Lincoln Park steps into spotlight, tops North Catholic at Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic

By: Nathan Breisinger
Wednesday, December 27, 2023 | 11:48 PM

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In the finale of a festive day at the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic inside PPG Paints Arena, the Lincoln Park Leopards dominated the North Catholic Trojans en route to a 72-58 win.

Coming home from a national tournament in Oregon that saw Lincoln Park go 2-2, the Leopards were in need of a victory, and they got it in a big way in a rematch of last year’s Class 4A championship bout.

Lincoln Park fed off a game-high 23 points from Pitt commit Brandin Cummings.

“We wanted to pick up off of last year and get back to the hunger, and I think today was the start of that,” Brandin Cummings said. “We wanted to come out here and prove a point, especially after those two losses in Oregon to let people know we are still Lincoln Park and a dominant team.”

Every performance from Lincoln Park is seemingly led by the one-two punch of Cummings and the top-rated junior in Pennsylvania, Meleek Thomas, who contributed 15 points.

“(Brandin) and Meleek are both scorers and leaders,” Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said. “They both compete at the highest level and usually they take turns. One will score a bunch and then the other will score a bunch. It’s fun to have them as go-to guys.”

The dynamic duo of Cummings and Thomas was on full display yet again, including a dazzling pass from Thomas off the backboard as Cummings went up with the two-handed flush.

“That’s my brother,” Cummings said. “We just know each other so well, and we know what our goals are, and we are going to do whatever we can to make our goals.”

The Leopards’ high-scoring offense that averages 71.8 points per game was electrified by seven 3-pointers in the first half, including two each from Rhaki Lum and Vinnie DePaula.

“When you make seven 3s, it’s going to be tough to do something about that,” Bariski said.

Even as the Leopards jumped out to a sizeable lead, North Catholic fought for every point to try to keep the game interesting. Coach Jim Rocco was content with his team’s effort.

“The one thing about North Catholic, these kids are raised by their parents to be tough kids,” Rocco said. “We always played hard, and we just came up against an opponent that is super skilled and talented.”

The Trojans’ fight was led by senior Max Hurray, who was a factor in a lot of aspects for his team as he paced the Trojans with 17 points, including 11 in the first half.

“He’s played at a high level for a long time, and he’s our leader, no question about it,” Rocco said.

Although Hurray did not finish the game after leaving in the second half with an injury, Rocco pointed to him as an important leader who has rubbed off on other players.

One of those players is sophomore Jude Rottmann, who nailed five triples on his birthday, Rocco noted.

“Max’s leadership has rubbed off on people like Rottmann and I thought (Rottmann) had a fantastic game,” Rocco said.

The matchup between Lincoln Park (6-2) and North Catholic (4-3) opened up section play in a big way as the Leopards are off and running in hopes of assembling another dominant season like last year where they went 30-1 with a district and state title.

“This was unbelievably important,” Bariski said. “We came in here to make a statement to the section. We lost a couple games, but here we are back in Pennsylvania and we are going to try and take up where we left off.”

Lincoln Park has now won six straight meetings in a growing rivalry with North Catholic, and it won’t be the last time these two teams meet this season.

“It’s going to take a super performance to beat them,” Rocco said. “They are the best, most talented team in any classification in Pennsylvania, and that’s not just me saying that. It’s people from Philadelphia, from Harrisburg that’s saying that.”

Tags: Lincoln Park, North Catholic