Lincoln Park’s dominance in section comes to an end
Quips rally to stop 83-game league run
There were no mysterious game-clock malfunctions or controversial foul calls this time. The second-longest section winning streak in WPIAL history is over.
A little more than a month after WPIAL Class 3A No. 2 Aliquippa came seconds away from ending No. 1 Lincoln Park’s 78-game section winning streak, the Quips went into enemy territory and finished the job. In front of a raucous crowd — almost half of which consisted of Aliquippa fans — the Quips came storming back from a double-digit, fourthquarter deficit for a 77-74 road win Tuesday night.
The Leopards’ section winning streak, which had swelled to 83 games, officially came to an end when senior Keeno Holmes missed a potential tying 3pointer as time ran out. Twosport star M.J. Devonshire missed two free throws in the final 10 seconds that could have clinched the win for the Quips, but he was just happy to come away victorious.
“Coming down here and getting a win down here, not only not having lost a section game since like 2012 — they haven’t lost at home since I don’t know when,” Devonshire said. “So that was an important win to win down here.”
Devonshire led Aliquippa with 20 points, and fellow football star Will Gipson contributed 16. But Gipson’s biggest basket of the night was one he wasn’t even trying to make.
With the Quips trailing by 11 midway through the fourth quarter and the momentum on Lincoln Park’s side, Gipson attempted a pass into the low post. A Leopards defender tipped the pass up into the air near the foul line, and it caromed into the basket.
“Actually, it was a mistake on my part on the turnover, but I got a bucket out of it,” Gipson said. “So that wasn’t nobody but God telling me that this was my game and that we were going to win this one.”
For a while, it seemed as if senior Casey Oliver was going to play the hero for Lincoln Park as the reserve guard came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points. Most of Oliver’s damage came in the third quarter, as he hit multiple 3-pointers to stretch the lead to double digits. Then came the bucket on the tipped pass by Gipson, and the entire game seemed to shift.
What was once an energetic crowd of Leopards faithful turned into an electric cheering section of traveling Quips fans. Chants of “Dee-fense!” echoed throughout the arena as Lincoln Park brought the ball up on their home court, and Aliquippa responded by forcing turnover after turnover.
Sure enough, the Quips chipped away at the deficit, then took their first lead of the second half on a steal and layup by Devonshire with 2:42 left. They never relinquished the lead.
Aliquippa head coach Dwight Hines said he wasn’t aware of the Leopards’ historic section winning streak until someone mentioned it to him after the game, but it felt good to break it nonetheless.
“I didn’t even think about it, I heard about it,” Hines said. “It’s a great feeling, but we still have to get after it on Friday and play Neshannock, so our job is never done. We just have to take the win and move on.”