Imhotep boys, Archbishop Wood girls fall in state finals

HERSHEY, Pa. — Zaahir Muhammad-Gray had to inhale it one last time. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound junior forward was the last Imhotep Charter player to leave Hershey’s Giant Center court Saturday night. His silver medal eschewed, he stood behind the away team basket stanchion, taking a mental snapshot of Central Dauphin celebrating what he wanted — a PIAA Class 6A state championship.

Muhammad-Gray made sure he stood there long enough for the image to seep in deeply before collapsing into his father’s arms, weeping over the heart-wrenching loss.

District 3 champion Central Dauphin, behind a game-high 24 points from 6-2 junior guard Shakur Starling, shocked Imhotep, 52-49, to win the first boys’ basketball state title in school history, while handing Imhotep its first loss in a PIAA final in 11 games.

On the girls’ side, Archbishop Wood fell, 45-35, to South Fayette in the Class 5A final.

The Panthers entered the game looking to make more history as the winners of 10 state titles in several classes. Over the last two years, the Panthers have been playing at the Class 6A level. A state title victory at 6A would have made Imhotep the only school in Pennsylvania high school basketball history to have won state championships in five of the six classifications.

“We’ll do it next year,” said Muhammad-Gray, a major Division I recruit who picked up his fourth foul with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in the third quarter. “That’s exactly what was on my mind when I left the court tonight: We’ll do it next year. I wanted to see [Central Dauphin] celebrate, so I know what it will be like. This is hard. I’ll admit it. I was getting fouled while getting called for touch fouls, all kinds of fouls.

“I don’t like silver. I don’t wear anything but gold. I wasn’t going to put that silver medal around my neck. I wanted to make sure I took in that celebration. This loss will stay with me until I put that Imhotep jersey back on next year. I don’t want to forget that moment. Next year, I promise, will be different.”

Imhotep allowed 40 of Central Dauphin’s 52 points to come inside the paint on drives to the basket. Starling did most of the damage.

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“We thought we could do anything against [Imhotep],” Starling said. “They’re big and tall, and this was David versus Goliath, but they could not keep up with our speed. We weren’t intimidated by them. We came right at them. They couldn’t keep up with us. We felt we had them the whole game. We’re the first in our school history to win a state championship. It means everything.”

Central Dauphin drew 20 fouls to Imhotep’s 13. The Rams took 15 free throws (and made just 6), while the Panthers took 11 free throws, sinking 9. Central Dauphin outscored Imhotep on second-chance points, 8-2, much of that coming in the offensive rebounding disparity, which Central Dauphin won, 9-3.

“We had a good season and I am proud of our kids,” said Imhotep coach Andre Noble, who has been behind all 10 of Imhotep’s state championships and holds a 75-9 overall record in the state tournament. “We were able to fight through some bumps and bruises to get here. We didn’t do a good job of defending tonight. We lost a lot of 50-50 balls. That created extra opportunities. There were also some things that were beyond our control.”

On the other side, Central Dauphin coach Seth Leonard did something no other boys’ coach ever did in winning a state title at the school. It meant more that he did it against a traditionally historic program like Imhotep.

“We wanted to change our narrative, and Coach Noble’s resumé is amazing, his program is amazing, and we needed a special group of guys to do this,” Leonard said. “We had to convince our kids that they could do things that did not seem possible. We put it into their minds that they could accomplish things greater than what they could see.

“We had to move the ball the way we did, and we noticed Imhotep liked to help a lot. We were patient and attacked when we saw an opening when they overextended. We had to do things different. That’s what we did the last three playoff games.”

Zoey Whalen, Archbishop Wood’s starting 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, had heard the talk. The Vikings were supposed to get squashed by defending PIAA Class 5A state champion South Fayette, which was averaging better than 70 points a game.

South Fayette did not hit 70, but the Lions’ tally was good enough to get by a young, talented Wood team, 45-35, to capture their second straight PIAA Class 5A state title. They also beat the Vikings in the final last season.

It marked the sixth straight trip to the state championship for Wood.

“South Fayette is a great team, and we heard that we were supposed to get crushed,” Whalen said. “We played great defense, which I thought was a win on our part. We just had to put the ball in the basket. We were not supposed to be here. Everyone doubted us, because we’re so young. But we battled to get here. This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have a lot of motivation to get back here next year.”

Whalen is one of two sophomore starters, with 5-10 Abbie Kelly, two juniors in Sophia McDonald and Makayla Finnegan, and one senior starter, 6-foot Colleen Besachio. The Vikings finished with a deceiving 12-13 overall record, a byproduct of playing in the Philadelphia Catholic League, but with 6-foot sophomore Addison Payne, 5-11 sophomore Casey Thompson, and 5-10 freshman Natalie Thompson returning, Wood will have back seven of its top nine players next season.

“I thought our defense kept us in this game, we just had to put the ball in the basket, but there was something good out of this,” said Wood coach Mike McDonald, who has won six state championships. “Yeah, you want a better outcome, and we are hoping we keep getting better.

“I am disappointed that we didn’t win, but I am proud of how we played, and what the future looks like.”

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South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett admitted he did not calm down until the final buzzer sounded. Wood trailed, 23-19, at halftime and kept within range of the Lions as Kelly’s three-pointer with 4:42 left in the third quarter brought Wood to within 26-22.

The big difference came in the paint, where South Fayette outscored Wood, 24-14.

“We saw they were going to run split action, if they can’t get the low post catch, they’re going to rotate to the high and if not, they’re going to run a flare, so they were very patient in their game,” Bennett said. “They were way better defensively today than I expected, what we saw on film and what we saw today, they had a very good defensive game plan and they were a lot more physical with us which is not what we saw on film.”