When Joe Salvino won his first WPIAL title 20 years ago, his emotions were of joy and relief.
You see, despite having already guided Monessen to back-to-back PIAA titles in 1988 and 1989, Salvino had an 0-3 record in WPIAL championship games before his Greyhounds upended three-time defending champion Duquesne in the Class 1A final in 1995.
“It was joyful, but it was a relief because after not winning it three times, I’m thinking, am I ever going to get one,” Salvino explained. “I was relieved and happy that something that we had wanted finally happened.”
Salvino would go on to collect six WPIAL titles in all in his tenure at Monessen, the most recent in 2017, before becoming Belle Vernon’s coach two seasons later. Monessen had gone 75 years without winning a title before Salvino helped bring it one. Salvino now has a chance to guide Belle Vernon to its first title in 47 years in what is his final season as coach. Salvino, 73, is retiring following the season.
Salvino, one of only seven coaches with at least six WPIAL titles, has led his teams to 743 wins in his career, which ranks second in WPIAL history. Following his latest victory, a thrilling 57-56 win against Avonworth in Saturday’s semifinals, Salvino became emotional when speaking to reporters afterward.
“Here I am, I’m going to be retired and now have the opportunity to go and win a WPIAL championship. That’s pretty special,” said Salvino, a 1970 Monessen graduate. “I got choked up a little because of that reason. How many coaches get an opportunity to go to the championship game knowing this is their last year?”
Belle Vernon will try to get its veteran coach a seventh title when the No. 1-seeded Leopards (20-4) take on No. 2 North Catholic (19-5) in the Class 4A title game at 9 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
This is a showdown of teams that have been red hot. Belle Vernon has won 14 games in a row and has not lost this calendar year, while North Catholic is riding a 10-game winning streak. Belle Vernon is aiming to win its second title and first since 1978. North Catholic is seeking its sixth title and first since 2020.
“We’re playing well right now,” said North Catholic coach Jim Rocco, who previously guided Penn Hills to two WPIAL titles and a PIAA title. “We’re a typical parochial school team. They’re just basketball players. Such high IQ kids. It’s fun to be with them because they’re one of the few groups we’ve had over all the years that love basketball as much as we do as coaches.”
North Catholic is led by talented junior guards Jason Fredericks and Jude Rottmann. Fredericks averages a team-best 19.3 points per game. Fredericks pumped in 30 points and Rottmann 25 — including five 3-pointers — in a 71-42 semifinal rout of a Beaver team that had won eight games in a row.
Belle Vernon features one of the WPIAL’s biggest stars in senior guard Zion Moore, who eclipsed 2,000 career points earlier this season. Moore, who played his freshman season at Ringgold, led the WPIAL in scoring last season and ranks third this season with 25.7 points per game.
“He’s been the go-to man,” Salvino said. “Everybody knows that he has to be that out there and has to do whatever it takes. But he’s also learned to be a team player. He distributes the ball just as much as he shoots it. He knows when he can take control of the game.”
In the semifinal win against Avonworth, it wasn’t Moore, but rather senior guard Trevor Kovatch who was the big star. Kovatch, also a soccer standout who scored 100 career goals, scored 12 of his team-best 17 points during a pivotal third quarter. Kovatch has often been a spark plug for this Leopards team that also includes 6-foot-6 senior forward Tommy Davis.
“They’re big, strong and talented. And they’re tough, as well,” Rocco said. “And they’ve got a star. [Moore] has been a great player since he got there.”
Rocco said he’s unsure if he has ever gone head to head with Salvino as head coaches, but there’s a good chance they haven’t, considering Rocco spent many years coaching at a school (Penn Hills) that was in the WPIAL’s largest class and Salvino at one (Monessen) that was in the smallest class. However, Rocco was an assistant at North Catholic in 2021 when, as the No. 5 seed, the Trojans upset No. 1 Belle Vernon, 77-76, in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.
If Belle Vernon brings Salvino a seventh and final WPIAL title on Thursday, chances are Salvino will feel not relief, but nothing but joy. And if it happens, Salvino will have lots of family members and friends there to see it.
Said Salvino, “Everybody jumps on the bandwagon when you’re winning.”
Class 1A
Since falling to eventual PIAA champion Imani Christian in last year’s WPIAL championship game, Neighborhood Academy has been zoned in on not only returning to the final but also walking off the court with its first title.
