Hampton wants high-powered Lincoln Park to play at a slower pace than usual when the teams meet in the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball championship game Thursday night at Pitt's Petersen Events Center. That's what I was thinking.
And for the most part, Hampton succeeded, holding the Leopards to their fewest points in over two months.
But there were two problems, two that all of Lincoln Park's opponents had to deal with all season.
Maryke Thomas and Brandin Cummings.
No matter how fast or slow the pace is, the two always seem to shine.
Top-seeded Lincoln Park used strong games from two star players and excellent defense to claim back-to-back WPIAL championships with a 66-51 victory over No. 2 Hampton at the Petersen Event Center. .
It is Lincoln Park's seventh WPIAL title (23-3) since 2013, and the Leopards' second consecutive championship. The same was true in 2018 and 2019. Hampton (22-4) was seeking its first WPIAL title since 2009 and second overall. The Talbots played in the finals for the first time since 2017.
Thomas, considered one of the nation's top juniors, had a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists. He also excelled defensively after being assigned to guard Lehigh rookie Peter Kramer, Hampton's star, but was limited to six points, 17 points below his average. Kramer made 3-of-17 from the field, but didn't score his first point until 3:56 into the second quarter. Cummings, a rookie from Pitt, added 16 points playing on his future home floor with incoming coach Jeff Capel watching courtside.
“A championship is a championship, but I feel like we should have been here,” Cummings said. “We knew we were going to be here all season. We expected to win this championship. Personally, the main goal is the state championship. I think we can all agree on that. Of course we're going to celebrate tonight, but we've got another goal to achieve and we'll get back to that soon.”
Lincoln Park, the defending PIAA champion, entered this game averaging a WPIAL-high 80 points per game and had 11 straight games with at least 81 points before a 74-63 win over Uniontown in the semifinals. was recorded. Hampton hadn't allowed his team to reach 60 points since the third game of the season, but he held the Leopards to their fewest points since scoring 60 points against Oregon State on Dec. 20.
“I thought we had a good chance if we could stay in the 60s,” Hampton coach Joe Lafko said.
But what coach Lafko probably didn't expect was Lincoln Park's defensive performance, which held Hampton to its lowest point total since Jan. 12. The Talbots committed 14 turnovers (Lincoln Park had just five) and made 3-of-13. From 3 point range. Also, the Talbots were unable to get into an offensive rhythm because their star players were constantly being protected by Thomas and others.
“They stepped up,” Lincoln Park coach Mike Balisky said. “We didn't turn the ball over. We didn't put pressure on them and let them handle the ball. When you go into the locker room, there are three big words there: pressure, pressure, pressure. We played defense. We can play defense when we want to, and they stepped up tonight.”
Thomas added: “I take pride in my defense. The more we get into the season, the harder the games get. The atmosphere gets bigger. Everything gets more serious, more intense. So if I'm on defense, If he had been gagged, it would have been easier for him and it could have been a completely different match.”
Lincoln Park, which has won 15 straight games, trailed Hampton 12-9 late in the first quarter, but Thomas scored on a follow-up and Mikey Crawford hit a 3-pointer to put the Leopards up by 14 at the end of the first quarter. They led by 12 points. Lincoln Park led by 10 points at the half, and Hampton cut the deficit to 40-35 on Alex Nilas' 3-pointer with 3:05 left, but the Leopards quickly extended their lead to 10 points, and the Talbots I couldn't score. No more than 9 games left.
Hampton was led by 6-foot-9 senior forward Liam Mignogna, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. Nilas added 16 points and made all three of Hampton's 3-pointers.
“When you play a really good team like Lincoln Park, you have to play better,” Lafko said. “But tonight we just weren't able to do that across the board.”
Brad is a sports reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and is currently on strike. Email beverett@unionprogress.com.
