Belle Vernon senior guard Curty Wade, one of the team’s top scorers this season, did not play last weekend at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Showcase at Jeannette and will not return to the team this season.
That is because Wade has enrolled at The Kiski School and plans to leave for the Saltsburg campus Jan. 12. He will play football for the Cougars.
Wade will reclassify to the Class of 2027.
“He is looking at a better opportunity,” Belle Vernon basketball coach Ricky Tyburski said.
Belle Vernon, the defending WPIAL Class 4A champion, continues to score at a high rate. The Leopards (6-3) were averaging 70.9 points at the start of the week.
They have moved to No. 5 in the TribLive HSSN Class 4A rankings.
“Our kids are accepting their roles,” Tyburski said. “It was basically our JV team last year, and Curty, out there. It’s not a great feeling thinking about possibly not having a key player, but other guys have stepped up.”
Tournament time
Local teams will play in holiday tournaments before section play resumes next month.
On Friday, Latrobe will play Knoch in the Plum Tournament with a 6 p.m. tip.
Franklin Regional, meanwhile, faces Penn Hills at 3 p.m. in the South Allegheny Tournament.
Latrobe takes on Highlands at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The annual Greensburg Salem Tournament is Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s schedule has Ligonier Valley vs. Connellsville at 2 p.m., Hempfield vs. Greensburg Central Catholic at 3:30 p.m. and Mt. Pleasant vs. Greensburg Salem at 5 p.m.
Also Monday, Southmoreland plays East Allegheny at 5:30 p.m. at the Charleroi Tournament, Derry plays River Valley at 6 p.m. in the Indiana Tournament, and Jeannette takes on Bishop Canevin at 7:30 p.m. at the Holiday Bash at North Allegheny.
Class 4A No. 5 Belle Vernon faces Class 5A No. 4 Peters Township at 6 p.m. in the Peters Township Tournament.
A local matchup to watch Tuesday will be Norwin vs. Belle Vernon at 1:30 p.m. at Peters Township.
At the Monessen Tournament on Tuesday, California takes on the host Greyhounds at 3:30 p.m.
The schedule for the second day of the Greensburg Salem Tournament on Tuesday shows GCC vs. Ligonier Valley at 2 p.m., Connellsville vs. Mt. Pleasant at 3:30 and Hempfield vs. Greensburg Salem at 5 p.m.
Brown nears 1,000
Jeannette senior point guard Kymon’e Brown is on pace to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Brown had 988 points going into this week.
He would become the first Jayhawks player to get 1,000 since Mike Pompei in 2017. Pompei is an assistant coach for Jeannette.
Brown would be the 14th player in program history to achieve the milestone.
Spartans bounce back
After scoring just 20 points against Central Catholic on a tough shooting night last Friday (61-20), Hempfield rebounded for a 71-32 victory Saturday against Southmoreland.
Danny Husenits had 20 points, Trevor Donsen added 17 and Lucas Simmons chipped in 10 against the Scotties.
GCC wins
New Greensburg Central Catholic coach Tim O’Rourke earned his first victory when the Centurions defeated California, 67-42, last Friday night.
A young lineup desperate for more reps continues to grow as O’Rourke implements his system.
Carson Kramer had 14 points, Tommy Dlugos added 11 and Luke Semelka had 10 in the win. GCC proceeded to play close with Belle Vernon at the WCCA Showcase before falling 70-50.
Turning a Page
Monessen ran into a strong Neighborhood Academy team last week in a 67-29 loss. The leading scorer for Neighborhood Academy was Julius Page, who scored 19 points.
Page, a freshman guard, is the son of former Pitt standout Julius Page.
At the horn
Where many others have been run off the floor against Uniontown, Penn-Trafford has managed to play the Red Raiders close in recent years.
Last week, the Warriors used some late-game theatrics to knock off the Red Raiders at Uniontown.
After a 3-pointer by Uniontown, Zach Feldman made the game-winning jumper in the post to beat the buzzer and give the Warriors a 51-49 victory.
It should be noted another local team, Latrobe, also solved Uniontown after a number of runaway losses. The Wildcats also went on the road and ripped past the Red Raiders, 82-43, in a head-turning result.
Penn-Trafford showed more moxie Tuesday when it edged Latrobe, 67-65, on layup by Nick Ponko with 4.7 seconds left. The Warriors (4-5) rallied from 17 down in the third to get past the Wildcats.
Game rescheduled
Norwin will host Imani Christian at 3 p.m. Jan. 3 in a Section 2-6A game.
It is a makeup from a game earlier in the season that was postponed due to a water main break at Imani Christian.
Layup lines
Dane Daugherty of Belle Vernon made more 3-pointers than any local player in a game Tuesday. He made eight 3s — on 12 attempts — in a 74-69 loss to Elizabeth Forward. … Mt. Pleasant overcame a 15-point deficit to edge Brownsville, 59-55, in overtime. Vikings first-year coach Mark Katarski called it “Magic at MP.” … Stanley Rajkovich has missed two games for undisclosed reasons, but Derry has won both, 57-52 over Mt. Pleasant and 43-42 against West Mifflin. … Noah Felentzer had 31 points in a win over Ligonier Valley. That is the most points in a game by a local player this season. … Jeannette has won by an average of 31.2 points during its six-game winning streak. … Franklin Regional has won five straight games.