Imani Christian edges Monessen boys in WPIAL quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 22, 2018 | 10:18 PM

For Imani Christian Academy, patience paid off.

The Saints prepared for the postseason with a tough early-season schedule that included games against Class 6A schools Fox Chapel and Plum, and when the WPIAL playoffs rolled around, coach Anwan Wesley was confident his team would be ready.

Following a Class A first-round victory over West Greene last week, Imani Christian took on defending champion Monessen in the quarterfinals Thursday at Chartiers-Houston and came away with a 61-59 overtime victory, avenging a loss to the Greyhounds in the title game a year ago.

“We've prepared all year with a tough schedule for this type of outcome,” Wesley said. “For us tonight, this was a revenge game, a get-back game.”

Seventh-seeded Imani Christian (13-9) will face Union in the semifinals Monday at a time and site to be determined.

“It's why we played people like Fox Chapel, Plum and (Class A contender) Serra Catholic,” Wesley said. “We've been a little under the radar all year, and I'm OK with that. We just want to prove we're a good team.”

In a foul-plagued, turnover-prone game, Monessen (13-9) trailed for much of the time, but forced overtime on Lyndon Henderson's driving baseline layup with 15 seconds left in regulation.

The Greyhounds' last lead in the fourth quarter was short-lived as they continuously put Imani Christian at the foul line, confounding Monessen coach Joe Salvino, who said afterwards that “it looked like there were people out there who couldn't play basketball.”

“It was like pulling teeth. It looked like we were playing our first game,” he said. “Playing a playoff game is different than playing a game during the regular season. There was no reason to foul in those situations.”

Deshawn Hubbard scored 22 points, including 3 of 4 free throws in the final 10 seconds, for Imani Christian. Sam Fairley added 16 points for the Saints.

Monessen grabbed a 59-58 lead on 1 of 2 free throws by Vaughn Taylor with 15 seconds left before Hubbard hit a pair from the line with 10 seconds left to put Imani Christian back in front, 60-59.

With the clock winding down, Henderson misfired on a potential game-winning shot and Hubbard added a foul shot with 1 second left for the Saints.

“We had our chances to win,” Salvino said. “We had chances to win it before overtime.”

The teams combined for 56 turnovers.

Henderson led Monessen with 25 points. Elijahwa Payne added 17 and Taylor 13 for the Greyhounds.

“We're a young and experienced team,” Salvino said. “We lost some key players from last season and it was time for others to step up. Hopefully, we will learn from this and come back better next year.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Imani Christian, Monessen