Defending champion Lincoln Park holds off Uniontown for return trip to WPIAL finals

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, February 24, 2024 | 8:16 PM

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Uniontown had a couple of good looks at a go-ahead 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter and had possession of the ball down three with only a minute left.

The Red Raiders certainly had chances to maybe knock off the reigning champion in a WPIAL semifinal Saturday, but against a team as talented as Lincoln Park, they could only lament their missed opportunities. Lincoln Park’s Meleek Thomas scored 29 points as the top-seeded Leopards won 74-63 to turn away an upset bid by No. 4 Uniontown in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs at Peters Township.

“They were battling hard,” said Thomas, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone. “But we wanted to win more, so we came out on top.”

Lincoln Park led the entire way, but Uniontown never went away.

The win takes Lincoln Park (22-4) back to the WPIAL finals to pursue a third title in four years. The Leopards face No. 2 Hampton (22-3) at 9 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center.

Lincoln Park is the reigning WPIAL and PIAA champion.

“You never want to say you expect it, but we have goals,” Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said. “Section champion, we checked that box. WPIAL champion, let’s check that box. We’ll talk about the other one later.”

Added Thomas: “The hard work you put in all year is for the championships. We’re a championship team, so that’s where we’re supposed to be.”

Lincoln Park had five players score at least nine points. Pitt recruit Brandin Cummings scored 16, Raki Lum had 12 and Mikey Crawford and Dorian McGhee added nine apiece.

The 11-point final margin was a little misleading since Lincoln Park tacked on a couple of late baskets. The Leopards’ lead was down to 66-63 after Uniontown’s Jamire Braxton hit a jumper with 1:45 left. Braxton tried to cut into the lead further with one minute to go. The 6-foot-2 senior guard drove into the lane, but Lincoln Park’s defense came away with the ball and sealed the win with free throws.

“We were there, and I thought we did a really good job,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “They’re a really good basketball team — defending state and WPIAL champions. It very easily could have gone our way.”

Kezmarsky said this should’ve been a championship matchup instead of a semifinal.

Braxton led Uniontown with 24 points and Notorious Grooms had 17. The Red Raiders (21-3) have already earned a state tournament berth and will play Avonworth on Tuesday in the WPIAL third-place game at a site and time to be determined.

“We play Tuesday night for seeding and hopefully we play them again in a couple of weeks,” Kezmarsky said.

There was little drama in Lincoln Park’s first two playoff games, which the Leopards won by 30 and 23 points. This time, they a built several small leads only to see Uniontown keep clawing back.

That started early in the first quarter when Cummings scored the game’s first four points and Lincoln Park sprinted to a 7-2 lead. But Uniontown found its feet and the Leopards’ lead at the end of the quarter was only 19-15, despite 12 points from Cummings and Thomas.

Lincoln Park made another surge in the second quarter, this time pushing its lead to 41-31 at halftime behind 3-pointers from Lum and McGhee.

But Uniontown spent the third quarter again cutting a deficit down to one possession. The Red Raiders had a 7-0 run in the quarter that included a jumper by Braxton, a 3-pointer by Grooms and a runner by Braxton that shrunk Lincoln Park’s lead to 49-48.

Cummings and Thomas answered with four straight points, but Grooms made another 3-pointer for Uniontown, this time cutting Lincoln Park’s lead to two with a minute left in the third. Lincoln Park entered the fourth with a slim 55-53 lead.

After shooting 45% from the field in the first half, Lincoln Park went 5 for 17 shooting in the third. That included a 2-for-8 effort from 3-point range that allowed Uniontown back into the game.

“We let them stay in it,” Bariski said. “We got it to 10, and then guys started saying, ‘Well, I’ve got to get mine,’ so we got out of what we do. We’re not a team that makes six, seven or eight baskets (in a row), but you’ve got to make two or three. Not just one.”

Braxton fueled Uniontown’s rally with 15 second-half points, and Lincoln Park’s lead in the fourth was never more than six.

Uniontown had two looks at a go-ahead 3-pointer early in the fourth, but both shots by Grooms and Calvin Winfrey missed.

Late in the fourth, the Red Raiders wanted a foul called on Lincoln Park’s steal with one minute left, a turnover that let the Leopards put away the win with free throws. They’d also pleaded for a whistle a few other times, including once when Thomas chased down his missed shot, grabbed an offensive rebound and made a 3-pointer in what had been a one-possession game.

“We thought he went over the back,” Kezmarsky said. “He hits a 3. Good shot. Big-time player. … I’m more pleased with our own players.”

Lincoln Park’s lead was 70-63 with 26 seconds left after three free throws by Thomas and one by Lum. Cummings and Thomas each added baskets in the closing seconds to stretch the lead to 11.

Bariski said his team is never surprised when an opponent plays hard.

“We’re everybody’s Super Bowl,” he said. “We’re everybody’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals.”

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: Lincoln Park, Uniontown