Final surge, spot in semifinals belong to Belle Vernon
Belle Vernon vs. Ambridge
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Joe Sabolek celebrates the win against Ambridge with Matt Wobrak and Mitch Pohlot
Belle Vernon’s Derek Thomas leaps to make a pass around Ambridge’s Desmond Council (3) and Montray Carpenter (4) in the first
Belle Vernon vs. Ambridge
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Bryce Washington scores two against Ambridge’s Liam Buck
Beller Vernon’s Logan Pfronger drives the ball around Ambridge’s Noah Campalong
IMPERIAL – It has been 20 years in the making, but because of its 64-59 win over Ambridge on Saturday, Belle Vernon is headed back to the WPIAL boys basketball semifinals.
After the game, fifth-year Belle Vernon coach Kyle DeGregorio had a hard time fighting back tears while talking about his team following the school’s first matchup against Ambridge.
“I love these guys,” an emotional DeGregorio said. “We have been preparing for this for five years.
“It has been a long haul and I just have an emotional attachment to this group.”
Senior Joe Sabolek paced Belle Vernon (18-5) with 25 points and seven rebounds against the much-taller Bridgers (13-10) who started three players 6-5.
“I had some motivation off of that, and also because it could have been our last game as seniors, so it was win or go home,” Sabolek said. “I wanted at least two more games.
“It is great to win as we’ve had some rough years missing the playoffs our freshmen and sophomore years. This is a great feeling.”
The Bridgers jumped out to a 12-7 lead with 1:28 to go in the first quarter behind Aaron Hilzendeger’s seven points, but Belle Vernon closed the quarter on a 6-0 spurt to take a 13-12 lead as Sabolek hit a layup at the buzzer.
With the Belle Vernon leading 16-15, the Leopards began to take control of the game, putting together a 15-0 run. Sabolek hit five half-court set layups, and DeGregorio liked his team’s ball movement against Ambridge’s 2-3 zone defense.
“We did really well with preparation and they play their low guys high. The key was we had to penetrate or get it to the high post and guys found Joe for layups,” DeGregorio said. “I had 14 days to prepare and I didn’t want to overcoach.”
Belle Vernon took a 34-21 lead into halftime and made 14 of 22 shots in the opening 16 minutes.
Needing a spark, Ambridge opened the second half on a 13-4 run to trim the Belle Vernon lead to 39-34, but sophomore Cam Nusser (five) and Sabolek (four) combined for nine points in the last two minutes of the quarter to give the Leopards a 48-41 lead heading into the fourth.
“The third quarter was a brawl. I thought it was really physical but the kids hung in there,” he said.
Each team went on runs in the fourth quarter but Ambridge continued to chip away at Belle Vernon’s lead.
Each time it seemed that the Leopards would put the game away, Ambridge would fight back. The Bridgers tied the score at 57-57 with 1:32 to go on a three-pointer by Monterey Carpenter.
Desmond Council followed with a steal, was fouled and gave Ambridge a 58-57 lead with 1:12 to play. It was Ambrdige’s first lead since 12-11.
Knowing that his senior-laden team has faced numerous challenges before, DeGregorio thought about taking a timeout but instead let the team play through and Nusser nailed a three-pointer to give BV the lead for good.
“It was just like against Uniontown, when I wondered if I should take a timeout or not and I don’t believe in taking a lot of timeouts,” said DeGregorio. “Cam made the shot just like against Uniontown and thank God I did not take the timeout.
“I think when they took the lead, I didn’t see any panic in my kids and we made the play.”
Nusser made four free throws down the stretch as he scored Belle Vernon’s last seven points and finished with 17 points.
The Leopards will face second-seeded New Castle (19-4) Wednesday at time and location to be announced.
Washington added five steals for Belle Vernon while the Leopards had 17 turnovers and the Bridgers 15. Derek Thomas had five assists to Sabolek in the first half and DeGregorio also pointed out the passing of Jake Rathway, Bryce Washington, Griffin LaCarte and Logan Pfrogner.
Hilzendeger had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Tay Lindsay had 16 points and Monterey Carpenter added 12 for Ambridge.
The win gave Belle Vernon its first PIAA berth since the 1997-98 season.