Gladiators’ run ends with loss in title game

An SA shooting slump helped West Catholic go on a 26-6 run to stun the Gladiators in the second half.

HERSHEY – South Allegheny’s Drew Cook tried to stay even-keeled in the state finals, but he and his teammates found out that’s hard to do with a 14-point lead.

Especially in the first quarter.

“I felt like we were going to blow them out, honestly,” said Cook, whose shots fueled the Gladiators’ blistering start. “But they started playing better defense on me, and better defense in general.”

Exuberance was the first of many emotions.

South Allegheny sprinted to an early 14-point lead before West Catholic stormed back to win 60-51 in the PIAA Class 3A final Saturday afternoon at Giant Center. A five-minute scoreless stretch in the third quarter ultimately dashed the Gladiators’ state title hopes.

West Catholic pounced on South Allegheny’s slump to take the lead with a decisive 13-0 run.

“We knew they were going to start hitting shots because they weren’t shooting that well,” Cook said. “We were just trying to stay not too high, not too low.”

A go-ahead 3-pointer by West Catholic sophomore Ramir Speaks midway through the third gave the Burrs a 33-31 lead that quickly grew to 10 points. Speaks’ shot proved to be the game’s only lead change.

South Allegheny clawed back to within four points late in the fourth but got no closer.

“Unfortunately, they made more runs than we did,” South Allegheny senior Cam Epps said. “We got hot and had energy, and then they made their runs.”

West Catholic (16-13) of the Philadelphia Catholic League won its second state title in three years. The Burrs defeated Deer Lakes in the 2023 finals.

Two sophomore guards led West Catholic in scoring. Jayvon Byrd had 20 points and Eric Scott added 14.

South Allegheny (27-4) was making its first appearance in the state finals. A month after winning the team’s first WPIAL title, the Gladiators took a run at PIAA gold.

“What they accomplished, what they’ve done for this community, is really special,” South Allegheny coach Tony DiCenzo said. “They don’t realize it now. This is a somber time. This is upsetting, disappointing, all of that. When we remove ourselves from this, we’ll realize how special this really was.”

Cook led South Allegheny with a game-high 22 points and Epps scored 15.

“This was a legendary season,” Cook said. “Best season is school history. The community had never seen anything like this, so they were all coming together. You’ve seen our crowds.”

Epps made three free throws with 3:07 left in the fourth to cut West Catholic’s lead to 51-46. But any comeback hopes took a hit when Epps fouled out with 2:11 left.

Jake Uher fouled out a minute later.

West Catholic already had an advantage over South Allegheny in depth, a situation worsened by the foul trouble. West Catholic’s bench outscored South Allegheny’s reserves 21-0.

“(South Allegheny) called timeout after we went on our run and I said, ‘I can keep throwing bodies at them all day,’” West Catholic coach Miguel Bocachica said. “They can’t do that. … But that’s a great program and those two guards can really play.”

Cook scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter as South Allegheny raced to a 17-3 lead. The Gladiators made seven of their first 10 shots, while West Catholic managed one basket in the entire quarter.

But momentum shifted in the second quarter as West Catholic forced seven turnovers and converted some into layups. Those transition baskets cut the Gladiators’ lead to four points by halftime.

That trend continued into the third. West Catholic finished with a 17-6 lead in fastbreak points.

“We tried to dial into the things we knew we needed to do to beat this team,” Bocachica said. “As the game went on, our aggressiveness and how we play defense sort of wore on them.”

West Catholic led 41-34 after three quarter.

Bocachica said his coaching staff recognized that South Allegheny runs a setheavy offense and likes to shoot 3s, so West Catholic tried to guard the perimeter.

South Allegheny went 8 for 18 from 3-point range.

“They were way bigger than us,” Cook said. “All of their guards were taller than ours. Our bigs are their guards, so they could switch. That really took it away.”

A 3-pointer by Cook with 1:54 left pulled the Gladiators within four points, but they got no closer.

“It hurts a little bit that we couldn’t get the job done,” Epps said. “But I’m still grateful and blessed to even be at Hershey.”