Hershey: With under 30 seconds remaining in the championship game, with Linville Hill trailing by one point, Stephen Smucker drained the go-ahead basket to take a one-point lead.

The Warriors held on to the victory for the program’s first-ever state title, 55-54. “I knew it was going to be an inside battle.” Stephen Smucker remarked.

It was tense contest between two teams with decidedly different styles of play, and it was close all of the way. Linville Hill prevailed in the late going with some clutch baskets and a heroic defensive stand in Sewickley’s last possession of the game.

Linville Hill plays with great offensive structure and teamwork. Through years of playing together, the Linville Hill guys easily anticipate each other’s movements. They shared the ball unselfishly and were unflappable when the opponent surged.

Sewickley Academy is big and quick, and they were deeper, as this game demonstrated. However, Sewickley was less cohesive and more prone to players going one-on-one in this contest.

A striking difference between the teams was height. Linville Hill’s tallest player is 6’ 2”. Sewickley started a 6’ 8” freshman, Mamadou Kane, and brought 6’ 8” sophomore Adam Ikamba off the bench. Kane and Ikamba are super shot blockers and rebounders, and Ikamba has terrific low post offensive moves. There were several spectacular dunks, too.

Late in the third quarter, Linville Hill broke a 38 to 38 tie with a fallaway jumper by 5’ 11” junior Drew Tibbins. Then, Sewickley Academy launched a 10 to 0 run that extended into the fourth quarter, on a pivot-play by Ikamba, another pivot-play by Ikamba, a pivot-play by Kane, a drive by Steals, and a hoop inside by 6’ 2” senior Nolan Donnelly. That gave Sewickley a 48-40 lead.

Sumcker’s winning basket photo below: