Season-long growth helped Sewickley Academy reach PIAA championship game

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, March 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

A double-digit first-half deficit is not the ideal situation for any high school team.

And especially not when you’re looking to move on to the PIAA championships.

But the Sewickley Academy boys basketball squad made its coach and community proud by rallying to a 52-48 win over Greensburg Central Catholic in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals March 22 at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

“I’m so proud of how much this team has grown over the course of the season,” said Mike Iuzzolino, Sewickley’s first-year coach. “I’m not sure we would have been able to handle coming back from a 14-point deficit one month ago.”

Sewickley improved to 24-5 and advanced to PIAA title game — scheduled for March 28 at Giant Center in Hershey — against Linville Hill Christian (23-5), which defeated Lourdes Regional, 60-45, in the Eastern Regional semifinal.

The Panthers qualified for the state finals for the first time since 2017.

Prior to this season, Sewickley won three PIAA titles, in 1997 (Class A), 2010 (A) and ’17 (2A); the latter two with longtime coach Win Palmer. In ’97, the Panthers defeated Schuykill Haven in the finals, 52-45. They beat Reading Central Catholic in ’10, 43-35, and topped Constitution, 68-63, in ’17.

After GCC jumped out to a 9-0 lead, the Centurions maintained a 19-9 first-quarter advantage and a 36-27 halftime edge. GCC’s biggest first-half lead was 24-10.

“We got punched in the mouth in the first few minutes of the game,” said Sewickley junior Amare Spencer, a 6-foot-2 forward. “However, we didn’t give up and slowly chipped away. It was an all-around team effort to come back. I’m super proud of the team; everyone contributed. We were locked in all week leading up to the game, and we knew we were supposed to be in the state championship. This is the first time since 2017, so it’s a big deal for the team and the school.

“I watched some of the championship videos from 2017 and saw Sewickley Academy legends like Justin Pryor, Nate Ridgeway, Isaiah Warfield and others. I’ve looked up to them during my time at Sewickley, and now we get to be in the same position they were in.”

The Panthers held GCC to just 12 total points — six in each of the third and fourth quarters — while racking up 25 points of their own.

“As a team, we’ve really grown into a defensive-minded group and started taking a lot of pride in it,” Spencer said. “We give up less than 39 ppg and consistently shut down high-scoring offenses.

“For me, I love playing defense. That’s what I do. I don’t care if I score zero points, I’m proud as long as I’m shutting down their best player.”

The Panthers refocused at halftime, then narrowed the gap to 42-40 by the end of the third quarter.

Iuzzolino was asked if he made any major halftime adjustments.

“No, not really,” he said. ”I just didn’t think we were defending at the level necessary to win a state semifinal game. GCC plays at an incredible pace and has lots of guys who can score and is extremely well coached. We just had to stop ball-watching and go back to our basic principles that we focus on every day in our half-court defense.”

Sewickley was the leading defensive team in the WPIAL this season with a 37.9 ppg average.

“We’ve been making defensive plays all year,” Iuzzolino said. “That’s our calling card. I told our guys we’re not going to win this game with offense; we’re going to win it with defense.”

GCC coach Christian Hyland said the Panthers’ impressive defensive performance — particularly in the second half — proved to be the difference. The Centurions averaged 63.7 ppg in 2024-25.

“Our game is to get out and go,” Hyland said. “In the second half, they pounded it in to the big guy, and we didn’t get many stops. Sewickley really defended and turned it around. It’s not like we can turn it back and say we didn’t do this or that. They beat us.”

Freshman forward Mamadou Kane and junior guard Lucas Grimsley led Sewickley offensively with 17 points apiece, with the 6-foot-8 Kane netting 13 in the second half and the 6-4 Grimsley connecting on five 3-pointers.

“I can’t say that Lucas stepped up in the second half because that would be wrong; he was on fire the whole game,” said Nolan Donnelly, a senior forward. “His consistency and determination for all 32 minutes was impressive, to say the least.”

GCC senior guard Braden Riley made a jumper with about four minutes remaining in the third period to put the Centurions ahead by seven. But GCC didn’t make another field goal in the quarter while the Panthers chipped away.

Kane blocked a shot, then freshman guard Drew Steals and Grimsley hit back-to-back 3s to close the gap to 40-39 with 3:25 to go.

“Grimsley was phenomenal and hit some wide-open shots,” Iuzzolino said. “He also came off of double-teams.”

The Panthers’ other 6-8 post man, sophomore Adam Ikamba, tipped in a miss to give Sewickley its first lead at 41-40 with 50 seconds left.

In the fourth quarter, there were four lead changes in the first four minutes, with Ikamba putting the Panthers ahead to stay at 47-46 with another tip-in.

Ikamba followed with a block, and Kane scored off a pick-and-roll to make it 49-46 with 4:08 to go.

GCC senior Brady O’Rourke, a 6-5 guard/forward, scored all of his team-high 14 points in the first half, including three 3s. Junior guard Samir Crosby finished with 11 points, and sophomore guard A.J Tarpley had 10.

The Centurions, who started out 8-0 and 15-1, ended the season at 26-4.

Staff writer Bill Beckner Jr. contributed.

Tags: Sewickley Academy