Wash High needs team effort against Lincoln Park
It has taken less than three weeks for Washington to evolve from a team dangerously close to not winning a WPIAL playoff game to clinching a spot in the second round of the state tournament.
The elixir for guiding the Prexies back from 24 points down to Laurel in the second quarter to defeating Greenville, the District 10 champion, last Saturday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs has more than one ingredient.
Wash High’s guards, Markel Pulliam and Matt Popeck, dominated for stretches of games, senior forward Nate Swart adopted an unselfish approach on both ends of the floor, senior Anthony Popeck is playing the best basketball of his career and the Prexies discovered bench players who fill roles.
But head coach Ron Faust believes Wash High’s quality that is unmeasurable – guts – is what has the Prexies ready to compete against Lincoln Park (23-4), the WPIAL runner-up, tonight at Peters Township (6 p.m.) in the second round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs.
“We started the season 0-3 and very easily the team could have said it’s not to be this year, but these guys, just when you think they’re on the brink of disaster, they always have that extra gear to go to,” Faust said. “They demonstrated that last game and in all five of our playoff games. It’s a team that has stood up to the challenge throughout the year.”
That challenge is larger with Lincoln Park, which has talented guards, depth, athleticism and size. The Leopards lost to Aliquippa in the WPIAL title game and beat Brockway, 69-26, in the first round of the state tournament.
Lincoln Park is led by junior guard Nelly Cummings, a potential Division I recruit who averages 23.6 points per game. Senior guard Nick Aloi averages 17.7 points and 6-8 senior forward Dermontti Welling is a matchup nightmare for opponents. They also have Zay Craft and freshman guard Keeno Holmes, a Peters Township resident and son of former NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington.
Lincoln Park head coach Mike Bariski, who described Cummings as having NFL-caliber speed, believes his roster has more in common with Wash High’s than one might think, comparing his guards to the Prexies’ and Swart to Welling.
“Our guard play is what makes us go and they’re the same way,” Bariski said. “They have (Popeck and Pulliam) and they make their team go. Popeck is a great left-hander. Pulliam flashes and he’s very athletic. They have a big like we have, one who when given the opportunity can score. We’re very similar teams.”
The two teams have taken a different path to the PIAA playoffs. Lincoln Park was the second seed in the WPIAL tournament and needed close wins over Neshannock and Bishop Canevin to reach the title game, where they lost to the Quips by four points.
Wash High, meanwhile, was the eighth seed in the WPIAL playoffs, beating Laurel before losing to Aliquippa and winning both games in the PIAA play-in bracket to earn the district’s fifth seed.
The paths are different but the narratives have one glaring similarity: both teams have been inconsistent. Wash High, for example, struggled during the third quarter against Greenville and had similar lulls against Seton-La Salle, Quaker Valley and Laurel. Each time, the Prexies found a way to win. Faust believes a perfect effort is needed to beat a talented opponent like Lincoln Park. He stressed that point during Monday’s practice.
“There’s no doubt in my mind we can be competitive with just about anyone,” Faust said. “It’s just that you have to get more consistent now, and it’s time for us to play a whole game instead of some of the inconsistencies we’ve demonstrated.”
Bariski believes the key to Wash High playing four consistent quarters is Popeck and Pulliam. Though he unsuccessfully tried to obtain the video from the Prexies’ WPIAL quarterfinal loss to Aliquippa, the games he did watch made him believe guard play will dictate tonight’s outcome.
Like Wash High, Lincoln Park has depth and players who scored in key situations throughout the postseason. With all the attention on the guards, it could be somebody like Swart, who scored 20 points against Greenville, that shifts momentum.
“Sometimes in games like this, it’s the unknown that ends up being the factor besides the so-called stars,” Faust said. “We’re looking for anything to happen, but it’s going to have to be a team game and we’re going to have to play one of our better ones to pull it off.”