Riverview boys can’t slow down Summit Academy

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, January 18, 2019 | 10:45 PM

Summit Academy’s only Section 1-2A loss to date was Dec. 14 against Riverview.

The Knights didn’t want to see a repeat and eventually finished the night in sole possession of first place. Summit opened up the game in the second period and rolled to a 74-49 victory over the Raiders in Oakmont.

A 17-0 run that straddled the halves and bench strength from the Knights proved to be the difference as Summit had five players score in double figures.

Summit is 7-1 in the section, one game ahead of Sto-Rox, which Apollo-Ridge upset, 67-61 on Friday.

Riverview is 4-4, tied with Apollo-Ridge and Springdale in the battle for the fourth and final WPIAL playoff berth from the section. The Raiders play Tuesday at Apollo-Ridge.

“We played them ‘man’ the last time, and our kids are not too good at that,” Knights coach William Sharpe said of his team’s defense in the earlier game. “We went to a 3-2 zone tonight, and our bench played very well. We got a lot of good threes and knocked them down.”

The Summit bench outscored Riverview, 32-2.

Junior guard Maxwell Kimbell came off the bench and led the Knights with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Khalid Wilcox had 11, another reserve, had 11.

“To their credit, they played very, very well,” Raiders coach Paul Sapotichne said. “We switched a number of defenses trying to slow them down. We tried to concentrate of their best players, and other guys stepped up and hit threes and finished plays.”

The scoree was tied 16-16 early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Noah Black. But Summit took command soon after, building a 16-point lead on a put-back by Tavon Johnson to beat the second-quarter buzzer.

Riverview went 8 minutes, 53 seconds without a field goal, falling behind 53-28 before Thanny Black made a 3-pointer late in the third period.

“As a team, we just play together and look for the guy that’s hot,” Sharpe said. “Whoever is hot, get them the ball.”

Summit committed just nine turnovers, remarkable for a team that never played together until the start of the season. Summit Academy is a school for court-adjudicated youth from different parts of the state.

“I tell them to treat the ball like money,” Sharpe said with a laugh. “You don’t ever want to lose money, so they don’t turn the ball over. First thing we write on the board is, ‘no turnovers.’ ”

Riverview had eight 3-pointers but couldn’t get a large number of shots to fall.

“I’m not sure we could have beaten them tonight with one of our best performances,” Sapotichne said. “But, clearly, our performance needed to be better than it was tonight.”

Noah Black led the Raiders with 18, followed by Black’s 16.

Riverview is 6-8 overall, bettering their two victories from last season. But Sapotichne and the Raiders are looking for more.

“We want the last couple of games to have some importance,” Sapotichne said. “We don’t want to say we’re better but not going any further.”

Starter Tayvon Johnson had 12 points for Summit, with Ishaad Stevens and Jaleel Christian scoring 10 each.

Summit will play at Sto-Rox Friday.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Riverview, Summit Academy