Jeannette meets formidable foe in Sewickley Academy as it seeks to repeat as WPIAL Class 2A boys champion

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 6:10 PM

Kymon’e Brown values last year’s WPIAL championship and holds it close to his heart.

But for the past year, the Jeannette point guard has been laser-focused on winning another one.

“It’s more meaningful to defend something,” Brown said. “Our goal all along has been to win a state championship. Winning another WPIAL title would be special.”

A backyard scrap against Clairton out of the way, Brown and top-seeded Jeannette (22-1) will get their chance at their first repeat championship when they face No. 2 Sewickley Academy (24-1) at 5 p.m. Friday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

It is being billed as the marquee matchup of the 12-game championship weekend in Oakland, where Jeannette’s legion of fans are expected to invade.

“We play for our town, and we play with a chip on our shoulder,” Brown said. “Everyone is gunning for us.”

Jeannette also won a title in 2008. Title No. 3 could be their greatest challenge of the season. The teams have been on a collision course since they appeared 1-2 in the TribLive preseason rankings. Sewickley Academy was No. 1 all year, but Jeannette impressed the WPIAL committee enough to grab the No. 1 seed.

Neither has lost to a WPIAL team since last year’s postseason.

Sewickley Academy made it all the way to the PIAA final and lost to Lineville Hill, 55-54.

“I think we’re the No. 1 team in the WPIAL in terms of our defense,” Sewickley Academy coach Mike Iuzzolino said. “We always have a saying here: Defense wins games; offense just determines by how much.”

Jeannette beat Sewickley Academy, 45-25, in last year’s semifinals. In that game, the Jayhawks showed a frontcourt presence that likely will have to show up again to beat the Panthers, who are looking for their sixth WPIAL title and first since 2018, when the late Win Palmer coached the team.

Jeannette’s quickness and athleticism got it to the “Pete” and has led it on a 20-game winning streak. But can it produce another title?

“Our keys are rebounding the ball together, defending without fouling and playing Jeannette basketball for 32 minutes,” Jayhawks coach Adrian Batts said. “We understand what’s at stake, and we are going to control the controllables.

“We are going to play basketball extremely hard together and compete at a high level.”

Defense and the play of the “bigs” could decide a winner, but don’t undersell some talented guards who bring experience to the finals.

“They have a lot of size, so we have to box out their couple tall kids,” Jeannette forward Noah Sunder said. “We know we have to rebound and play good defense.”

Sewickley Academy returns the imposing “Twin Towers” in 6-foot-8 sophomore Mamadou Kane and 6-8 junior Adam Ikamba.

But senior guard Lucas Grimsley and freshman Ibrahim Kante are 6-5.

Jeannette’s tallest players are junior Markus McGowan and Sunder, both 6-3.

Kane averages a team-best 12.2 points and 6.9 rebounds and shoots 61.3% from the field. Grimsley averages 9.7 points.

The Panthers hit 13 3-pointers in a 77-17 first-round win over Greensburg Central Catholic.

“We have to slow down their big guys, for sure,” Brown said. “Their guards have to be guards. We have the best guards in the WPIAL.”

Brown and McGowan are 1,000-point scorers, and junior Jayce Powell has emerged as a strong on-ball defender and attacking scorer.

Jeannette handled Union in last year’s championship game, 63-39. This game figures to be much closer.

Jeannette senior Xavier Odorisio-Farrow had a double-double at the Pete last year with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Powell had a team-high 14 points, and McGowan added 12. Brown had eight assists and six steals in the one-sided title game.

Odorisio-Farrow had the highlight-reel play of the year for Jeannette with his dunk on Kane in the semis.

The tale of the tape shows Jeannette averages 65.3 points and allows 39.2. Sewickley Academy scores 69.8 and yields 29.8.

The Panthers can stretch the bench to 10 deep, while Jeannette has been using seven players.

Batts has mentioned several times that Sewickley Academy has improved greatly since last year’s game against the Jayhawks.

“They’ve added a couple new kids, and the core is back and playing well,” Batts said. “Obviously, their size is a challenge. We have to use our strength and speed to negate that, but just because you’re taller doesn’t mean you’re better.”

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

Tags: Jeannette, Sewickley Academy