Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week for Jan. 13, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Monday, January 13, 2025 | 11:26 PM

Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week – Cameron Epps

School: South Allegheny

Class: Senior

Height: 5-foot-7

Position: Guard

#Earned: The senior guard was a big part of the Gladiators’ three wins this past week and their rise to first place in Section 3-3A and becoming the new No. 1 team in the Trib HSSN Class 3A rankings. On Tuesday, he played the role of distributor in scoring 13 points in a section victory over Seton LaSalle, 72-41. Senior Josh Jackowski led SA with 23 points and junior Drew Cook added 18 points. On Friday, in a battle for first place at host South Park, the Gladiators dominated the Eagles, winning 81-38. Epps led the way with five 3-pointers and a game-high 28 points. The next day in a nonsection showdown against Class 4A top-ranked Avonworth at LaRoche College, the Gladiators knocked off the Antelopes, 83-77. Epps scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers, as he outdueled the WPIAL’s leading scorer, Avonworth senior Rowan Carmichael, who ended up with 24 points.

Background: Epps is undecided where he will play at the next level, but he will play football in college. Only his size has prevented him from getting big-time Division I offers. South Allegheny has never won a WPIAL boys basketball championship. Epps was in eighth grade when the Gladiators reached the 2021 Class 3A district title game and lost to Ellwood City, 53-50. Epps and backcourtmate Drew Cook, a junior, make for one of the top 1-2 punches in the district. Epps has an average of 20.1 points per game following last week while Cooks averages 19.8 points per game. Epps has a strong faith and said one of his new year’s resolutions was to get closer to God in 2025 and has been doing so by reading the Bible daily.

What coach says: “To be honest, that’s who he has been all season for us,” South Allegheny coach Tony DiCenzo said about Epps’ big week. “He is scoring the ball very efficiently, averaging almost 20 points per game, and his defense speaks for itself. I appreciate the leader he has grown into. He has the most experience on the team and as an underclassman, he has played in a lot of really important games and we have fallen short of our goal to win a championship in his first three years. I can see how motivated he is in his play to overcome that obstacle and lead us to a championship.”

“It all starts with defense for him,” DiCenzo said, talking about Epps’ big game Saturday. “He was matched up on Rowan, and we are overly familiar with Rowan and Avonworth as we have been battling them for the last five years. All the matchups have been very competitive and always come down to the final few minutes. I knew he was motivated to compete against Rowan and win the last matchup he’ll have against Avonworth. I believe we were able to hold Rowan to 10 points below his average and Cam was on him for over three-quarters of the game before picking up his third foul early in the fourth quarter. His focus on defense leads to his offensive outburst as he hit big shot after big shot in the second half to lead us to that win.”

“It’s a shame there is no real tangible statistic for how much his defense impacts the game,” DiCenzo said. “He disrupts the other team’s point guard and makes it very difficult for the opposing team to initiate their offense. His ability to apply ball pressure without fouling is very impressive. We always put him on the other team’s best perimeter player and he seeks out that challenge. When he is completely locked in on the defensive end of the floor, it usually results in him having a great offensive night as well. I feel fortunate to have coached two of the best defenders I think I have seen in high school basketball in a long time and both for different reasons. Omar Faulkner was an outstanding shot blocker and rim protector and Cam is as good of a perimeter and on-ball defender that you will find in all of the WPIAL.”

“His ability to score in different ways,” DiCenzo said, describing how Epps has improved this season. “As an underclassman, he relied solely on shooting 3s. His strength and athleticism have both increased to a point where he is scoring at all levels and is able to finish around the basket in traffic. His ability to get to the basket has produced more free-throw opportunities and therefore has helped him increase his average to the highest of his career. It’s funny because early in his career he would attempt to attack the basket and not have as much success finishing plays, so early in the season, I challenged him by making him aware that he hasn’t been overly successful and it may not be the most high percentage shot for him and us, but he accepted the challenge and has proved me wrong and that has been a big part of his game so credit to him for improving and wanting to get better.”

“I have zero concerns about him wearing down,” DiCenzo said when asked about running out of gas after a long and successful football season for Epps. “He has played every minute of every game unless he has been in foul trouble since he’s been a freshman. Playing with the intensity he does on defense and never seeming to wear down is very impressive. He spends a ton of time in the offseason on getting stronger and conditioning himself to play at a high level. It was hard to see him deal with injuries during the football season because I know how much time he spent preparing for that moment and with them having as much team success as they did for the first time in a long time, I know how hard that was for him to deal with and I felt for him knowing how much it meant to him.”

2025 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Players of the Week

Week 1 – Brady Mayo, Beaver

Tags: South Allegheny