As a three-time WPIAL football champion, a two-time PIAA football champion, a two-time PUP Football All-Star, a WPIAL basketball champion and the 2023 PUP Football Player of the Year, there isn’t much more for Aliquippa’s Cameron Lindsey to accomplish before heading off to play football at Pitt in the fall.
The way he’s playing in his final basketball season for the Quips (15-4, 8-0), though, you would think Lindsey still has everything to prove.
With a chance to clinch the Class 2A Section 1 title in a WPIAL championship rematch at Northgate on Friday night, Lindsey and his Aliquippa teammates brought their “A” game in a chippy, physical affair, dominating from start to finish to sweep the season series against the Flames (14-4, 6-2) with a 58-39 victory. Lindsey tallied a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds — a career game for most players, but just another night at the office for the ferocious 6-2 senior forward.
“I think that’s just what comes with being a Quip,” Lindsey said. “Everybody wanting to come at you, and we’ve always got to be ready.”
After forming one of the area’s top tandems the previous two years with fellow multi-sport star D.J. Walker — now a freshman defensive back at Ohio — Lindsey has taken center stage for the back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A champs, who are hitting their stride at the right time with 11 wins in their past 12 games. Aliquippa has been especially impressive during its current five-game win streak, beating defending WPIAL Class 6A champion Central Catholic and defending WPIAL Class 5A champion Penn Hills.
Now, with the section title wrapped up, the Quips have their sights set on going back-to-back as WPIAL champs in basketball, just a few short months after completing a WPIAL championship three-peat in football.
“There’s still another gear we can hit, and we’re going to keep trying to get to that point,” said Aliquippa coach Nick Lackovich. “Just defending and rebounding the basketball — we did that at a very high level early on [tonight]. … When we come out flying and defending, we’re a tough team to beat.”
Although last year’s championship game had a similar final score, with the Quips defeating Northgate, 52-40, that game saw the Flames build an early double-digit lead before Aliquippa rallied to win its 13th WPIAL title. The first meeting between the teams this season was much closer, with the Quips pulling out a 55-50 win at home on Jan. 9.
Northgate hadn’t lost since that first matchup, entering Friday’s game on a six-game winning streak and with 12 wins in its past 13 games. The Flames’ only other losses this season came against Class 6A foes Butler and New Castle in December, and with scoring machine Josh Williams leading the way, they appeared to be a legitimate threat to the Quips’ Class 2A throne.
“It’s always a good matchup. I like playing against them,” Williams said. “They talk, we talk. It’s a good game every time.”
After Friday night, though, it looks like Aliquippa might just be in a league of its own.
Sophomore guard Josh Pratt did a great job getting to the hoop and converting tough buckets for the Quips, finishing with 13 points. He and Lindsey took turns adding to Aliquippa’s lead early, then senior guard Quentin “Cheese” Goode got in on the fun with a pair of baskets to make it a comfortable 16-2 first-quarter advantage.
By the end of the quarter, Northgate found itself trailing on its home court, 18-4, and the Flames didn’t seem to know what hit them.
“It feels good, especially coming in here and doing it at their gym,” Goode said. “Whatever sport you play, you’re going to have to be physical. It just comes with it. … We’ve got more to prove.”
Despite the rough start, Northgate refused to quit, although the hole the Flames dug for themselves turned out to be too deep to climb out of.
Williams began heating up shortly after halftime, and the senior guard did his best to put his team on his back, scoring 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. At one point, Williams drained a 3-pointer followed quickly by a steal and score, trimming the deficit to single digits at 46-37 with 3:23 to play. That was as close as Northgate would come, though, as Lindsey took over down the stretch to put the finishing touches on an impressive victory in front of a hostile crowd.
Tempers flared between players and even some fans on both sides, but in the end, cooler heads prevailed. And, as usual, so did the Quips.
“We kind of handled the situation well,” Lindsey said. “They had a good crowd here. Just playing together as a team — I think that’s what got it done.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
