Lincoln Park Comes Back to Earn First PIAA Boys Class A Basketball Crown

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 21, 2014 | 6:33 PM

The third time was the charm for the Lincoln Park Leopards, who claimed their first PIAA Class A boys basketball title with a huge comeback over Philadelphia Math, Civics and Science Mighty Elephants 70-66 at the Giant Center in Hershey. The Leopards trailed by 16 points in the second quarter before rallying for the victory.

Sophomore Maverick Rowan led the charge back for Lincoln Park, scoring 37 points in all 32 minutes. Rowan shot 13 of 24 from the floor in the game and came up with several huge baskets. The game was a rematch of the 2011 title game, won by MCS 70-55 at Penn State University.

Rowan scored 9 consecutive points in the second to bring the Leopards back to just a five point deficit at the break, 38-33. Lincoln Park could never get the lead in the third quarter, mainly on Rowan’s shooting as he posted 5 straight points to cut the margin to 44-42. Junior Mike Watkins took over the game, controlling the glass and hit three straight buckets to put MCS back up 12 at 54-42.

But Lincoln Park came back again. Antonio Kellum hit a three, Rowan continued his scoring ways as the Leopards scaled the lead to 57-51 after three. Rowan said they would have to come out and play hard, being down by so much.

The fourth quarter belonged to Lincoln Park, outscoring MCS 19-9 in the final frame. Elijah Minnie tied the game at 57, Rowan gave the Leopards the lead on a rebound of a Renell Cummings jumper. Samir Doughty tied the game again at 59, then Lincoln Park took the lead for good on two free throws by Rowan.

It was Cummings, only a freshman and senior Chris Pipkin time to shine down the stretch. Cummings scored 4 points and had a steal, Pipkin came up with a huge put back of a Cummings miss, he was fouled by Nazeer Bostick and completed the old fashioned three point play. Minnie and Rowan sealed the win with free throws in the final 30 seconds, Rowan added a steal as well.

Rowan added 6 rebounds and 4 steals to his game-high honors. Ryan Skovranko scored 10 points, Minnie was held to just 8 points, but also grabbed 8 rebounds, blocked 9 shots and snagged 5 steals. Minnie said he knew the offense wasn’t there, but coach Mark Javens told him to just play defense.

The Leopards finished 24 of 61 for 39 percent, including 5 of 19 from outside. Lincoln Park was 17-21 from the foul line. Lincoln Park finishes 30-1 with the only loss to Quad-A finalist New Castle back in late December.

The Mighty Elephants were led by Doughty with 26 points and 3 steals. Watkins added 17 points and 17 rebounds for a big double-double, to go with 5 blocked shots. MCS shot 28 of 67 for the game, 41 percent, but were just 1 of 9 from downtown. The Mighty Elephants were 9 of 12 from the line and won the battle of the boards 47-32.

MCS finished 15-15, but with losses to powers Chester, Martin Luther King, Constitution, who plays Seton LaSalle tomorrow in the Class AA title game. The Mighty Elephants also fell to Imhotep Charter and New York City power Christ the King.

Score by Quarters:
Lincoln Park Leopards : 15 – 18 – 18 – 19  = 70
Philadelphia Math, Civics and Science Mighty Elephants : 18 – 20 – 19 – 9 = 66

Tags: Lincoln Park