Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week for March 30, 2025
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Sunday, March 30, 2025 | 9:18 PM
The Neighborhood Academy boys basketball team celebrates after defeating Sankofa Freedom in the PIAA Class A state championship game on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Neighborhood Academy’s Shamar SImpson celebrates with teammates after defeating Sankofa Freedom in the PIAA Class A state championship game on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace drives to the basket past Sankofa Freedom’s Jameel Brown during the PIAA Class A state championship game on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Neighborhood Academy’s Syncer Nicholson drives to the basket against Sankofa Freedom’s Jameel Brown during the PIAA Class A state championship game on Thurday, March 27, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Neighborhood Academy’s Syncer Nicholson celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Sankofa Freedom during the PIAA Class A state championship game on Thurday, March 27, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Trib HSSN boys basketball teams of the week – The Neighborhood Academy Bulldogs
Coach – Jordan Marks (Fourth season)
Records – 10-0 and champions in Section 2-A, 29-1 overall
#Earned – Wrapping up his fourth season as head coach of The Neighborhood Academy, Jordan Marks referred to this as a dream season for his Bulldogs team. Neighborhood Academy won its first 10 games of the season, lost by one to a good Class 4A team in Beaver, and then won its final 19 games of the campaign. The Bulldogs captured the school’s first WPIAL championship in late February when they defeated Beaver County Christian, Aquinas Academy and Serra Catholic in the district playoffs by an average margin of victory of 33 points. The Bulldogs then eliminated Shanksville-Shade, Elk County Catholic, La Academia Charter and Otto-Eldred by a combined 119 points on the Road to Hershey to reach the PIAA Class A championship game. Neighborhood Academy jumped out to an early lead against District 12 champion Sanko Freedom Academy Charter School, 20-11, after the opening quarter and never looked back, holding off a couple of Warriors runs to add a PIAA crown to its golden dream, 60-51.
Scoring stars – In each of the Bulldogs’ first six district and state playoff games this postseason, senior guard and Yale commit Courtney Wallace Jr. led the team in scoring, as he had during the regular season with 452 points and an average of 22.6 points per game. Wallace scored 124 points in those six wins, for an average of 20.6 points per game. He scored 21 points in the WPIAL championship game win over Serra Catholic. However, in the PIAA semifinals and championship games, some of his teammates stepped up to lead the way in the scoring column. Four players had double-digit points in the 55-38 semifinal win over Otto-Eldred. Sophomore Kedron Gilmour led with 14 points, senior Syncer Nicholson had 13, senior Shamar Simpson scored 12 and Wallace added 10 points. At the Giant Center in Hershey on Thursday afternoon, Nicholson led the way with 18 points while Wallace ended up with a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Last year – With a talented, but young squad last winter, Neighborhood Academy was 8-3 in nonsection games with the losses coming against 6A Central Catholic, 5A Kiski Area and 5A Fox Chapel. The Bulldogs finished in second place in Section 3-A behind Imani Christian after the Saints beat the Bulldogs in both regular season meetings by 29 and 16 points. Imani and NA would meet for a third time in the WPIAL Class A championship game with the Saints prevailing again, 78-49. The Bulldogs were hoping for a fourth meeting against Imani in the PIAA playoffs, however after beating Rocky Grove in the first round, Neighborhood Academy saw its season end with a second round loss to District 6 Bishop Carroll in overtime, 71-70.
Remember when – The small school located in the Stanton Heights neighborhood in East Pittsburgh opened up its doors in 2001. The basketball program became a playing member of the WPIAL in 2020-21 season, although covid-19 restrictions limited the team to only six games as it finished 2-4 and opted not to participate in the district open basketball playoffs. Marks took over when members of this current senior class were freshmen in the 2022 campaign as the Bulldogs finished 12-8 and in third place in Section 3-A to qualify for the playoffs. The Bulldogs beat Nazareth Prep in their first WPIAL playoff game that season, but lost to Imani Christian in the quarterfinals. In the 2023 season, the Bulldogs finished in second place and again made the postseason, beating Mapletown in the first round and losing to Geibel Catholic in the quarterfinals. For the first time, Neighborhood Academy qualified for the PIAA playoffs and lost in the first round to District 9 champion Elk County Catholic and finished the season 20-6.
2025 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Teams of the Week
Week 12 – South Allegheny Gladiators
Week 11 – Upper St. Clair Panthers
Week 10 – Latrobe Wildcats
Week 9 – Belle Vernon Leopards
Week 8 – Union Scotties
Week 7 – Knoch Knights
Week 6 – Woodland Hills Wolverines
Week 5 – Jeannette Jayhawks
Week 4 – Baldwin Highlanders
Week 3 – Elizabeth Forward Warriors
Week 2 – New Castle Red Hurricanes
Week 1 – Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles
Tags: Neighborhood Academy
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