Sewickley Academy guard rewarded with all-state nod

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, May 11, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Six players were named second-team all-state for the 2024-25 season in Class 2A boys basketball.

Lucas Grimsley, a 6-foot-4 junior guard at Sewickley Academy, was one of the chosen few in a statewide vote of media members.

“Lucas is a very good 3-point shooter but also has the ability to attack and finish at the rim,” Sewickley coach Mike Iuzzolino said. ”My expectations for Lucas, like all our players, are to continue to grow and improve — whether it’s improving their consistency on shooting, changing direction with ball-handling or finishing at the rim. The goal is to get 1% better every day.”

Grimsley was one of the top shooters on the Sewickley team this season with 306 points and 59 3-pointers. He also ranked among the team leaders with 102 rebounds, 40 assists and 26 steals.

He helped lead the Panthers to 12-0 record in Section 2-2A, which was the 11th section crown in school history for the boys basketball program and came seven years after the last one.

Sewickley advanced to the WPIAL semifinals and won a third-place consolation game against Neshannock, 51-37. The Panthers won four PIAA playoff games before losing a heartbreaker to District 3 runner-up Linville Hill Christian, 55-54, in the state finals in Hershey to end up 24-6 overall.

One of Grimsley’s most impressive performances of the season came on March 8 at home against Windber in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Grimsley sparked Sewickley to an impressive 64-36 victory against the Ramblers, the No. 2 seed from District 8.

The sharp-shooting backcourt star connected four times from long range in the first quarter en route to a 15-point explosion in the opening eight minutes.

“Lucas has the ability to get hot quickly,” Iuzzolino said. “When he is making 3s like he did in the first quarter, he becomes difficult to guard, and so do we because it opens up so many other options for us.”

Grimsley finished with 22 points as 10 Sewickley players reached the scoring column in the WPIAL mercy-rule rout.

“Someone mentioned the game was Sewickley Academy’s first-ever home state playoff game,” Grimsley said. “It’s fitting the game was played on Win Palmer Court. The fans and students provided a lot of energy to the gym. We know coach Palmer is proud.

“We started the game with a high level of focus, and during the game we stayed disciplined and executed our game-plan. Everyone was able to contribute. I started the game particularly focused on playing solid defense, and the offensive side just followed. I got into an offensive rhythm early, and it continued from there.”

Following victories over Lakeview and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Grimsley and 6-8 freshman teammate Mamadou Kane each scored 17 points to lead the Panthers past Greensburg Central Catholic, 52-48, in the PIAA semifinal round.

It marked the first trip to the state finals since the Panthers won it all in 2017 with a 68-63 victory over Philadelphia Constitution.

After losing their season opener 42-40 to Nazareth Prep, the Panthers reeled off nine consecutive wins and won 15 of 16 to go to 15-2.

Iuzzolino offered what could be considered a contender for his quote of the year when he said via email, “Defense wins games; offense just determines by how much.”

Adhering to the first-year coach’s delivery, the Panthers held a 37.9 ppg defensive average — the best mark in the WPIAL and slightly better than Aliquippa’s 38.7 average.

Caiden Battles, a 5-8 point guard, was one of three juniors in the starting lineup for Sewickley along with Grimsley and Amare Spencer.

“The strength of this year’s team (was) definitely our defense,” Battles said. “Coach has always been hard on us about defense. We take extra pride in playing good defense because I feel that is our team’s identity.

“Many teams want to score as many points as possible, but ultimately defense wins games. Some games we might not be getting all our shots to fall, but the team knows that our defense can make up for that.”

Grimsley was lauded as the Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week for March 24. Not only is he an outstanding offensive player for the Panthers, he provides a formidable presence on defense.

“He has good size,” Iuzzolino said. “He makes it difficult on the guy he is defending to get off clean looks.”

Grimsley has been playing basketball since an early age and plans to continue his career at the next level following his high school graduation.

“There are a lot of schools that are inquiring about Lucas,” Iuzzolino said. “He has great size for a guard, can shoot the 3 and is improving his defense.

“Right now, a lot of colleges focus on their needs to finish the 2025 class, but I expect the interest to continue to pick up for Lucas especially if he continues to work and improve.”

Grimsley will prepare for next season by competing in AAU games in the offseason. He works on different facets of his game year-round.

“I am always talking with our guys about what they need to work on,” Iuzzolino said. “One thing about Lucas is he is very coachable and willing to listen and learn and put in the work. I know he will spend a lot of time this summer on the AAU circuit playing high-level games which will help him continue to improve.

“If we want to achieve the success we had from last year, Lucas needs to be a big part of that.”