MARCH 24
PIAA CLASS AA FINAL
(At Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center)
Imhotep 56, Beaver Falls 54 (OT)
  It's funny how the world of modern-day basketball works. Just a few weeks ago, Imhotep was considered only the fourth best AA team in District 12. Now it's the best in the state for the third time in four seasons (missed in 2010)! The Panthers barged through the front door in '09 and '11 as the overall Pub champion. Guess there's nothing wrong with using the side door, too (smile). A year ago coach Andre Noble used a nine-man rotation and seven of those guys were seniors. This year, Noble mixed and matched and dealt with late-season adversity (losing some guys to grades/behavior) and, presto, what do you know, it all worked out. Honestly, the Panthers had some very sloppy/unfocused moments in the fourth quarter -- after building a 44-35 lead with 5:15 remaining, no less -- and were lucky to get to OT. Sr. F Shakur NeSmith (Temple for football; his surname had been misspelled all this time) made that happen with a gigundo steal/layup off a double-team with 0:19 left. That made it 48-48 and BF's star, sr. G-F Sheldon Jeter, missed a late-moments trey. In the OT, 'Hotep forged ahead for good, at 52-50, as jr. CG Brandon Austin, who's already committed to Penn State, followed a steal a shade beyond midcourt with a breakaway thunder-dunk. After a turnover, the lead reached 54-50 as sr. G Khyree Wooten fed jr. F-C Nigel Grant for an easy layup. Alas, the Panthers continued their struggles at the line (10-for-23 for the game, 2-for-8 in OT) and the problems were capped at 4.2 when Austin flubbed the front and back ends of a double-bonus. BF's Drew Cook, a lefty, wound up with the ball on the left wing and his two-point shot was no good. (At least the official scoresheet credits Cook with an attempt. However, at least one of the refs, it appeared, was emphatically signaling the shot would not have counted even if it had connected, having been launched after the buzzer. If the shot HAD connected, oh baby, it could have gotten VERY interesting.) Wooten had 13 of his 15 points beyond halftime and, like always in close, almost always used his right hand even though he's a lefty for jumpers. He also posted six of his seven boards past intermission. Austin had 13 apiece of boards/rebounds while also notching four assists and three each of steals/blocks. He missed all but a few seconds of the second quarter after notching his second foul with 4:59 remaining. Imhotep was cruising at the time, 20-11, but then came unglued and added just one free throw before halftime. Austin was ordered to play Jeter, but NeSmith also spent large chunks of time trying to dog him and, overall, he performed in sensational fashion. Jeter did score 22 points, but needed to uncork an amazing number of shots (32) to get 'em. He was 0-for-10 on treys and 10-for-22 on regulars. NeSmith had eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Grant shot 4-for-4 en route to nine points while adding seven rebounds. Sr. CG Kamani Jordan had seven points. The Panthers' performance, of course, completed a second consecutive Triple Crown Weekend for District 12 and check this out: That's a first in PIAA history! No district had captured three titles in back-to-back seasons! Three titles became available in the 1950-51 season and a fourth classification was added for 1983-84. Not bad, eh? . . . Well, except for the doling out of postseason honors and all-star games, that wraps up my 41st season of covering high school hoops (37th with city leagues responsibility; 35th at Daily News). Gracias to all who helped and thanks to readers/website visitors for paying attention.