Lincoln Park pulled away from Gateway in an action-packed 61-48 victory in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday afternoon in Montour.
The Leopards unloaded a balanced scoring attack with Josh Pratt leading the way with 25 points.
The Leopards went on a 7-1 run and two 8-0 runs to pull away.
“My coaches kept telling me to let the game come to me and not force it,” Pratt said. “In the first half, I felt like I rushed a couple of shots, but at halftime they stressed making the open pass and trusting the offense. In the second half, I did that, and the shots started falling.”
Amaizen Straughters added nine points, Jeremiah Pratt notched eight points, and Malcom Fry mustered eight points and nine rebounds.
Straughters commended Pratt on his leadership.
“I’m proud of him,” Straughters said. “It’s his last year in high school, and he’s continuing to prove himself. He’s worked for everything, and he’s committed to a Division I school (Columbia). I’m really proud of him.”
Gateway’s Mykel Bruce-McCrommon tallied his 1,000th point in the first quarter, posting seven points in the opening period.
“It’s been a pleasure coaching Mike,” coach Vern Benson said. “I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity. I was here back in 2011 as an assistant when we won our first WPIAL title, and his cousin was on that team. That group was special — but Mike is a special kid. He’s one of the most coachable players I’ve had in a long time. He’s unselfish, always puts the team first, and I love the kid. He stays calm and composed — never too high, never too low. That’s the beauty of him.”
Bruce-McCrommon and Pratt slugged it out with both matching up with each other in the first half.
Bruce-McCrommon delivered 24 points in the game.
“Mykel, he’s a great player,” Pratt said. “We came into the game knowing what he can do, and I’m sure they knew the same about me. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. They put him in great positions to score, and it was a good game overall. I’m proud of him and proud of our effort.”
Pratt and McCrommon-Brown stole the show.
“Pratt’s tough,” Benson said. “He’s a really good player. Both teams knew who they had coming into the game, and it was a good battle between two competitive guys. I thought they both played hard and showed a lot of respect for each other.”
Gateway kept it within a few scores until Lincoln Park pulled away. Benson wanted a win to go with Bruce-McCrommon’s milestone.
“This was a tough one for us,” Benson said. “We came off a big win (over Franklin Regional) last night, had to get up early and travel and we didn’t play our best basketball. But give Lincoln Park credit. They’re a good team. We competed, but we just didn’t quite have our best stuff today.”
Benson added that the team stuck to its defensive man-to-man principles even while facing a lineup featuring Pratt. Howevr, he said they made sure they knew where Pratt was.
Lincoln Park led 14-11 at the end of one.
After a competitive first half, Gateway trailed 28-23 at the break.
“What they do is they go on runs,” Benson said. “Eight-to-10 point runs where it’s just boom, boom, boom. That’s their trademark, and that’s what hurt us.”
After a Jax Vovaris floater cut it to 33-27, Lincoln Park went on a 7-1 run to go up 40-28.
A Straughters layup, a Jeremiah Pratt 3-pointer and a Josh Pratt contested layup made up the points on the run.
Gateway battled back, cutting it to 43-37 after a Bruce-McCrommon layup.
Lincoln Park then went on a 8-0 run to go up 51-37.
Late in the fourth, Pratt unleashed eight straight points to make it 59-44, putting the game out of reach.
Straughters credited teamwork for Lincoln Park’s ability to get up-tempo and go on sustained runs.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team sport,” Straughters said. “We’re all connected. We’re all brothers outside of the game, and that’s what matters.”
Lincoln Park looks to use its team play to take the No. 1 spot in the section in a showdown against Chartiers Valley on Tuesday.
“Balanced scoring is huge for us,” Pratt said. “When everyone’s scoring — Malcolm, Amaizen, my brother — we’re a much better team. When we’re all on the same page offensively, it makes us dangerous. Now we just have to keep tightening things up on the defensive end.”
Gateway is 8-1 in section play and wants to build momentum toward the postseason.
“Hopefully we don’t have any cancellations with the snow,” Benson said. “We’ve got Albert Gallatin on Tuesday, then Uniontown after that. We still have some tough games left. We’ll keep grinding. That’s what this team does.”