Imani sits atop state in a romp

Defense is key in winning 1st PIAA crown

HERSHEY, Pa. — Berlin Brothersvalley coach Tanner Prosser believed his team had to do two main things to have a chance against mighty Imani Christian: shoot well from 3-point range and limit turnovers.

Berlin Brothersvalley did neither. The result was Imani Christian boys basketball breezing to a state championship.

Imani Christian finished off one of the most dominant runs to a state title by a WPIAL team when it defeated Berlin Brothersvalley, 81-64, in the PIAA Class 1A championship at Giant Center in Hershey. The win was the eighth of the postseason for Imani Christian (22-7), a small private school in East Hills. And the average margin of victory in those games was 28.8. The 17point margin in the championship was Imani Christian’s closest game in the postseason.

Berlin Brothersvalley, a team from Somerset County, had relied heavily on 3-point shooting this season, but the Mountaineers (26-3) made only two of 13 3-pointers in the first half and shot only 29% (8 of 30) behind the arc for the game. And then there were the turnovers against Imani Christian’s variety of pressure defenses (man-toman and zone). When the first half ended, Berlin Brothersvalley had 12 turnovers and Imani Christian had 18 points off turnovers. The Mountaineers had zero points off turnovers in the first half and trailed, 39-24, at halftime. The game was essentially over by then.

“I liked the looks we got for shots,” Prosser said. “But we had a couple of sloppy turnovers that we couldn’t afford to have. Besides the turnovers, we had shots that we make a lot of times, but we didn’t make.”

Imani Christian’s defense had something to do with that.

“Defense is our identity,” Imani Christian coach Omar Foster said. “We feel if we play defense, we’ll be able to win any game. Defense is what we’ve been teaching since the beginning of the year.”

Imani’s offense, meanwhile, was led by Alier Maluk, a 6-foot-11 forward ranked among the top 20 sophomores in the country who had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Avery Wesley had four 3-pointers and 16 points, and sophomore guard Dame Givner had 15 points.

For Maluk, it was his second big game after scoring 20 in the semis. Maybe there was a liquid reason for Maluk taking his game to a higher level recently.

“I’m just locked in and I started drinking Red Bulls before the game to get pumped,” Maluk said with a smile.

Maluk has plenty of versatility to his game. He showed off that against Berlin Brothersvalley making 2 of 3 3pointers.

“He has a big toolbox and he has a lot of stuff to show,” Foster said. “He’s doing really, really well and we’re trying to continue to develop him.”

Pace Prosser, a junior guard and the coach’s son, had an impressive performance, finishing with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. But Imani just had too much for the Mountaineers, who lost in the PIAA title game two years ago to Nativity.

Imani Christian won a state title in its 11th season of playing in the WPIAL and PIAA.

“Maybe this puts us on the map a little bit more,” Foster said.