Dec 27, 2016 4 min read

CHARLEROI – Belle Vernon has been making it a habit to beat Ringgold in the closing seconds on the basketball court and Tuesday night in the CFS Classic was no different.

Senior Brennan Morgan hit an off-balance game-winning layup with two seconds to go to give the Leopards a 61-59 win over the Rams.

It is the third time in 2016 that Belle Vernon has beaten their rival in dramatic fashion.

“The kids played really hard but we couldn’t shoot the ball,” said Belle Vernon coach Kyle DeGregorio. “We missed nine layups in the first half and seven more.

“If we make half of those … but you have to give Ringgold credit.”

Ringgold coach Phil Pergola shared his thoughts.

“Every time we play them it comes down to the last second,” he said before turning his attention to the first quarter.

“The first quarter is what hurt us. We didn’t get any momentum going, had too many turnovers, especially unforced and we won’t win many games taking 40 shots.”

Belle Vernon (3-2) went on a 7-0 run to close the first quarter and take an 18-8 lead, and it appeared that the Leopards were going to pull away.

“We knew what they were going to do,” Pergola said. “The full-court pressure, the subbing, we knew it was coming.”

However, Ringgold (3-5) went on a 12-0 run to start the second quarter and took a 20-18 lead.

The teams played close for the rest of the quarter, but Ringgold got hot late and took a 29-24 lead into halftime.

Ringgold opened up a 35-26 lead in the third quarter, but Belle Vernon chipped away and took a 43-41 advantage on a JJ Hartman three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in the quarter.

There were six ties and four lead changes in the fourth quarter, and the energy in the gym seemed to build with each basket.

With the score tied 49-49, Ringgold’s Anthony Pampena fouled out.

Pampena, a senior, finished with nine points.

“We knew he had four fouls,” Pergola said. “But with four minutes to play, you have to play him.”

With the score tied at 57-57 with 1:31 to go, Ringgold’s Tyrice Adams grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to give the Rams a 59-57 lead.

Hartman countered with his second three-pointer of the game with 1:20 to play to give BVA a 58-57 lead.

Ringgold’s Dakota Browning, who led all scorers with 24 points, scored to give the Rams a 59-58 lead with only 58 seconds to play.

“Browning is a handful and we knew that,” DeGregorio said. “And to their credit I feel that they handled our pressure pretty well.”

On Belle Vernon’s next possession, Morgan was fouled and hit the first of two free throws to tie the score.

Following a timeout, Ringgold looked as if it was going to hold the ball for the last shot but Jake Mayer passed the ball into Browning, who went up for a shot. The Leopards’ Joe Sabolek blocked the shot with 32 to play and Belle Vernon grabbed the rebound.

After a timeout, Belle Vernon swung the ball to Morgan who drove and hit an off-balanced layup over Browning with two seconds on the clock.

Ringgold inbounded the ball but could not get off a full-court heave.

Tommy Rodriguez led Belle Vernon with 11 points and Sabolek finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Browning had 14 rebounds to go with his 24 points and Ringgold’s Ryan Varley had 11 points.

Belle Vernon moves into the semifinals tonight when it plays Southmoreland (6-1) at 7.

In Southmoreland’s 71-48 win over Elizabeth Forward, Brandon Stone (35) and Tom Pisula (22) combined for 57 points.

Defending tournament champion Yough plays Clairton, a 59-49 winner over Charleroi in the final game of the opeing night, in the semifinals at 9 p.m. Clairton overcame a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Cougars.

Charleroi’s Sam Miceli scored a game-high 30 points.