Braylen Salters’ smile was a mile wide coming out of a timeout late in the second half as he dapped up teammate Jesse Laster.
It was easy to see why.
The star freshman poured in a career-high 35 points as Pitt-Bradford rolled into the holiday break at 8-0 (2-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference) with a 117-103 win over Hilbert at the KOA Arena on Saturday.
“I’d like to give myself a little bit of credit for that,” Pitt-Bradford coach Jesse DeLoof said with a grin. “He was super under-recruited. He was on a really, really good high school team and didn’t always start. I knew he’d be really good. I didn’t know if I thought he’d be this good, but the key is he wants to be really good, that’s first and foremost.”
Hilbert (8-3 overall, 2-1 AMCC) had gotten back within three, 71-66, after a Sonny Williams 3-pointer with 14:30 to play in the second half when DeLoof signaled for a timeout.
What followed was a 11-2 run by the Panthers which included buckets from Jamarion Butler and Rodd Yarbrough, a 3-pointer by Salters and was punctuated by an emphatic slam from Laster, prompting a timeout from the Hawks with the score suddenly 82-68
The Panthers’ lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the way, as they put on a second half fireworks show that might warrant them to petition Bradford City Council to change the name of the town to Dunk City.
“That’s a really good win right there,” DeLoof said. “That’s a really good team (Hilbert), that came in at 8-2. Credit to coach Rob (deGranpre). They’re always tough and play hard. That’s just a really good win going into Christmas break. I’m really happy.”
Salters, who stands at 6’0”, was on the receiving end of one of several alley-oops by the Panthers in the second half on a feed from Laster, who got the ball when Yarbrough got a steal out of the Panthers’ patented full-court press, flying out of bounds to save it in the process.
On the next possession, Salters came down and nailed a 3 to extend the lead to 103-84 with 6:25 to play, prompting another Hilbert timeout.
“He wants to be the best player on the floor all the time,” DeLoof said of Salters. “He’s not afraid of big moments. He’s not afraid to take big shots. He has a really high standard for himself to be good, and I think that’s the biggest thing”
It was a physical game that featured a combined 46 fouls (24 on Hilbert, 24 on UPB).
Hilbert weathered the Panthers’ pressure better than most teams the Panthers have seen this season, but still, the turnovers started to mount in the later stages of the game. UPB forced 22 Hawk turnovers, with Butler collecting seven of the Panthers’ 18 steals (Salters had five, Keshon Kittrell three and Xavion Boone two).
Teams that don’t have a ton of depth have struggled in the second half of games against the Panthers. Hilbert, which was led 30 points from sophomore forward Larry Morse, didn’t have that problem, but still was turning the ball over with more frequency as the game went on.
“I think a lot of times it’s a mental thing more than anything else, too,” DeLoof said. “Physically, you get tired, and it’s not always getting winded. Your legs get tired. Even just easier passes, there’s just so many of them, it wears on you. And not just the press, but the way we play offense, they’re always getting ready to attack. It’s never, oh they’re settling, they’re going to run offense for 10 seconds. We’re trying to score right now, and I think it just wears on teams, especially teams that don’t have depth. Hilbert has good depth, but I think it does wear on teams.”
The Panthers trailed for only 27 seconds in the first half as Hilbert’s Shaheem Ellis’ 3-pointer to open the game.
Pitt-Bradford led by as much as 14 points in the first half, 33-19 after a Kittrell layup with 10:49 to play in the half. Hilbert’s Ronnie Lewis hit a jumper at the buzzer at the end of the half to get the Hawks back with nine, 57-49.
Quran Briggs finished with 19 points, Ellis 14 and Williams 12 for Hilbert.
Butler had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers, while Yarbrough had 17 points, Kittrell 14 and Laster nine and a team-high six assists.
The Panthers are off now for two weeks before the travel to Wooster for the Wooster Kiwanis Classic. They will take on the host Fighting Scots on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 5 p.m. and on the 30th play Case Western Reserve at 3:45 p.m.
It will be a huge test, as Wooster is unbeaten and ranked No. 8 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
“That will be an awesome test at their place,” DeLoof said.
