Constitution grabs Class AA state title

HERSHEY - Imagine seeing everything you've worked for all season riding on the revolutions of a last-second three-pointer.

After losing in the Public League championship, Constitution High was desperate for PIAA redemption Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey. And the fate of the Class AA championship had just left the fingertips of Seton-La Salle's Levi Masua.

"I'm not gonna lie," said Constitution junior forward Ahmad Gilbert, "when it was in the air, I thought it was going in."

And there was good reason to anticipate defeat. Nearly a minute earlier, Masua hit a deeper three, just inches from the Rebels' bench, tying the game with 1:08 to play.

However, the potential winner, which was on line, caromed hard off the back rim just before time expired, giving ConHigh a 61-59 triumph and the championship they were denied weeks earlier.

"We felt the weight of the loss in the Public League [championship] and we just didn't want the replay," junior guard Kimar Williams said.

The last sequence in that Feb. 23 defeat: a missed three by Gilbert just before time expired as Martin Luther King celebrated its first Pub title at the Generals' expense.

"I knew his pain after the game," Gilbert said of Masua. "Now he's probably in there going through what I went through, going home and thinking about it; thinking about what he could have done . . . That's what I was thinking when I was on the bus, so I know what he's going through right now."

For the Generals (28-5), success was multipronged. Gilbert finished with 19 points (7-for-16) and 14 boards while Williams added 14 (5-for-11) and a game-high five assists. Junior forward Chad Andrews was big off the bench with eight points and nine rebounds.

But, as they have done for the majority of the season, ConHigh found strength in numbers . . . of contributors.

"That's been our motto all season," Williams said. "Just trust each other, stay together and play hard."

For example, when Generals coach Rob Moore needed a stop with his team clinging to a 60-59 lead with 17.3 seconds left, his four starters were on the bench.

"It showed a lot of trust," Williams said. "Our coach and our players, we've played with a lot of trust all season."

The lone starter on that defensive unit was junior guard Akeem King, a key freshman reserve in ConHigh's 2012 state title winner.

"I'm not gonna lie," Gilbert said, "I'm not the best defender on the team . . . The best defenders on the team were out there playing."

Senior guard Lincoln Kpokuyou, junior guard Haneef Vaughn, Andrews and sophomore wing Anthony Satchell accompanied King.

Kpokuyou dogged Rebels senior guard Dale Clancy (16 points) into a tough shot that ended with the Generals retaining possession.

"They get all my respect," Gilbert said. "If it wasn't for them, I'd probably be feeling like the other team is right now."

Masua finished with 19 points, 11 boards and a new jersey after his original No. 24 was stained by blood. After a quick locker room trip, he emerged wearing No. 21.

His game-tying three was part of a 12-3 run that momentarily quieted the ConHigh faithful.

In the end, if the Generals' motto was teamwork, it's unlikely any player adopted it better than senior forward Raheem Liggins, who lost minutes to Andrews late in the season.

"I told Chad, 'If you're playing better than me, those are your minutes,' " said Liggins, who transferred from Prep Charter as a junior. "I wasn't giving them to him. He was just playing better than me. Everybody was like, 'Oh, he's taking your minutes.' But I didn't feel that way. We were winning and he was playing well."

On Saturday, Liggins scored five of his seven points in the second half, earned praise from his head coach and now, he's a state champion.

"That means everything," he said. "I always wanted it, but I never knew I'd ever get it."