2025 PIAA Class 3A boys basketball championship breakdown: South Allegheny vs. West Catholic

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 7:00 AM

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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