HERSHEY — Neighborhood Academy had picked up the sweetest win in program history on Feb. 27 when the Bulldogs won their first WPIAL title.
Exactly one month later, though, the Bulldogs got one even sweeter, and it came, of course, in Chocolatetown, USA.
Syncer Nicholson scored a team-best 18 points and Neighborhood Academy took a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter before holding on to win its first PIAA title, 60-51, against Sankofa Freedom in the Class 1A final Thursday at Giant Center.
It was another giant win for Neighborhood Academy (29-1), which is in just its fifth season in the WPIAL. The Bulldogs closed the season with 19 consecutive wins, with the final one of those being the biggest. Sankofa Freedom (19-12), which plays in the Philadelphia Public League, came up short in its quest for a second title.
“I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Neighborhood Academy standout Courtney Wallace said. “I’m just happy for our families, for anybody that came out, for our school. We brought a lot of kids out, a lot of families out. It was a four-hour drive. So I’m just happy everyone was here, and we got the win for them.”
In addition to Nicholson, Wallace (16 points) and Kedron Gilmore (13) also scored in double figures. Wallace, who averages a triple-double on the season, didn’t have one of those Thursday, but he did tack on 13 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocks and 3 assists while one of his future coaches, Yale associate head coach Justin Simon, watched from the stands behind the Bulldogs’ bench.
After surging in front late in the first quarter, Neighborhood Academy held the lead for the remainder of the game. But despite holding an eight-point halftime lead and an 11-point advantage after three quarters, the Bulldogs had to sweat things out in the fourth.
Sankofa Freedom used an 8-1 run to pull within 51-49 with 3:01 left. Warriors’ star Nafis Dubose missed two free throws a minute later that would have tied the score. Wallace then drilled a foul-line jumper to make it 53-49 with 1:41 remaining before Dubose, who led Sankofa Freedom with 18 points, answered with a layup with 57 seconds left to cut its deficit to 53-51.
That’s when Shamar Simpson, one of Neighborhood Academy’s three senior starters, made one of the biggest shots of the game. Simpson, who was 0 of 5 from 3-point range at the time, took a pass from Gilmore and connected on a triple from the corner to increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 56-51 with just 40 seconds left.
“Caught him in stride and he let it go,” Neighborhood Academy coach Jordan Marks said. “I wasn’t going to be mad, make or miss. You live with it because we do it all day, every day. And it was huge, huge, huge.”
Simpson credited his teammates for giving him the confidence to take the shot. The Bulldogs had been just 3 of 18 from behind the arc prior to it.
“Every time I get into a slump, they always pick me back up, whether it’s practice, in school, or just in life. Always. These are my brothers and this is my family,” Simpson said.
Neighborhood Academy, which won each of its previous seven postseason games by at least 17 points, took its largest lead, 48-35, following Wallace’s three-point play with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. Sankofa Freedom then began its late surge by scoring the final two points of the third and the first four of the fourth.
Neither team shot the ball well, with Neighborhood Academy shooting 37% from the field (22 of 58) and Sankofa Freedom 41% (21 of 51). The Warriors didn’t do themselves any favors from the free-throw line, finishing just 7 of 19. They also committed 16 turnovers.
Nicholson was the starter and closer for the Bulldogs. His outstanding play early on helped the Bulldogs storm back from an 8-2 deficit to take a 20-11 lead after one quarter. Nicholson pumped in seven points during a 10-0 run that put the Bulldogs in front. Following Simpson’s 3-pointer in the final minute of the fourth quarter, Nicholson added two free throws and a layup to account for the game’s final points.
“It meant everything to us,” Simpson said of Nicholson’s performance. “Syn has been playing really well all season.”
Marks said he was so nervous Thursday morning that he couldn’t even eat, so a collection of players hungry for the school’s first PIAA gold medal in any sport did it for him.
“I just love this group,” Marks said. “The way they were unselfish. The way they cared about each other. A turnover, two years ago, they’d be yelling. And now they’re, ‘It’s OK, get your head up.’ The maturity and now to see them become great young men, it’s better than championships. It’s better than everything else. These kids love each other. It’s great.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.