Imani Christian goes undefeated, tops Norwin for Tre Cunningham Tournament title

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, June 28, 2025 | 7:32 PM

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The proud owner of a Most Valuable Player trophy and a $1,000 scholarship, Deston Hubbard described what an MVP should be.

“Wow, that’s a great question,” the rising senior guard from Imani Christian said. “He has to be a leader. Someone who isn’t just a scorer, but someone holds the team together, no matter what happens.”

Sounds a lot like the namesake of the 5th Annual Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament, which Imani Christian won Saturday with a 66-57 victory over Norwin in the all-6A championship game on Lou Seiler Court at Jeannette High School.

“He sounds like a good guy,” Hubbard said of Cunningham, looking at photos of the late three-sport athlete on the gym wall. “It’s nice that they remember him like this.”

Hubbard made three 3-pointers and had 13 points to lead four double-figure scorers in a wire-to-wire win that gave the Saints a 5-0 record in the nine-team boys varsity event.

The teams were seeded based on results from Thursday and Friday, and they played a single-elimination tournament Saturday.

Juniors-to-be Kieshaun Demus and Ross King each scored 12 points, and Donovan Gordon added 11 for Imani Christian, which defeated Ringgold, 58-40, in the quarterfinals, and Hempfield, 56-41, in a heated semifinal.

“There is a lot of local talent here, but we are used to playing a schedule against crazy-good teams,” said Hubbard, who wore his hair in pigtails like Kentucky commit Jasper Johnson of Overtime Elite. “We wanted to come here and work on our chemistry. We have a lot of new guys, and they are learning their roles.”

Gordon, an incoming junior who was the Saints’ leading scorer this week, also was considered for MVP.

“We played together,” Gordon said. “When we share the ball, and we talk on defense — defense is our identity — good things happen. We didn’t want to take dumb shots. No B.S. We’re working in a lot of new guys.”

Norwin, which finished 3-2 in the three-day tournament, got 19 points from Mario Csukas, 16 from Stefano Giannikas and 11 from Nate Kuch in the title game. All three players are incoming seniors.

The Knights, who played without rising senior Alex Graney, clipped host Jeannette, 45-40, in the quarterfinals before a 54-40 win over Indiana in the semis.

Jeannette, seeking its first title in the tournament, lost two key players to ankle injuries in Jayce Powell and Xavier Odorisio-Farrow.

Imani Christian, WPIAL and PIAA Class A champions in 2023 and ’24, now plays in 6A. So many considered the Saints a pre-tournament favorite, and they played like it, spreading the floor and moving the ball with rotation and kick-outs.

The Saints and Norwin are section opponents. Imani won both section games last year, 73-26 and 59-58.

Gordon opened the scoring with a layup off the jump ball, and Aiden Laux’s tip dunk gave the Saints early momentum.

Kuch hit a 3 for Norwin to cut the lead to 28-24 late in the first half before Imani Christian took a 35-25 lead into halftime.

Threes from Csukas and Kuch got the Knights within five three times in the second half, and Colton Ustazewski scored off a turnover with 7:33 remaining to cut it to 51-48.

Imani responded to just about every Norwin run and never gave up control.

Norwin, which will play Hempfield in the Greensburg YMCA summer league semifinals Monday, made nine 3s.

“Our postgame talk was centered on the effort our guys gave today,” Norwin coach Cam Auld said. “Both teams played three games today. That’s not an excuse, but it’s tough. We’ve been playing a ton of basketball. If a couple bounces go your way, it might be a different game. If you’re within eight with two minutes to go, you’re still in it.”

Organizers recognized the state-champion Westmoreland County Special Olympics team before the championship.

Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Jeannette Educational Foundation and the Tre Cunningham Memorial Scholarship.

5th Annual Tre Cunningham Memorial Tournament

Saturday’s results

Ringgold 69, Geibel 56

Imani Christian 58, Ringgold 45

Norwin 45, Jeannette 40

Semifinals

Imani Christian 56, Hempfield 41

Norwin 54, Indiana 40

Championship

Imani Christian 66, Norwin 57

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.