Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Knocks Off Lincoln Park to Repeat

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, March 2, 2017 | 11:18 PM

Two teams with nearly identical overall records and two completely different styles of play were on full display Saturday night in the WPIAL Class 3-A boys championship game at Petersen Events Center.

In a back and forth contest that saw Lincoln Park race up and down the court and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic stick to a slower more methodical game, the Trojans slowed down the potent Leopards offense and won back to back Class A championships with a 56-51 win in the 3-A title game.

Feels a lot different; we did it without size” said senior Kenny Fukon, who plays alongside his from John, one of the leading scorers for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. John finished with 16 points to lead the Trojans.

Kenny continued, “The goal and key was to slow them down; Cummings sets tone, and we slowed him down.”

 The Trojans (21-5) are now a perfect 4-0 in WPIAL finals, thanks in part to its top ranked defense that was allowing a mere 43.8 points per game. Lincoln Park (21-5) was the best Class 3-A offense, notching just above 75 points per game.

That changed Saturday night as the Trojan defense not only held the Leopards in check most of the night but also bottled up star player Renell Cummings, who looked out of sorts most of the night.

“The plan was to not let him get to the rim, contest everything, don’t give him anything,” said assistant Trojans coach Frank Halloran. “Keep him under 25; that was the plan.”

The plan certainly worked, as Cummings looked as though he was trying to do too much, and had just five points at the half and shot wildly and inefficiently for much of the game.

Cummings, who came in averaging 28 points per game, was held scoreless until 4:25 left in the second quarter and finished with 16 points. Cummings, a Bowling Green recruit, and his Leopards have lost back to back title game, last year falling to Aliquippa in a game that saw Cummings score 23 and foul out.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic and its paced attack on offense kept Lincoln Park on its heels with crisp perimeter passing and patience, waiting for open looks and shots to develop even though Lincoln Park tried several times to turn this game into a track meet.

Lincoln Park wasn’t without its chance late in the game trailing by only two with a little over two minutes remaining. Zach Offi, who finished with 15 points, hit his third 3-pointer of the game to put Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic up by 5.

Lincoln Park, to its credit, battled back with two free throws from Cummings that cut the lead to three with just over a minute to play. A turnover by Lincoln Park with 50 seconds left and a seventh team foul sent Isiah Wilson to the line.

Wilson missed his 1-in-1 foul shot, but Lincoln still couldn’t capitalize as Evan Brown missed rim and all on a three-point attempt.

Wilson was fouled again, and this time made both foul shots to put the Trojans lead at 5 for good.

“Coach told me to knock the down and take my time,” said Wilson, who notched a double double and had 11 points and 11 assists.”

No other Lincoln Park players were in double figures, aside from Cummings. Keeno Holmes had nine.

Lincoln Park is now 2-4 in Class A title games, with their last win in 2014, and will now look to the PIAA first round as redemption. The Leopards will play Juniata on March 10, while Section 3-A champs Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic gets Bellwood Antis, also on March 10.

So how does this win for the Trojans stack up to last year?

“It’s surreal,” Wilson said. “It felt even better being the underdog this year. It was all ‘Lincoln Park, Lincoln Park’; we knew we could pull it off.”

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Lincoln Park, North Catholic