Third-quarter streak lifts Imani
Union’s coach criticizes system that stocks Imani with transfers
It didn’t even take a full four quarters for Imani Christian to dominate Union in the 2023 WPIAL 1A boys basketball championship game.
The Scotties got their first lead of the game early in the third quarter, but the Saints went on an 18-2 run to close out the third quarter. They kept that momentum throughout to win the game 64-41 and earn the title at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.
“I yelled at them in the locker room,” Saints coach Omar Foster said. “We needed to get our things together. I thought we were just playing a little shaky. Our identity is defense, and we feel that if we play really good defense, we’ll go on 17-0 runs and things like that.”
It was the revenge Imani Christian wanted after losing to Union in last season’s semifinals.
Despite the lopsided final score, the game was close throughout the first half. The Saints led for a majority of the time but only by as many as six points.
They struggled with turnovers, finishing with 13 in the first 16 minutes. Union capitalized on those errors to score 11 points. Imani Christian headed into the locker room with a 3-point lead.
The Saints came out in the second half running a zone defense, rather than their typical man-to-man. That allowed Union to hit two backto-back 3s and eventually gain a 29-27 lead. Imani Christian sophomore R.J. Sledge was quick to suggest a switch back to man-to-man shortly after.
It went downhill for the Scotties from there as they shot 19% (5 of 26) in the second half and 24% (12 of 51) for the game. They were dominant from 3-point range in the quarterfinals and semifinals, hitting 19 and 11, respectively. But Union was just 7 for 21 on Thursday night.
“They closed windows quick,” Scotties coach Mark Stanley said. “I mean, that’s credit to them. They’re running after Matthew (Stanley), taking our guy out, running two, three guys out so their looks aren’t as good.”
Union didn’t have much help offensively, relying on just two players for 82.9% of the team’s points. Matt Stanley led with 19 points and his brother, Lucas, had 15.
It made the defensive assignment a bit easier for Imani Christian. The Saints had little issues offensively throughout the second half, shooting 70.6% (12 of 17) in the second half and 58.8% (20 of 34) overall. Imani Christian also had 31 fastbreak points to Union’s five.
Dame Givner led the way with 17 points and three other Saints players scored in double-figures. Virgil Hall and R.J. Sledge both had 11, followed by Markus Williams’ 10 points.
In a news conference with the media after the game, Mark Stanley didn’t hold back on his thoughts about Imani Christian, which has had a handful of players transfer to their school the past two years, including Sledge and Givner.
Sledge played at Bishop Canevin last year, which beat Union in the WPIAL championship.
“They’re not cheating, but it’s not fair,” Stanley said. “It’s not right. I got kids that work their [butts] off. ... (Sledge is) over (there) charging me and talking smack to them. They finally got a technical because they were caught. I mean, come on. They’re young kids. I get it. I got young kids, too. Frustrated.”
Both teams will play in the PIAA playoffs next weekend. Union will play the No. 2 team from District 10, either Farrell or Kennedy Catholic.
Imani Christian will play the No. 5 team from District 9, either Clarion or Keystone.