semfinal matchup to advance to the WPIAL finals.
This was a matchup I had been waiting for all playoffs. These are two high scoring teams with superstar seniors at the helm. Belle Vernon is led by the leading scorer in the WPIAL from last season in Zion Moore, and Avonworth is led by this year’s leading scorer in Rowan Carmichael. Both wear #2 and both have eclipsed the 2,000 point mark in their career.
Belle Vernon came out with a clear gameplan, which was to make things as hard as possible for Rowan Carmichael. They picked him up full court from the opening tip with Curtis Wade checking him early.
The game started fast and was back and forth immediately. Belle Vernon picked up 5 team fouls in a hurry in what would prove to be a theme for them throughout the game. Moore was looking to score early and often as he got on the board with a three and then followed that up with a bucket inside shortly after.
Carmichael would get going for the Lopes as well, going coast to coast to cut the Belle Vernon lead down to two late in the first. The two teams traded buckets to finish the quarter and after one, Belle Vernon led 15-14 with Moore and Carmichael with 6 points each.
The back and forth play continued in the second quarter with Avonworth hitting a three, but Belle Vernon answered right back with a buckets from big man, Tommy Davis, and then Moore inside. Davis was great on the defensive end tonight as well, having multiple blocks in the quarter.
Noah Goetz cashed in from three to give Avonworth a 5 point lead late in the quarter. Avonworth then worked for the last shot of the half. The missed the first attempt, but the rebound kicked out to Carmichael who drained a three from way downtown as time expired. At the half, Avonworth led 32-24 and Carmichael led all scorers with 15.
Belle Vernon came out as the aggressor in the third quarter with Davis scoring down low and Trevor Kovatch hitting a three. Kovatch was excellent in the third, hitting multiple threes and keeping Belle Vernon in this game. He sat out most of the first half with three fouls, but he was crucial for them in the third and fourth quarters.
The foul trouble continued to be a problem for Belle Vernon though, as Moore picked up his 4th foul early in the quarter. Avonworth took advantage with Moore on the bench as Carmichael hit another three and got the Avonworth lead back up to 7.
Belle Vernon Head Coach, Joe Salvino, elected to put Moore back into the game, and it turned out to be worth it as Zion immediately knocked down a three upon returning to the game. The next points of the ball game came at the free throw line as Kovatch hit 4 straight, giving him 10 points in the quarter and pulling Belle Vernon within 1.
Kovatch continued to stay hot in the quarter, making a wild lefty layup and giving Belle Vernon a narrow lead. Carmichael answered for Avonworth with a bucket and multiple free throws to return the lead to the Lopes, and after three quarters, they were up 46-44.
Belle Vernon tied the game early in the fourth as Kovatch hit a tough floater while fading hard to his left. Goetz would answer with a three to put Avonworth back in front 49-46.
The Leopards flirted with foul trouble all game, and it was really getting close for them in the fourth as they had three players with four fouls each. Moore, working with four fouls, drove to the basket and got the and-1 to go, tying it at 49.
The Belle Vernon bigs, Tommy Davis and Dom Ghilani, were great down the stretch for the Leopards. Ghilani and Davis each had multiple buckets in the quarter as Belle Vernon took control of the game with a 9-0 run. They were outscoring Avonworth 11-3 in the quarter.
Carmichael ended the drought with an and-1 of his own to cut the Belle Vernon lead to 3 with two minutes left in the game. He continued to keep his team in the game, racing to the rack for two more and cutting the lead to 2.
Belle Vernon had multiple chances to ice the game down the stretch, but they missed four straight free throws, leaving the door open for Avonworth. Carmichael took advantage once again and got the layup to go to tie the game at 56 with just seconds to go.
Tommy Davis got fouled on a layup attempt with 5.9 seconds left with a chance to give Belle Vernon the lead. He missed the first, but sank the second, and with only a few seconds to go Belle Vernon led 57-56.
With no timeouts, Avonworth raced up the floor and got up a wild shot that ended up getting hit out of bounds by Belle Vernon. Avonworth had the ball with 1 second left under the Belle Vernon basket down 1.
Avonworth inbounded the ball to Carmichael who put up a very tough shot at a difficult angle as he flew towards the baseline. The shot came up just short as the buzzer sounded and Belle Vernon held on to win.
Everyone knows that Zion Moore is the star for Belle Vernon, but it was his teammates that stepped up tonight as Kovatch, Davis, and Ghilani all had big games. Head Coach, Joe Salvino, spoke to the contributions for those players after the game saying, “They have it in them. They’ve had games like this in the past, and we count on those people to have games like this”.
Zion Moore credited his teammates after the game as well saying, “Shout out to them. They had a huge performance”. He went on to say, “Trevor (Kovatch) came in and he was going crazy when we were all in foul trouble”.
Belle Vernon heads to the 4A Championship where they will face North Catholic on Thursday night at 9pm at the Pete. With almost a week off, Moore spoke to what they need to do in the meantime to be prepared. “We’ve got to keep our intensity up in practice and we can’t come into this game thinking just because we’re in it we’re going to win it. We have to come in and treat this team like any other team that we play.
Belle Vernon enters the championship game on a 14 game win streak. When asked what his message is for his team heading into the finals, coach Salvino said, “We’re going to the dance”.