Imani Christian Academy boys basketball wins first WPIAL title with 64-41 victory over Union

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – They say there’s a first time for everything.

That couldn’t have been truer for top-seeded Imani Christian Academy boys basketball on Thursday night, as the Saints took home their first WPIAL title with a 64-41 win over second-seeded Union in the 1A championship game on at the Petersen Events Center.

Dame Givner led the way with 17 points, but the Saints had three others in double figures as Virgil Hall and RJ Sledge each scored 11 and Markus Williams added 10.

“I feel like this is what we deserve,” Halll said. “We’ve been working so hard day in and day out for a very long time. So, I think that this is a steppingstone to our ultimate goal which is winning a state championship.”

Imani Christian only led 24-21 at halftime, but a offensive surge came from the Saints in the second half out scoring the Scotties 40-20 in the second half.

“I yelled at them in the locker room that we need to get our things together,” Imani Christian head coach Omar Foster said. “We were playing a little tight and a little shaky. Our identity is defense, and we feel that if we play really good defense, then we’ll play well on offense.”

With the Saints limiting amount the of points that Union scored in the second half, it translated into the team shooting well from the field. The Saints shot 12-of-17 from the field in the second half and finished 20-of-34 overall.

On defense, Union entered the game allowing 42.5 points per game, but the Scotties struggled with the size of the Saints with Hall at 6-foot-9 and Alier Maluk, who recorded five points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, at 6-foot-11.

The Scotties were trying to win their second title in school history, winning their first one in 2003, and were led by the Stanley brothers - Matt with 19 points and Lucas with 15 points.

Imani Christian started the season 1-4, and had to play some very good teams such as Ohio schools Cuyahoga Valley Christian and Garfield Heights, who are both still alive in their respective playoffs. But despite playing tough competition, the Saints have used those losses to help them build as a team as they are arguably playing some of the best basketball of their season.

“The hard times brought us closer together,” Hall said. “In the beginning of the season, we had a lot of guys play selfishly such as me and when you go through those difficult times, you start relying on each other. We need those losses. After that we got better, we became got smarter and we played harder.”