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The title-game boxscore . . .

The Season's Results (28-5) . . .

Season Scoring . . .

Selected Photos . . .

Cheerleaders, football players and other student fans.

Nigel Grant throws one down.

Brandon Austin gathers in a high pass.

The happy Panthers . . .

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MARCH 22
PIAA CLASS AAA FINAL
Imhotep 54, Carroll 45
(At Hershey’s Giant Center)
  A team that hits only 35 percent of its shots, and makes some questionable  decisions on which ones to take, ordinarily pays a price. And then there’s Imhotep (smile). Like almost always, coach Andre Noble’s club played ridiculously effective defense while -- here comes that phrase again – sucking the life right out of this game. As mentioned in previous reports, these guys stir memories of Gratz’ powerhouse teams under coach Bill Ellerbee. Just when the opponent thinks a decent shot is available, a hand appears out of nowhere to at least provide a distraction, if not block/tip the ball. Or guy No. 1 thinks he has to pass and, guess what, guy No. 2 finds himself in a situation that’s even worse. Carroll has some decent offensive players and coach Paul Romanczuk always runs effective sets, but in this one the Patriots went an unsightly 17-for-56 from the floor (30 percent) and were woeful (2-for-19, .105) from behind the arc. We also kept full stats, as always, for the Pub quarterfinals, semis and finals, when Imhotep’s opponents were Phila. Electrical, Comm Tech and Vaux. All three of those squads had some flat-out scorers and/or decent spot-up shooters. Know what they combined to shoot? Thirty-one percent (45-for-146). I rest my case. Well, after also telling you that they went 8-for-41 (.195) on threes. There was a strange aura during this one. The AAAA girls’ final, featuring Spring-Ford and Cumberland Valley, took place immediately beforehand and there was lots of juice, especially since each school had large support groups of spirited students/adults. Imhotep brought lots of cheerleaders and many football players, who were wearing their jerseys, and they did provide non-stop noise. But 150 kids (rough estimate) can’t match the excitement level provided by roughly 1,000 students/adults (as in the girls’ game) and all non-affiliated spectators settled for bump-on-the-log status, just sitting and watching and rarely even clapping, let alone hooting/hollering. Oh, well. Can’t have everything. This was Imhotep’s fourth state title in five years (lone exception: 2010) and its first after moving up to AAA. Including Pub and state tilts, the Panthers have gone 49-3 (.942) in postseason action. Pretty damn amazing. Tonight’s far-and-away headliner was sr. G Brandon Austin (Providence), who shot 9-for-15 (one trey) and 6-for-6 for 25 points while also claiming team highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (three). The 6-7 Austin was covered mostly by 6-1 jr. G Joe Mostardi and on occasion by 6-foot sr. G Yosef Yacob, and each guy truly put out maximum effort. But half a foot is half a foot and Austin pretty much had his way. Sr. G Abraham Massaley, despite an off night (3-for-15), added nine points and no one else managed more than four. The one bold-relief stat – 'Tep was guilty of just TWO turnovers. So. C Dymir Logan and jr. F Basil Thompson halved 12 rebounds while Massaley and sr. C Nigel Grant had five apiece. On defense, Austin mostly played impressive soph F Derrick Jones and that went well, also. Jones did score 13 points, but rarely got a comfortable look and at least two of his four field goals (maybe even three?) came on follows. Jones added 11 rebounds and the stats posted by soph C Ernest Aflakpui (13 points, 12 boards) were almost identical. Yacob had 10 points and four assists. Mostardi and soph G Nick Jones, normally reliable wing scorers, experienced major frustration. They just could not find their way and hopefully, down the road, they’ll focus much more on all the great things they did this season. As the first half ended, jr. sub F Armand Sorrentino made what might have been Carroll’s play of the season. Off an inbound play, he soared for a steal, then scrambled downcourt, took a quick look at the clock and, bang!, nailed an all-in-one-motion leaping trey. That bucket created a 26-26 tie and sent the Patriots to the locker room with all kinds of positive vibes. As the third quarter opened, Yacob canned layups to provide leads of 28-26 and 30-28 and the thought was, “OK, this looks good. Maybe we’ll see the back-and-forth thing the rest of the way.” Not to be. Carroll missed 21 of its first 24 shots beyond halftime and fell into a 46-36 chasm. Over the last minute-plus, Imhotep needed to hit its free throws and almost did so in perfect fashion as Austin and soph G Jakwan Jones nailed four apiece to offset one miss by Thompson. The Daily News folks decided to move back the SportsWeek deadline to accommodate this game and some NCAA tilts, but the story had to be filed by 10:30. Hard to believe the 2013 season ended on a Friday. The Pub had placed teams in the AA final every year since 2006. Anyway, this wraps up my 42nd season of covering high school basketball (36th at the DN). Thanks for paying attention.