Quaker Valley Scores Big Road Win at Lincoln Park; Point Park Women Fall Just Short to IU-Kokomo;
Updated: Feb 20, 2022
Friday Night Fights, for a good spell of time, was the most entertaining show on ESPN's lineup. Bob Papa and Teddy Atlas introduced viewers to some of the most exciting fighters and called some of the most memorable bouts of the 1990s and first decade of the 2000s.
The Quaker Valley-Lincoln Park Charter battle at the Midland Gymnasium was the WPIAL version of Friday Night Fights this week.
The gym had a buzz about it before the game as two of the most electric programs in the region squared off with the atmosphere that surrounded an Arturo Gatti or Mickey Ward fight--You knew it was going to be a slugfest before the opening bell as they both came in ranked in the GymRat Performance Training Top 10 Overall Power Ranking, as well as in their classification rankings.
The teams did not disappoint, as the first quarter was played a breakneck speed. The teams traded blows, skipping the feeling out process. Lincoln Park's sensational sophomore Brandin Cummings scored 8 in the opening quarter and was matched by the Quakers star senior Adou Thiero, who scored 6, including a running buzzer beater to end the quarter with QV up 21-16.
The main event hype continued in the second quarter as Cummings and Thiero continued to shoulder the load for their respective teams, but Markus Frank, the Quakers senior wing, climbed his way to double digits by halftime. Duquesne bound LA Pratt added 6 of his 8 points in the second as Lincoln Park took a 32-31 lead to the lockers.
The third remained a see-saw battle until late in the quarter, when Quaker Valley tore off a small run to take a 56-47 lead to the fourth quarter. Thiero and Frank combined for 19 of the Quakers 25 points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was when the haymakers started flying. The teams traded runs and buckets, with Lincoln Park getting the lead down to 60-59 after a Cummings step back.
The Quakers had an answer for Cummings and his teammates and were able to seal the game at the free throw line. Thiero hit 9 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the 75-67 victory.
Frank had an all state type of performance, pouring in 31 points; Thiero kept pace with 29 for the Quakers. Lincoln Park Charter was led by Cummings who scored 30, Ali Brown added 10, Pratt and DeAndre Moye each added 8 for the Leopards.
Point Park Update
Three Rivers Broadcasting was also in attendance for the Point Park University Women's Basketball game on Thursday evening, as they hosted River States Conference foe IU-Kokomo in a contest played at the famous dome at CCBC.
Tony Grenek's Pioneers struggled out the gate and fell behind early, trailing 20-8 after the first quarter of play. Their shooting continued to plague them in the second quarter, as they found themselves in a 21 point hole at halftime.
Grenek made several halftime adjustments and the Pioneers came out with a strong third quarter to cut the lead to a manageable dozen points heading to the fourth quarter.
They were aided by Michelle Burns nailing three from beyond the arc and transition points off steals from Lexi Petit. While they would get as close at 5 with just over a minute left, the Pioneers would come up just short in their comeback bid, falling 69-62
Burns continued her fantastic season by scoring 20 points, bringing her to within 54 of 1,700 for her career at PPU. Petit, who has to be one of the top "feel good" stories of Pittsburgh basketball after suffering two severe knee injures in short order, turned in a solid shift and added 18 points. Taylor Rinn turned in her standard double-double night, this time with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Pioneers are home Saturday at 1PM against Saint Mary Of The Woods in a contest that will take place at CCBC. We hope that our readers and viewers will head out to support our gal' Jordan, Michelle's quest for the record books and the rest of the Pioneers as they wind down their 2021-2022 season--A bunch of home games and a "road trip" up the hill to play Carlow await in February.
Saturday
TRB will attend the Pittsburgh Central Catholic at Pine Richland game Saturday at 2:30 PM with tweets @fydsports and @3rbroadcasting with a wrap up article to follow about that game, along with a stat line update on Michelle Burns race for the record book at PPU.
Image Credit for Michelle Burns: Point Park University