PITTSBURGH –The Foxes stunned the Indians in Oakland on Saturday night in a thriller, ruining North Hills’ perfect season by winning the 6A WPIAL championship, 43-36.
This the first WPIAL championship for the program since 1977, when Fox Chapel was only in 3A. That same year, the team won the PIAA State championship as well.
Fox Chapel, who finished the season with a 23-1 record heading into the PIAA state playoffs, was out for revenge, as the prior matchup at the North Hills Tournament in December of 2021, left them with a plethora of bulletin board material, losing to the Indians by over 30.
The theme was persistence at the Petersen Events Center for Fox Chapel. Its first lead didn’t come until the 3:08 mark of the 3rd quarter, and the Foxes took a 2-point lead into the 4th quarter.
Despite not being a scoring threat until the second half, Yofan did all of the little things, like taking a key charge with two minutes left to play, as well as blocking a key shot just seconds later.
Colin Kwiatkowski finished the game off for the Foxes with about :14 seconds left, with a one-handed slam from a clean pass from his teammate Yofan.
In the first half, North Hills controlled the pace of play, leading by nine at one point. Coach Skrinjar was able to rally his players pull to within one after 16 minutes of play.
Devin Burgess led all scorers with 11 points after the first half. Russell Fenton and Jake Dockey each had 6 for the Foxes. Parham contributed four points, four rebounds and two blocks in the first half.
Parham and Nick Kwiatkowski controlled the paint, battling for rebounds on each possession. Yofan and Smith provided leadership and composure, utilizing their intangibles to provide scoring opportunities up-and-down the court.
Fox Chapel’s path to the Petersen Events Center was tumultuous at times, as both opponents tested the Foxes throughout the entire game. In Fox Chapel, the Pine-Richland Rams held the lead for a majority of the first half, but Yofan and co. battled back, out-scoring the Rams by double-digits in the second half.
In their next contest against a physical Central Catholic squad, the Foxes trailed most of the game, until two costly turnovers hurt the Vikings late, thus allowing Yofan’s late-game heroics to come thru once again in a low-scoring affair.
The story for the Indians was very similar to that of its season-long winning streak. Parham’s squad took care of business against the North Allegheny Tigers at home in the 6A Quarterfinals for the fourth time this season by a score of 61-53.
In the 6A Semifinals, North Hills and Mt. Lebanon battled in Wexford, Pennsylvania for a trip to Oakland at the Petersen Events Center.
Parham’s double-double paced North Hills and kept the program’s undefeated season intact.
After Upper St. Clair’s loss to Mt. Lebanon in the Quarterfinals, that guaranteed a new champion once again in 6A. Pine-Richland, Penn Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Butler and Upper St. Clair all captured 6A gold from 2017-2021 respectively.
The PIAA 6A playoffs begin on March 9 and the championship game will be played in Hershey, PA at the GIANT Center on March 26.