2025 PIAA Class 3A boys basketball championship breakdown: South Allegheny vs. West Catholic
By:
Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 7:00 AM
South Allegheny’s Drew Cook drives on Aliquippa’s QaLil Goode during the WPIAL championship Saturday, March. 1, 2025 at Petersen Events Center.
PIAA Class 3A boys basketball final
South Allegheny vs. West Catholic
2 p.m. Saturday, Giant Center, Hershey
On the air: TV: PCN; Video livestream: NFHS Network
PIAA titles: South Allegheny 0, West Catholic 1 (2023)
South Allegheny (27-3)
Coach: Tony DiCenzo
Projected starting lineup
No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.
1, Cameron Epps, 5-7, sr., G
2, Drew Cook, 6-1, jr., G
4, Jake Uher, 6-3, jr., F
10, Josh Jackowski, 6-4, sr., F
12, Camden Lewis, 6-3, sr., C
How they got here: South Allegheny defeated Cranberry, 75-37, in the first round; Bishop Guilfoyle, 55-47, in the second round; (Camp Hill) Trinity, 76-62, in the quarterfinals; and Aliquippa, 36-31, in the semifinals.
Notable: A month after winning its first WPIAL title, South Allegheny has reached the state finals for the first time. … The Gladiators defeated Aliquippa in both the WPIAL finals (37-35) and the state semifinals (36-31). … South Allegheny averages 65.9 points per game, led by Cook (20 ppg) and Epps (18). … Epps scored 17 points with five 3-pointers in the semifinals. … The defense holds opponents to 45.9 ppg. … Jackowski made a tie-breaking steal and dunk with 90 seconds left last game to defeat Aliquippa. … Cook scored a team-high 23 points in the quarterfinals. … DiCenzo’s career record over 13 seasons is 173-133. In the past six years, the team went 123-33 with four 20-win seasons. … Cook (wide receiver) and Epps (running back) are also 1,000-yard standouts for a football team that reached the WPIAL quarterfinals.
West Catholic (15-13)
Coach: Miguel Bocachica
Projected starting lineup
No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.
10, Yasai Rozier, 6-4, so., F
13, Jayvon Byrd, 6-3, so., G
22, Kingston Wheatley, 6-7, jr., F
23, Rahmir Speaks, 6-2, so, G.
55, Xavier Fauntry, 6-3, so, G
How they got here: West Catholic defeated Antietam, 79-35, in the first round; Warrior Run, 49-48, in the second round; (Taylor) Riverside, 66-44, in the quarterfinals; and Holy Cross, 58-57, in the semifinals.
Notable: West Catholic is a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League and qualified for the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed from District 12. … The Burrs average 61 points per game led by Wheatley (12 ppg), Byrd (11), Saaid Lee (9.5) and Eric Scott (9). … Lee is a 6-2 senior and Scott a 5-11 sophomore. Jaden Banner, a 6-6 senior, also sees minutes off the bench. … The team shot better than 55% from the field in its semifinal win over Holy Cross. … West Catholic defeated Deer Lakes, 83-55, in the 2023 finals. … West Catholic finished sixth in the Philadelphia Catholic League, which includes PIAA Class 6A finalists Father Judge and Roman Catholic, 5A champion Neumann-Goretti and 4A champion Devon Prep. West Catholic lost to all four but took Neumann-Goretti to overtime in a 77-73 loss.
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: South Allegheny
More High School Basketball
• Trib HSSN Head of the Class: 2025 WPIAL girls basketball players of the year• Trib HSSN Head of the Class: 2025 WPIAL boys basketball players of the year
• Trib HSSN Head of the Class: WPIAL 2025 girls basketball coaches of the year
• Trib HSSN Head of the Class: WPIAL 2025 boys basketball coaches of the year
• Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week for March 31, 2025
