WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball championship breakdown: North Catholic vs. Lincoln Park

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Sunday, March 14, 2021 | 9:39 PM


WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball championship

No. 5 North Catholic vs. No. 2 Lincoln Park

8 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny

On the air: 1230 AM, 99.3 FM, 1460 AM; TribHSSN.TribLive.com (video stream)

Winner plays: Lincoln Park or North Catholic will host District 9 champion Clearfield on Friday in the PIAA quarterfinals

How they got here: North Catholic defeated No. 12 Mt. Pleasant, 73-47, in the first round; No. 4 Quaker Valley, 84-56, in the semifinals; and No. 1 Belle Vernon, 77-76, in the semifinals. Lincoln Park defeated No. 15 Knoch, 63-46, in the first round; No. 10 Deer Lakes, 72-53, in the quarterfinals; and No. 3 Montour, 65-62, in the semifinals.

Starting lineups

North Catholic (18-4)

Coach: Dave DeGregorio

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

2, Owen DeGregorio, G, 6-0, Sr.

5, Isaiah Jackson, G, 5-10, Sr.

10, Matt Gregor, G, 5-7, Jr.

20, Connor Maddalon, G, 6-2, Sr.

45, Andrew Ammerman, F, 6-6, Sr.

Lincoln Park (17-5)

Coach: Mike Bariski

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

2, Ali Brown, G, 5-10, Jr.

3, Dakari Bradford, F, 6-5, Sr.

4, L.A. Pratt, G, 6-3, Jr.

10, Joe Scott, F, 6-7, So.

24, Brandin Cummings, G, 6-3, Fr.

Title-game history: North Catholic has won five WPIAL titles. Lincoln Park has four.

Notable: This is the third year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons that Lincoln Park and North Catholic meet in a WPIAL championship. North Catholic won two of the three contests, including a 65-56 victory last season in the Class 3A final. Both teams moved to 4A this winter. North Catholic also won 56-51 in the 2017 finals. Lincoln Park won 62-50 in 2019. … North Catholic ranked third among WPIAL Class 3A teams in scoring at 66.7 points per game. Lincoln Park was fourth at 65.8 ppg. … Andrew Ammerman averages 19 points. L.A. Pratt and Dakari Bradford average around 13 points each for Lincoln Park. … Owen DeGregorio, whose father is North Catholic’s coach, made seven 3-pointers in a quarterfinal win over Quaker Valley. … Ali Brown played last season for High School of the Future, a Philadelphia school that qualified for the state playoffs a year ago. … Brandin Cummings is the brother of former Lincoln Park star Nelly Cummings, who’s a junior on the Colgate men’s basketball team. … North Catholic has reached the WPIAL finals seven times. Lincoln Park has made 10 finals appearances.

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.

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