By Dan Irwin
New Castle News

This isn’t over yet.

Although Lincoln Park wrapped up the WPIAL Section 1-A crown last night with its second win of the season over Union — this one an 82-58 romp — neither Leopards head coach Mark Javens nor Scotties mentor Dave Smialowski was ready to claim or concede dominance.

“We beat a very good team here in Union,” said Javens, whose PIAA Class A third-ranked team improved to 9-0 in the league and 16-5 overall.

“I know Union’s going to be there in the playoffs — and I hope they put them on the other side (of the playoff bracket). I really do, because they really have some talented kids. I’ve been watching them for the last three years.”

Told of Javens’ comment, Smialowski grinned, “Well, I hope they’re on the other side of the bracket, too.”

Still, that’s not to say that the Scotties, who dropped into a second-place tie with Our Lady of Sacred Heart at 6-3 in the section (15-4 overall), are thinking their playoff hopes hinge on avoiding a third matchup with Lincoln Park.

“I definitely think we can compete with them, and I thought we competed with them (tonight),” Smialowski said. “They just made some shots and we turned the ball over a little too much and we came out on the losing end.

“Our kids played hard. I told the kids, ‘Don’t you hang your heads for one minute.’ These kids have worked hard since they’ve been in fifth- and sixth-grade. I take a lot of pride in this group how hard they’ve worked.”

Union trailed 7-6 midway through the opening stanza when the Leopards’ running game exploded. They reeled off 11 unanswered points, the first eight of which all came in transition. Freshman Maverick Rowan, who had a game-high 26 points, capped the uprising with the first of his five 3-pointers.

Lincoln Park then continued to pull away, building a 53-32 advantage by the half.

“We like to get out in transition,” Javens said. “We’ve got some kids who can score, but when they start sharing the ball, we pass up good shots for great shots. And when we have great shots, that makes it a lot easier for everybody. I think that’s what happened in the first half.”

The Leopards had three players finish in double figures — junior Elijah Minnie had 18 and sophomore Antonio Kellum added 16 — and each had reached that plateau by halftime. The 6-foot-9 Minnie, who snared 14 rebounds on the night, had five first-half dunks.

“We threw the ball away a little bit,” Smialowski noted. “That’s something we preached — you know they’re going to press. We preached attacking the gaps, getting the ball in the middle, reversing the ball and hitting shots.

“But it comes down to being able to hit shots, too. We missed some easy ones, but when you have the back line that they have (Minnie, the 6-5 Rowan and 6-6 Ryan Skovranko), it’s always in the back of your mind, ‘Where are they at? Where are they at?’ ”

Union, which was led by Markel Peace’s 18 points and Benjamin Young’s 15, closes out section play Friday at Rochester (3-6, 7-14) while Our Lady of Sacred Heart plays host to Cornell (0-9, 3-17).

“I told the kids, ‘Listen, we gotta forget about this one,” Smialowski said. “We’ve got to take care of Rochester, and we have a nonleague game Monday at Riverside. Those are important games for us.”