2024 WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball championship breakdown: Lincoln Park vs. Hampton

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 3:12 AM

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WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball championship

No. 1 Lincoln Park vs. No. 2 Hampton

9 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center

On the air: Audio broadcast: TribLive HSSN; Video livestream: NFHS Network

WPIAL titles: Lincoln Park 6 (2012, ’14, ’18, ’19, ’21, ’23), Hampton 1 (2009)

Lincoln Park (22-3)

Coach: Mike Bariski

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

1, Rhaki Lum, 6-2, jr., G

3, Brandin Cummings, 6-4, sr., G

4, Mikey Crawford, 6-3, sr., G

5, Meleek Thomas, 6-4, jr., G

21, Dorian McGhee, 6-2, sr., F

How they got here: Lincoln Park defeated No. 16 Freeport, 93-63, in the first round; No. 8 Knoch, 81-58, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Uniontown, 74-63, in the semifinals.

Notable: Lincoln Park has a top scoring tandem in senior Pitt recruit Brandin Cummings and junior Meleek Thomas, who ESPN ranks as the fifth-best college prospect in the 2025 class. Cummings was a 22-point scorer in the regular season and Thomas averaged 21. Thomas has college offers from Kentucky, Duke and a number of other Division I teams. Mikey Crawford (Buffalo) and Dorian McGhee (Cal, Pa.) are both college football recruits. Rhaki Lum is a newcomer this season who transferred from a school in Delaware. Lincoln Park averages 80 points per game, best among all WPIAL teams.

Hampton (22-3)

Coach: Joe Lafko

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

2, Alex Nyilas, 6-0, sr., G

4, A.J. Prodente, 6-0, sr., G

20, Liam Mignogna, 6-9, sr., F

24, Peter Kramer, 6-5, sr., G

33, Robert Coll, 6-2, sr., G/F

How they got here: Hampton defeated No. 15 Central Valley, 66-55, in the first round; No. 7 South Allegheny, 69-40, in the quarterfinals; and No. 6 Avonworth, 61-39, in the semifinals.

Notable: Hampton is making its eighth appearance in the WPIAL finals. The Talbots won a title in 2009 and were runners-up in 2006, ’10, ’12, ’13, ’14 and ’17. Hampton owns the stingiest defense in WPIAL 4A allowing 45.6 points per game. Peter Kramer is a Lehigh recruit who averages 24 points. This is Kramer’s second appearance in the WPIAL finals, having won a Class 3A title with Shady Side Academy in 2022. PIAA rules forced Kramer to sit out last year’s playoffs after transferring back to Hampton. Coach Joe Lafko, a three-sport standout at Frazier, was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2015 and has more than 500 career wins.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Hampton, Lincoln Park