“From Day 1 they knew they were one of the best teams in the entire WPIAL,” Neighborhood Academy coach Jordan Marks said.
The Bulldogs have spent the past few months doing a superb job of backing it up, and on Thursday will have an opportunity to claim that gold medal they’ve wanted so badly.
No. 1 Neighborhood Academy (23-1) will put its 13-game win streak on the line when it takes on No. 2 and section rival Serra Catholic (21-3) at 5 p.m at Petersen Events Center.
Led by one of the WPIAL’s premier players in senior point guard and Yale recruit Courtney Wallace, the Bulldogs have beaten at least one team from every classification this season, including Class 6A quarterfinalist Fox Chapel, Class 3A semifinalist Bishop Canevin and City League champion Allderdice. The only blemish on the Bulldogs’ record was a one-point loss against Class 4A semifinalist Beaver on Jan. 4.
The lone remaining team standing in Neighborhood Academy’s way is a Serra Catholic team the Bulldogs are very familiar with. The teams met twice in Section 2 play in the regular season, with Neighborhood Academy claiming lopsided wins of 73-44 and 84-58.
Due to Neighborhood Academy’s stellar play this season, along with the fact that it won the first two meetings by 29 and 26 points, the Bulldogs are the heavy favorite in this game. Serra players have been reminded of that throughout the playoffs as articles from local publications, nearly all of which predicted Neighborhood Academy to win the title, have been pinned to a board in the team’s locker room.
Serra is in the final for the first time since 2019 and will try to win its first title since 2008. The Eagles have won 11 of 12, and the only other team to beat them besides Neighborhood Academy was Class 3A finalist South Allegheny on Dec. 17. The Eagles earned a spot in the final by knocking off No. 3 Nazareth Prep, 57-45, in the semifinals.
“We feel awesome,” Serra coach A.J. Corso said. “Saturday afternoon, there were so many smiles in the locker room. To do this for the senior class, this is something we’ve been talking about all season, even last season. To finally do it means a lot.”
In order to turn the tables on Neighborhood Academy in meeting No. 3, Serra knows it will need to do a much better job of dictating the pace. Both teams have high-powered offenses, but the Eagles would rather not allow this to turn into a track meet.
“We need to control the pace,” Corso said. “We need to play the game that we want to play. We can’t let them dictate the pace of the game. We gave up a lot of second- and third-chance points and didn’t get a lot of rebounds, so that needs to change, too.”
Controlling the pace will be difficult considering Neighborhood Academy has Wallace, who is averaging a triple-double on the season (22.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.6 assists). Wallace has 17 triple-doubles overall, and is coming off a 20-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist effort in a 69-35 semifinal win against Aquinas Academy. Wallace scored 26 and 22 points in the earlier matchups with Serra.
“Words can’t even put it into perspective,” Marks said. “To do what he’s doing, I’ve had a lot of college coaches message me. One said that with some of the passes he makes, their college point guard doesn’t make. Right hand to far-left corner. Left hand to far-right corner. Pinpoint passing. I have a close relationship with a guy who recruited him to Yale, and he said he has a shot to start next season for sure. And that’s very hard to do in the Ivy League, especially for a great program like Yale.”
A strong supporting cast includes the team’s three other seniors, guards Shamar Simpson and Syncer Nicholson and guard-forward Junior Onwubiko. Sophomore guard Kedron Gilmore has had a breakout season and has emerged as an excellent secondary scorer. Gilmore averages 14.5 points per game.
Just as Wallace is Neighborhood Academy’s all-time leading scorer, Owen Dumbroski is Serra’s top all-time scorer. A senior guard, Dumbroski averages 21.1 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.9 steals. Dumbroski is also a standout baseball player who helped Serra reach the WPIAL Class 2A championship game the past two seasons.
“He’s been a starter for us since his freshman year,” Corso said of Dumbroski, who scored 5 and 21 points in the first two meetings. “He just has that championship mindset. He did it in baseball, making it to the final a few times. We made it our goal to make it to the Pete.”
Dumbroski is one of only two senior starters for Serra, the other being guard Mekhi Underwood. Sophomore guard Mark Johnson is the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 11.1 points a game.
Marks said that his team imposing its will and playing uptempo will be the keys. But if you think the Bulldogs might be overlooking the Eagles, Marks said to think otherwise.
Said Marks, “No chance at all.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.