Jan 20, 2018 3 min read

MONESSEN – Belle Vernon used its depth and full-court pressure to wear down Monessen and defeat the Greyhounds, 73-60, in a non-section game Saturday afternoon at Monessen High School.

It’s the first win for the Leopards over Monessen since Dec. 8, 2004.

“We hung in there early and came back after a tough loss Friday night,” Belle Vernon coach Kyle DeGregorio said after getting dealt a tough section loss to South Fayette, 60-45, Friday night.

“I felt (Monessen) became a little impatient with our pressure and we took over. We defended well enough when we weren’t shooting well enough to keep the game close.”

And watching a 32-29 halftime lead slip away, Monessen coach Joe Salvino said he is still waiting for a leader to emerge.

“We have to find the desire to win,” he said. “Frustration set in and we were out of control, got a technical foul, pushed someone later on for no reason other than we were frustrated.

We have no court leadership with anyone doing the things that a leader has to do. Then, the other people on the court aren’t respecting you as a leader because you aren’t leading. Until it gets fixed, (losing) is what will happen to us.”

Sophomore Cam Nusser led Belle Vernon (10-4) with a career-high 25 points, including scoring 10 points in a 12-0 run by the Leopards early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead.

“Cam is starting to shoot the ball well and those threes gave us a little more of a working margin,” DeGregorio said about building a substantial lead early in the fourth quarter.

“Different guys get hot in different games. Today, it was Cam.”

The run extended Belle Vernon’s lead to 60-48 with just under five minutes to play and Monessen (4-7)never threatened the rest of the way.

Monessen held a tight lead for a majority of the first half while the Leopards’ opportunities at the foul line to either take the lead, tie the game or cut their deficit, didn’t fall.

Belle Vernon only made six of its 14 free-throw attempts, however, were kept in the game when the Greyhounds only went made one of their six free throws.

Salvino was also forced to dig deep into his bench after several starters were in early foul trouble.

“I thought at that particular time we could give some people so rest and do that,” Salvino said. “It wasn’t the people who came off the bench who hurt us. It was the people on the court.”

Monessen guard Vaughn Taylor picked up his third foul with 6:13 remaining in the first half and the Greyhounds leading 26-18. After taking Taylor out to keep him available for the second half, Belle Vernon went on a 11-6 run to end the second quarter.

“We can guard anybody,” DeGregorio said. “But we are shooting 32 percent from the floor as a team on the season. We are 10-4. So we are doing a lot of other things really well.”

Joining Nusser in double figures was Griffin LaCarte with 12 points. Joe Sabolek grabbed 14 rebounds and had three blocks.

Elijahwa Payne finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for Monessen. Henderson had 16 points.