The Belle Vernon girls basketball team is built for the future with five underclassmen starting, including a couple of outstanding freshmen.
But while the future is bright for the Leopards, is this a team that can win in the here and now?
“I will say yes after (Thursday),” Belle Vernon coach Cornelious Nesbit said. “I thought this game would tell me how far we’ve grown, our maturity level and is our bench as good as I think it is.”
Check, check and check.
Belle Vernon played a strong defensive game, got key bench minutes and pulled away in the second half to win at South Park, 42-32.
Both teams entered the game tied with Elizabeth Forward for first place in Section 3-4A.
With the Warriors winning as well on Thursday, EF and Belle Vernon remain tied for the top spot.
A couple of 3-pointers gave South Park an early advantage before the Belle Vernon height and perimeter aggressiveness in its half-court defense took over.
“We practiced for 45 minutes (Wednesday) on nothing but defense, Nesbit said. “We worked on how to guard your yard. Offensively, (South Park) wants you to help so that opens up those 3s, so we challenged them that they had to go guard and win their one-on-one matchups.”
The Leopards defense was on full display in the second quarter when they limited the Eagles to only two points, turning a one-point first quarter deficit into a four-point halftime lead.
The game was back and forth into the second half when the Leopards scored the final five points of the third quarter and the first five of the fourth quarter.
Sparking Belle Vernon off the bench were the only two seniors on the team. Emerson LaCarte and Mia Roebuck were starters a year ago but have accepted a different role this season.
“We call them the bench mob, and their job is to impact the game when their number is called,” Nesbit said. “That’s what makes those two senior special is their maturity. Winning is the most important thing, not the stats. Those two are phenomenal leaders.”
LaCarte and Roebuck combined for nine points with three 3-pointers in the second half to help Belle Vernon pull away.
The Eagles never recovered from that 10-0 run as their offensive struggles continued in the final quarter with only seven points for the home team over the final eight minutes of the game.
“Early in the game, we generated the looks, but the shots just didn’t fall,” South Park coach Ronnie Drennen said. “Defensively, we competed at a high level which kept us in the game. We over-dribbled, leading to a lack of execution and bad possessions.”
South Park fell to 8-2 in the section and 11-7 overall.
Senior Hayley Bennett, the hero of the Eagles’ win over the Leopards last month, had nine points to lead South Park.
The win for Belle Vernon bumps its current win streak to nine in a row.
Junior Abby Russell had a game-high nine points for Belle Vernon and sophomore Aubrey Brown, limited because of foul trouble, had eight points.
The Leopards are 15-3 this season and 9-1 in the section, still tied for first place with Elizabeth Forward, which they are scheduled to host in a showdown for first place Monday.
“It’s a big one,” Nesbitt said of the Leopards-Warriors fight for first. “It’s a rivalry game. We know how good they are and in order to win this section, you have to go through the champs. Our kids are up for the challenge.”