WPIAL Class A boys basketball championship breakdown: Bishop Canevin vs. Rochester

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, March 12, 2021 | 2:51 PM

WPIAL Class A boys basketball championship

No. 1 Bishop Canevin vs. No. 2 Rochester

8 p.m. Friday at North Allegheny

On the air: TribHSSN.TribLive.com (video stream)

Winner plays: District 6 or 10 champion in PIAA quarterfinals, March 19

How they got here: Bishop Canevin received a first-round bye; defeated No. 8 St. Joseph, 84-56, in the quarterfinals; and No. 5 Union, 68-46, in the semifinals. Rochester defeated No. 15 West Greene, 60-32, in the first round; No. 10 Western Beaver, 49-30, in the quarterfinals; and No. 6 Leechburg, 58-55, in the semifinals.

Starting lineups

Bishop Canevin (15-5)

Coach: Gino Palmosina

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

1, Shea Champine, G, 5-11, So.

3, Dom Elliot, F, 6-4, Sr.

5, Jhamil Fife, G, 5-10, Jr.

25, Nevan Crossey, F, 5-11, Sr.

32, Kevaughn Price, G, 6-2, Jr.

Rochester (14-4)

Coach: Sean Keaton

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

1, J.D. Azulay, G, 5-11, Jr.

3, Parker Lyons, G, 6-1, So.

4, Jerome Mullins, G, 6-2, So.

11, Devon Hemer, G/F, 6-5, Sr.

20, Ryan Zawislak, F, 6-1, Jr.

Title-game history: Rochester won the program’s lone WPIAL title in 1983. Bishop Canevin seeks its first.

Notable: Bishop Canevin averages 73.9 points per game, which ranks second-highest among all WPIAL teams this season. Only Class 2A finalist Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (75.4) scores more. The Crusaders topped 80 points six times and 90 points three times. The team’s season-high was 99 points against Avella. However, the team won’t have leading scorer Jaden Gales (15.7 ppg), who’s postseason ineligible under PIAA transfer rules. Gales played in the WPIAL Class A final last season with Nazareth Prep. Canevin reached the WPIAL finals only once before, losing to Aliquippa, 57-52, in the 2006 Class 2A finals. Palmosina is in his third season as BC’s coach. He also works as chief of staff for Pittsburgh City Council president Theresa Kail-Smith. … Rochester completed one of the biggest turnarounds in WPIAL history this season. The Rams went 0-21 last season and gave up more than twice as many points as they scored (1,751 to 883). This year, they averaged 57.6 points per game and allowed only 46.9, fourth-best in WPIAL Class A. Rochester had three players score in double figures in the semifinals. Azulay had 20 points, Jerome Mullins had 17 and Hemer added 11. The Rams have reached the WPIAL finals three times. They won the Class A title in 1983 with a 63-62 victory over Cornell, and were WPIAL runners-up in 1996 and 2010.

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: Bishop Canevin, Rochester