Lincoln Park boys take down Seton LaSalle in WPIAL Class 3A title game
By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, March 1, 2018 | 10:39 PM
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park holds up the WPIAL trophy after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores past Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores over Seton LaSalle's Nick Deanes during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Nick Deanes reacts to hitting a 3-pointer against Lincoln Park during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Kalev Krebs defends on Lincoln Park's Andre Eilder during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Matt Banbury reacts to hitting a 3-pointer against Lincoln Park during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores past Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja and Tanner Mathos block the shot of Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park head coach Mike Bariski hugs Keeno Holmes (left) and Thomas Melonja after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Andre Wilder hits a shot over Seton LaSalle's George Mike IV during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Tanner Mathos block the shot of Seton LaSalle's Goerge Mike IV during 3-A boys WPIAL final at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja reacts after hitting a 3-pointer against Seton LaSalleduring the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja blocks the the shot of Seton LaSalle's Matt Banburyduring the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja celebrates beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja (55) jumps into the arms of Kino Holmes after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Andre Wilder scores past Seton LaSalle's Kaleb Krebs during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes and Thomas Melonja celebrate beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Lincoln Park holds up the WPIAL trophy after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores past Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores over Seton LaSalle's Nick Deanes during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Nick Deanes reacts to hitting a 3-pointer against Lincoln Park during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Kalev Krebs defends on Lincoln Park's Andre Eilder during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Seton LaSalle's Matt Banbury reacts to hitting a 3-pointer against Lincoln Park during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes scores past Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja and Tanner Mathos block the shot of Seton LaSalle's Jakob Richardson during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park head coach Mike Bariski hugs Keeno Holmes (left) and Thomas Melonja after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Andre Wilder hits a shot over Seton LaSalle's George Mike IV during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Tanner Mathos block the shot of Seton LaSalle's Goerge Mike IV during 3-A boys WPIAL final at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja reacts after hitting a 3-pointer against Seton LaSalleduring the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja blocks the the shot of Seton LaSalle's Matt Banburyduring the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja celebrates beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Thomas Melonja (55) jumps into the arms of Kino Holmes after beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Andre Wilder scores past Seton LaSalle's Kaleb Krebs during the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes and Thomas Melonja celebrate beating Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final March 1, 2018, at Petersen Events Center.
Lincoln Park's Keeno Holmes knows there are two silver medals stashed away somewhere in his home, but he can't say exactly where because he never looks at them.
The gold around his neck Thursday won't suffer that same fate.
“Right on my wall,” Holmes said. “I'll put a nail and it's going to hang there.”
Thomas Melonja and Andre Wilder each scored 18 points for the Leopards and Holmes added 14. Holmes and Melonja, both juniors, played as freshmen when Lincoln Park lost in the finals to Aliquippa in 2015, only to return as sophomores and lose to Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.
“Losing here twice and coming back to win, that shows something,” Melonja said. “I didn't plan on losing here again.”
The WPIAL title was the third for Lincoln Park in seven appearances.
“I saw the relief in their faces,” Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said. “The relief of young men finally getting what they've been dreaming for.”
The Leopards won this title with their balance, and Wilder's emergence was key. The 6-foot-3 sophomore combined with Holmes to score eight consecutive points exiting halftime, a decisive run that pushed Lincoln Park's two-point lead to 10.
“He's always had that potential,” Holmes said, “and I'm just so happy he showed everybody.”
Jakob Richardson scored 18 points and George Mike had 12 for Seton LaSalle, which was chasing its third WPIAL title in five seasons.
Midway through the second quarter, the Rebels had hope.
Seton LaSalle led 24-17 with 3 minutes left, in large part to early 3-pointers by Mike Deanes and Michael Branbury, and frequent trips to the foul line. A slow, half-court tempo fit Seton's style, a dilemma Lincoln Park was determined to fix.
Lincoln Park upped the tempo just before halftime, switched to a trapping defense and finished the quarter on a 9-0 run. Holmes scored two layups, Wilder converted two free throws and Melonja made a go-ahead 3-pointer to lead 26-24 at half.
Seton couldn't recover.
“It's a really tough way to lose a game when you play really well for a quarter and a half,” Seton LaSalle coach Mark “Knobby” Walsh said, “and then things just couldn't get back on track.”
Lincoln Park carried its trap into the third quarter and sparked an 8-0 run, giving the Leopards 15 consecutive points around halftime. Seton LaSalle made just one shot in the third quarter, turned the ball over six times and was outscored 13-6.
Lincoln Park led 39-30 after three, and its lead grew to 20 points with 1:40 left in the fourth.
“We just turned up the pace and played to our strengths,” Holmes said. “We were playing kind of slow in the first half, but we did a really good job of speeding it up in the second.”
Seton LaSalle sustained its offense at the foul line. The Rebels attempted 32 free throws and made 18.
Lincoln Park made 15 of 18.
“One of our goals was to get to the line,” Walsh said. “Missing 14 foul shots was the big difference.”
Lincoln Park was close to celebrating on Pitt's court twice before, losing to Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, 56-51, and Aliquippa, 49-45, in the past two finals.
“It's a moment of redemption, getting over that hill,” Holmes said. “That last two years we were on the other side and it just hurt. … Finally, we got it.”
