Jordan and Imhotep prevail in nail-biter

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Kamani Jordan oozes a love for basketball. He's always energetic. Mostly makes the right plays. Constantly encourages teammates.

But in the 2010-11 academic year, he was attending a school that didn't even offer the sport.

How does that happen?

"I was at Germantown in the 10th grade," Jordan said, "and I got into some trouble. They sent me to a school called Delaware Valley, up on Ridge Avenue, and they didn't even have a team. We just did, like, workout stuff and I tried to get better from that.

"When I was there, everything worked out. I learned my lesson. I did what I was supposed to do and I was able to get back to a regular school. Now, look what's happening."

He's Penn State-bound, that's what.

The 5-foot-10, 150-pound senior plays point guard for Imhotep Charter, a highly successful Public League program. Honestly, he did not post his best performance Wednesday night at Liberty High as the Panthers defeated Holy Cross, of suburban Scranton, 37-35, in the semifinals of the PIAA Class AA playoffs.

He made two large contributions, however, and the Panthers survived a pulsating, last-possession situation. Saturday, at 2 p.m. at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center, they'll meet Beaver Falls for the chance to win a third state title in four years.

On a pass from Khyree Wooten, freshly back into the game after banging his head hard on the floor, Jordan drained a right-wing trey to put Imhotep ahead for good, at 36-34, with 3 minutes, 42 seconds remaining.

Then there was the final possession.

Imhotep led, 37-35, as Holy Cross inbounded from in front of its bench. Coach Andre Noble expected a dump-in pass to the Crusaders' 6-6 junior star, Josh Kosin. The coach also suspected a kick-out for what could have been a game-winning trey, which was why he told his players not to double-team anyone.

Sophomore point guard Connor Callejas drove the right side of the lane and tried a layup. Sophomore forward Deion Evans - having doubled down, despite Noble's instructions - made a perfectly timed swat and time expired as numerous players scrambled on the floor for the rebound.

Jordan covered Callejas on that final possession.

"Once I saw that my man had the ball, and was gonna go, I came up with every last bit of intensity in my body," he said. "I forced the guy to the help, and Deion made the play.

"I didn't really see the block. I was focused on blocking somebody out. Then I could tell what happened and I was all smiles."

Evans was Imhotep's eighth man. He took no shots and grabbed two rebounds in addition to posting what he called "the biggest block of my life."

Holy Cross 15 9 6 5 - 35

Imhotep Charter 7 14 9 7 - 37

HC: Caonijas 8, Cosin 14, Gaughan 2, Jones 6, Joyce 1, McGraw 4.

IC: Brandon Austin 17, Nigel Grant 3, Tyheem Harmon 2, Kamani Jordan 6, Devin Liggeons 4, Shakur Nesmith 2, Khyree Wooten 3.