Imani Christian defeated Upper St. Clair 63-58 at home in a late season clash between two of the top teams in 6A.
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When these teams played each other earlier this month, USC dominated. They won by 42 points at home, defeating Imani 74-32.
Imani evened the score Thursday night and brought the USC win streak to a halt at 13 games.
This game looked nothing like that last one. Imani’s pressure was at full tilt from the jump.
Imani star RJ Sledge picked up a technical foul due to that intensity just 14 seconds into the game. They were aggressive, and it led to a 5-0 lead early.
Their entire game plan revolved around making it difficult for Upper St. Clair to get the ball to their star big man, Tyler Robbins. In their first matchup, Robbins was a monster. He was dunking everything and he completely controlled every aspect of the game.
He played well in this one too, but Imani did a great job of limiting his touches early and they led 24-18 after one.
Imani kept the pressure up in the second quarter as well with RJ Sledge controlling the flow of the game. With Imani denying Tyler Robbins the ball it was senior, Kamil Jackson and sophomore, Ryan Robbins who provided a spark for the Panthers.
Imani sophomore, Kieshaun Demus, made his presence felt in this one as well. He went complete iso ball on the final possession of the second quarter and drove to the rim to make the score 37-30 at the half.
Tyler Robbins got things started for USC in the second half, setting the tone with a huge and-1 dunk early in the third quarter. Sledge answered back with a floater over the towering bigs of USC to make the score 41-35 in favor of Imani.
The Saints were hitting shots all over the place. In that first matchup, it just wasn’t their night. Thursday night was.
Imani took a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter and began to slow things down in an effort to burn clock and preserve their lead. Sledge showed off the handles as he crossed up the defender and drained the pull-up jumper from the left elbow.
The atmosphere at CCAC was electric with Imani leading by 10 midway through the 4th quarter. It was like the Imani home crowd could see their dreams of redemption becoming a reality.
USC did their best to spoil things for the Saints, cutting the lead to just 3 points with 20 seconds left in the game, but Imani kept their composure, hit their free throws, and held on to win by a score of 63-58.
Sledge was great in this one. He was hobbled in the first matchup, but he brought his “A” game tonight. He set the tone for Imani, scoring 13 points, dishing out 8 assists, and snagging 7 steals.
Demus was excellent tonight too. He scored a team-high 18 points for the Saints and pulled down 10 boards as well.
USC is still in first place in 6A and will play their last two games of the regular season next week against Hempfield and Mt. Lebanon, but with this upset win, Imani has re-opened the conversation as to who the favorites are in 6A.
They travel to Mt. Lebanon on Tuesday and end the season at home on Thursday against Central Catholic, where they’ll look to avenge that loss as well.