Aliquippa boys hold off Lincoln Park for 12th WPIAL Class AA championship

Aliquippa was in a zone. Then, Lincoln Park woke up.

The result Saturday was a scintillating finish between the PIAA's top two Class AA boys basketball teams at Petersen Events Center, where top-seeded Aliquippa managed to hold on in the closing seconds to beat second-seeded Lincoln Park, 49-45, and win its second consecutive WPIAL championship.

The Quips also won the WPIAL Class AA football championship in the fall.

Chucky Humphries scored 22 points, including 17 during a big first-half surge, and Kaezon Pugh converted two free throws with 10.1 seconds left to give Aliquippa (25-0) its four-point lead and seal the victory.

“We probably made it a little harder than we should have,” Aliquippa coach Nick Lackovich said.

Aliquippa won for the 54th time in 55 games over two seasons, the lone loss a 62-51 decision to Conwell-Egan Catholic in the 2015 PIAA Class AA championship game.

The Quips, who notched their second undefeated WPIAL season in a row and 12th district title, inched closer to Farrell's record 13 championships. They'll meet District 6 Tyrone on Saturday in a PIAA first-round game at a site to be determined.

“I'm proud of everybody. We worked hard for it,” said Aliquippa guard Jassir Jordan, who added 16 points for the Quips. “We didn't think about last year very much. Once the season started, we just took it game-by-game.”

It marked the first meeting between the two Beaver County schools, located just six miles apart. They will be aligned in the same section next season, when the league expands to six classifications.

Lincoln Park (22-4), a charter school competing in just its second season in Class AA, began playing basketball in 2007 but already has won two WPIAL Class A championships and one PIAA title. The Leopards also advance to the PIAA playoffs.

Aliquippa's little-used but effective 2-3 zone confounded Lincoln Park, particularly in the first half, when the Leopards managed just 14 points, all of them by junior guard Nelly Cummings, an all-state player in 2015 who made their first seven field goals extending well into the third quarter.

“The first half probably couldn't have gone much better, outside of the foul problems we had,” Lackovich said. “Our zone kind of baffled them a little. But we got lazy in the second half.”

Humphries, a 6-foot-6 senior bound for Division II power West Liberty, shot 6 for 9 from the field and 10 for 14 from the free-throw line. He scored 10 of Aliquippa's 15 second-quarter points to help the Quips to a 30-14 halftime lead.

Humphries finished with a game-high 18 rebounds as Aliquippa dominated Lincoln Park on the boards (41-25). The Quips attempted 33 free throws to Lincoln Park's seven and made just 12 of 38 field-goal attempts (31.6 percent).

“We lost this game because we didn't rebound,” Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said. “We didn't rebound in the first half. We had seven rebounds in the first half. What are you going to do with that? We had seven rebounds and seven fouls in the first half. Aliquippa's guards are (small), but they were all up around the rim.”

Lincoln Park, which shot 17 for 50 (34 percent) but just 5 for 23 in the first half, made a game of it in the second half, turning a 16-point deficit into a tense battle down the stretch.

The Leopards closed within three points with 1:36 remaining on a 3-point shot by Keeno Holmes.

However, Aliquippa maintained control, with the help of Humphries, who hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 1:26, fending off one last run by Lincoln Park that stalled after Dermotti Welling's rebound and score pulled the Leopards within 47-45 with 13 seconds to go.

Cummings, who paced Lincoln Park with 23 points, missed a layup before fouling out, and Humphries' free throws pushed the lead to 47-41 before Nick Aloi and Welling scored on back-to-back possessions for Lincoln Park to make it 47-45 and setting the way for Pugh's game-clinching free throws.

“When I got fouled,” said Pugh, a Pitt football recruit, “I said in my head that I have to make those shots. I knew this would be the last time I'd be playing at Petersen Events Center. Fortunately, we came out and won here, just like we did at Heinz Field.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.