PIAA Class 3A boys championship breakdown: Lincoln Park vs. Trinity

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, March 23, 2019 | 11:50 AM

PIAA Class 3A boys championship

Lincoln Park vs. Trinity (Camp Hill)

2 p.m., Saturday at Giant Center, Hershey

TV: PCN

Radio: WBVP-AM/TribLive HSSN

Lincoln Park (26-4)

Coach: Mike Bariski

No., Name, Pos., Ht., Yr.

0, Montae Reddix, F, 6-5, So.

1, Johnnie Bryant, G, 6-0, Jr.

5, Isaiah Smith, G, 6-0, Jr.

10, Andre Wilder, F, 6-3, Jr.

24, Keeno Holmes, G, 6-2, Sr.

Trinity (26-3)

Coach: Larry Kostelac

No., Name, Pos., Ht., Yr.

2, Aley Zangari, G, 6-2, Jr.

4, Patrick Walker, G/F, 6-4, Sr.

11, Chance Westry, G, 6-3, Fr.

33, Matt Long, G, 6-0, Sr.

45, Kalen Veres, F, 6-7, Sr.

How they got here: District 3 champion Trinity defeated High School of the Future, 82-63, Holy Redeemer, 57-47, New Hope-Solebury, 43-36, and Bishop McDevitt, 63-56. WPIAL champion Lincoln Park defeated Bellwood Antis, 73-55, Aliquippa, 71-69, Richland, 66-57, and Sharon, 67-58.

Notable: Trinity is a Catholic school in Camp Hill near Harrisburg. Kostelac is in his 36th season as Trinity’s coach. He reached 700 career wins on opening weekend in December and now has 725. Under Kostelac, the Shamrocks have won 18 District 3 titles including the past six in a row. The team is making its first PIAA championship appearance since consecutive matchups with Sto-Rox in 2003 and ‘04. The two teams were involved in a memorable brawl in 2003. Westry, a freshman point guard with a Penn State offer, leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and assists (4.2 apg). Walker averages 11.1 points. Trinity is 2-3 in state finals with championships in 2001 (over Aliquippa) and 2003 (over Sto-Rox). Lincoln Park is making its fifth appearance in the state finals. The Leopards are 1-3 with a victory in 2014. They last reached the finals in 2017, an 89-56 loss to Neumann-Goretti. Holmes averages a team-best 17.1 points, Smith averages 13.5 and Wilder averages 11.2. Wilder scored 26 points in the state quarterfinals and 28 in the state semifinals, both career highs. Lincoln Park lost 6-foot-6 starting center Tanner Mathos to a broken foot in the WPIAL 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