For the first time in 27 seasons, members of the Belle Vernon girls basketball team can call themselves section champions.
As Prince’s 1982 hit “1999” echoed throughout the gymnasium, the Leopards took turns cutting down the nets in celebration of the team’s first section crown in nearly three decades after Monday’s 58-26 senior night win over visiting Mt. Pleasant.
“When we walked into the gym when I took this job, I pointed at that banner up there and told the girls we’re going to be adding to it,” Leopards coach Cornelious Nesbit said. “Not going to lie, I thought next year was the year, but these girls are special. They committed to the team goals from the start, and now here they are.”
The Leopards (18-3, 12-1) got off to a bit of a slow start against the Vikings (9-11, 6-7), but Nesbit chalked it up to senior night, the chance of a section crown and the way Mt. Pleasant played.
“Give credit to (Mt. Pleasant), they came to play and they played tough,” Nesbit said. “But, you know, with senior night, the rotation got thrown off a little bit. We just needed to settle down. We got to the half and just told them to relax and go play our style of basketball.”
Senior Mia Roebuck scored her team’s final seven points of the first quarter as the Leopards took an 11-9 lead.
In the second quarter, the Leopards went on a 13-2 run on their way to a 24-11 lead. They led 26-16 at the half.
Mt. Pleasant coach Scott Hillen said while scoring comes at a premium for his team, he was happy with the way they played early on. Especially missing regular starters forward Grace Arrigo and point guard Morgan Gesinski.
“Against a team like that, not having Grace in the post really hurt us,” Hillen said. “But we fought hard. In the end, just out-sized and their depth wore us out. We struggle to score and you just know that their big run is going to come. But I liked the way we played, especially early.”
The Vikings failed to score in double figures in each quarter, scoring only 10 in the second half.
The Leopards used another 10-0 run in the third quarter to take a 41-24 lead after 24 minutes.
Sophomore Aubrey Brown and freshman Lyla McConnell each scored 12 points for the Leps. Brown added eight rebounds. Seniors Roebuck and Emerson LaCarte each finished with seven points.
In the fourth quarter, Belle Vernon scored the first 12 points from six different players before Laurel Rummel hit a jumper for the Vikings’ lone basket in the final frame.
“That sums up who we are as a team,” Nesbit said. “Every night it can be someone else leading us in scoring. They all know to stay ready and stay prepared. All season long, those girls off the bench come in and play their role, hit big shots and play tough defense.
“Those seniors, they’re everything to us. They never complain about their playing time, what their role is. When you’re that type of player, good things happen. This section title, that’s one of them.”
The win clinches a share of the section for the Leopards for now. They’ll be heavy favorites to clinch it outright and finish alone at the top with a win over Southmoreland (1-20, 0-13) on Thursday.
For Nesbit, as overdue as the section title was, there are more goals on the ladder to the top.
“This is the first step,” he said.
As far as playoff seeding, did the Leopards do enough to be a top three seed when the Class 4A bracket is released next Monday?
“Absolutely,” Nesbit said. “I think so. I know we definitely made our case for it.”