Gladiators to play for PIAA championship

They outfought Aliquippa, 36-31, in another gritty game in Saturday’s semifinals.

Fans who caught the matchup between South Allegheny and Aliquippa in the WPIAL championship surely thought they were having deja vu watching the rematch between the two sides Saturday.

There was no champion to be crowned as the Gladiators battled the Quips at Canon-Mac, but the winner would book its ticket to Hershey for the state championship game. And unfortunately for Aliquippa, star guard Joshua Pratt was unable to play after suffering an ankle injury in practice leading up to the game.

That is mostly where the differences between both matchups end.

Entering the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game, South Allegheny pulled to within 26-23 as Cam Epps nailed two threes to erase a ninepoint deficit. After Aliquippa’s Qa-Lil Goode pushed it to 29-23 with the first points of the fourth, SA took over and outscored the Quips 13-2 the rest of the way to book its ticket to Chocolate Town with a 3631 victory.

“Exiting the court I turned to my assistants and asked ‘We won?’ It just seemed like a carbon copy of the WPIAL game,” South Allegheny coach Tony DiCenzo said. “They were in control for probably three and a half quarters, and we just found a way in the last handful of minutes to make big plays and win the game.

“At this time of year, playing against really quality competition, it’s not gonna be the prettiest basketball. You’re gonna have to fight, grind and earn everything, and that’s what had to happen today. It was another low-scoring affair, but I’m really proud of our guys and their effort to stay the course and get the job done.”

Just like in South Allegheny’s (273) 37-35 win over Aliquippa (23-6) at the Petersen Events Center, a foul on a three-point attempt fueled the Gladiators’ comeback. After Goode’s triple, Josh Jackowski was hit on a good look from downtown to send the senior to the free-throw line. He converted two of three shots to make the score 29-25.

Epps, who hit five three-pointers and led all scorers with 17 points, added the next points from beyond the arc to cut South Allegheny’s deficit to one. The senior guard, who has been a big-game player for all four years of his career, continued to give the Gladiators exactly what they needed to keep the game within reach.

“I’ve been watching him make big plays in big moments for four years now,” DiCenzo said. “It didn’t really go his way for a good portion of the game, but coming out of halftime, I told him that we needed him to lead us. He’s been that guy for us all year long, and he was struggling a bit offensively, but I just told him to stay with the plan and keep doing what he does: create offense by his defensive effort.

“He came through for us in a big way. He made a lot of big shots to keep us close and he had a couple of key steals on the defensive end, so I’m really proud of him. But this was nothing new for him.”

After Epps made that three, Jackowski connected from deep with just 2:57 left in the game to give South Allegheny its first advantage of the game at 31-29. The triple came off a great pass from Drew Cook, who was doubled and launched a football pass to the opposite corner for his teammate.

Aliquippa refused to give up, instantly finding offense after going minutes without it. Marques Council finished strong at the rim to knot it up at 31-31 with just over two minutes left. The Quips got the ball back with a chance to jump back ahead, but another huge play for SA followed.

As Aliquippa tried to run its offense at the top of the key, a pass was jumped by Jackowski as he poked it ahead and found himself all alone to give his team the lead once again. When he rocked the rim with a dunk and exploded with emotion, the South Allegheny faithful did the same in what sounded like a home game for the Gladiators.

SA continued to get the job done defensively and got the stop it needed to regain possession. Cook was fouled and split a pair of free throws with 36 seconds remaining to push the Gladiators’ lead to 34-31.

The Quips rushed a three to try and tie, with Jeremiah Pratt hoisting a shot that hit the back iron and was ripped down by Jackowski. Once the ball got to Epps and he was fouled, his free throws ended it at 36-31.

The game was an uncharacteristic one for the Gladiators as Jackowski (10 points) was the only player to join Epps in double digits. SA also committed 16 turnovers, but it forced 12 from Aliquippa. Much like the first matchup between both sides, it was gritty, and the Gladiators prevailed.

Now it’s winner takes all on Saturday when South Allegheny faces Philadelphia’s West Catholic for the PIAA Class 3A championship. The Gladiators are seeking their first state championship ever as they are making their first appearance in the final, but they will have to dethrone the current PIAA champs to do so.

“This time of year, you’ll take any win you can get,” DiCenzo said. “You gotta win by one, that’s the goal. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the last three games. When you’re in important moments and important games, you come together. Facing adversity makes you stronger and brings you closer together.

“We’ll go back and watch this one. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but we made really important plays in important moments. That’s something we’ll take forward with us.”