Imani Christian plays fast in 4th quarter, dashes to win over Norwin

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, January 3, 2026 | 5:08 PM

Imani Christian had just come back from playing two games at the Governor’s Challenge in Maryland, where the Saints lost two games but played with a 30-second shot clock.

Their return to WPIAL play could have come with a stopwatch.

Playing faster in the fourth quarter allowed Imani to finally get loose and push past No. 5 Norwin, 53-46, in a Section 2-6A boys basketball game Saturday afternoon in North Huntingdon.

Norwin (7-5, 2-2) started strong, but Imani (3-5, 3-1) finished with a flurry in the form of a 20-point fourth quarter to secure the win. The Knights had won three straight.

The teams began the day tied for second in the section.

“We started clicking more after halftime,” Imani coach Khayree Wilson said. “We didn’t play like we could defensively in the first half, but we started to make them take tougher shots and slowed them down. We had to kind of adjust to playing without a shot clock again. That can slow things down.”

Norwin, which led 11-8 after the first quarter but trailed 23-20 at the half, regained the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Mario Csukas (36-33).

But Deston Hubbard and Donovan Gordon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Saints a 41-36 lead.

Csukas nailed another 3 — he had nine of his 12 points in the fourth — to close the gap to two, but Kieshaun Demus scored off a cut, and Hubbard popped in another corner 3 — his fifth of the day, off a behind-the-back pass from I’Zayah Bradshaw — to make it 46-39 with 2:4o left.

Norwin never recovered from there, giving the Saints opportunities with turnovers.

“The game definitely sped up,” Norwin coach Cam Auld said. “I thought the first and third quarters were our pace, and the second and fourth were theirs. There was a lot of turning the ball over. We were careless with the ball. There were spots where we were aggressive getting to the hoop. It was just a mix of bad.”

Hubbard hit five 3s and led the Saints with 16 points. Gordon added 15, and Demus had 14, including a dunk on a breakaway with 1:38 to play that was part of an 18-4 scoring run.

Imani only had four scorers. Bradshaw did not score but was a table-setter.

“That speaks to our guys willing to sacrifice,” Wilson said. “The wins matter more than the numbers.

“Our guys are starting to relax and relinquish some of the pressure on them from (past teams).”

Norwin did erase a nine-point deficit in the third with a 9-0 run that included a three-point play by Nate Kuch and a 3-pointer by Csukas to tie it 31-31.

Kuch scored inside to close the third at 33-33.

Norwin played without starting guard Alex Graney (illness).

Kuch led the Knights with 13 points but was helped off the floor after the final buzzer with an apparent ankle injury.

Chris McKnight added 10 in the loss.

“Our guys were aware of what was at stake today,” Auld said. “It would have been nice to be at 3-1. It doesn’t get any easier from here.”

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

Tags: Imani Christian, Norwin