Aquinas Academy's Vinnie Cugini is WPIAL's new scoring king

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – For 30 years, Tom Pipkins was on top of the WPIAL basketball world, and many people wondered if someone would ever break his record of 2,838 career points scored.

On Tuesday night, that crown was passed from Pipkins to Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini.

Cugini entered the road game at Neighborhood Academy needing 30 points to tie the record and he scored his 31st point- the record-breaker - on a free throw with 2:08 left in the fourth quarter of a 68-62 loss.

After that, his teammates, coaches, and parents celebrated with Cugini on the court as giant balloons were brought out.

“It was something huge that I will never forget and something that the school will never forget,” said Cugini, who is committed to playing college basketball at Pitt-Johnstown.

For a moment, it looked like Cugini might have to wait for another game to break the record as he only scored four points in the first quarter. But the 6-foot-2 guard picked up the pace in the second quarter scoring 12 points to bring his first half total to 16.

He had another slow quarter in the third with only five points and entered the final eight minutes nine points off the record. Cugini picked things back up in the fourth quarter, going for 13 points and finishing the game with 34 to put his career total at 2,841.

After hearing about the possibility of breaking the record all season, Cugini was relieved to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

“It was a fun process, I really appreciate everyone coming out and all the attention, but it is a sigh of relief, and now I can just worry about playoffs,” Cugini said. “It didn’t matter if I got it today or the next game, but I’m glad I got it over with.”

Playing in Class 1A, Aquinas Academy doesn’t draw always draw a lot of media attention. But with the WPIAL record on the line, the number of writers, photographers and videographers at the game made for a change of atmosphere. But the attention didn’t keep Cugini from just playing his game.

“I wasn’t really nervous,” Cugini said. “I came out here knowing it was going to be a good atmosphere. Yeah, I was more emotional than I thought, but I’m just super proud of myself.”

While Cugini attends Aquinas Academy, located in Gibsonia, the high school that he lives closest to in the WPIAL is Neighborhood Academy as he lives just a mile away from the school. While he couldn’t break the record at the school he attends, being able to do it where it was easy for his family, close friends, and neighbors to show up was special.

“It was huge to do it here,” Cugini said. “If I didn’t do it at home, I wanted it to be here since I live a mile away. So, a lot of people from my neighborhood, that I grew up with came out, so it was huge to do it here and it was memorable.”

No WPIAL player has ever scored 3,000 points in a high school career, but with his total at 2,841, the milestone could be within reach with five games remaining as his season average sits at around 45 points per game.