State champ Canevin boasts two picks on Class 1A All-State team
By Mike Gross — Lancaster Media Group
The Philadelphia area is known for powerhouse private-school high school basketball programs, especially in the monstrous Philadelphia Catholic League.
The Pittsburgh area, not so much — until recently.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, in Coraopolis, whose current 68-game winning streak includes the last two state Class AA championships, has emerged as a state power.
| FIRST TEAM | ||
| Davion Hill | Jr. | St. John Neumann |
| Marquis Ratcliff | Sr. | Nativity BVM |
| Vinnie Cugini | Jr. | Aquinas Academy |
| Jaden Gales | Sr. | Bishop Canevin |
| Kevaughn Price | Sr. | Bishop Canevin |
| Hanief Clay | Sr. | St. John Neumann |
This season, Bishop Canevin did, too.
The Crusaders, from Pittsburgh’s East Carnegie neighborhood, rolled to the PIAA Class A title last month. Two of the Crusaders – seniors Kevaughn Price and Jaden Gales – have received first-team recognition on the Pennsylvania Sportswriters Class A All-State team.
Coach Gino Palmosina of Canevin is Class A Coach of the Year.
The Crusaders won the WPIAL title in 2020-21 but had to forfeit in the PIAA quarterfinals after a player tested positive for COVID-19.
This season they went 25-4, with all of the losses coming to Class 5A or 6A schools — three of them state-tournament qualifiers.
“Those losses were so important to us, especially the first two (to Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Penn Hills),’’ said Palmosina, who last week accepted the head coaching job at Moon Area. “I don’t know if we’d have won the state title without them.’’
Price, a 6-2 senior, averaged 15 points and seven rebounds and was called, “the guy everyone in our program looked up to, a terrific basketball player and a better young man,’’ by Palmosina.
Gales, a versatile 6-6 forward, averaged 15.8 points and 6-5 rebounds. Both Gales and Price are four-year players. They are being recruited by numerous Division III schools in Western Pennsylvania, according to Palmosina.
The Class A Player of the Year goes to Davion Hill, a 6-1 junior from St. John Neumann in Williamsport who made All-State for the third time.
Hill led Neumann to a 10th straight league title, third straight District 4 Class A crown and the state championship game. He averaged 26.1 points, 7.9, rebounds and four steals.
Hill has scholarship offers from Maryland, Missouri State, Kent State and Towson. His brother Aliza Johnson played at Missouri State and in the NBA, for five teams over three seasons, most recently the New Orleans Pelicans.
Another brother, David Hill, was All-State at Neumann and is committed to Towson, although he is currently at a prep school in Florida.
Hill’s current backcourt mate, Hanief Clay, also made the first team after averaging 19.9 points, 5.5 rebounds (at 5-9), 5.5 assists and 4.4 steals. Clay, who has over 900 career points in just two seasons, has an offer from Alvernia.
Scoring machine Vinnie Cugini made the second team as a freshman and sophomore. Now 6-2, he jumped to the first team after a junior year in which he averaged 36.2 points for tiny Aquinas Academy of Gibsonia, near Pittsburgh.
Cugini has averaged over 30 points per game in each of his varsity seasons and scored his 2,000th point in February, through 55 high school games.
Marquis Ratcliffe, a 6-6 senior from Nativity, made the first team for the second straight year. He also made the third team as a sophomore in 2019-20.
Ratcliffe averaged 20.5 points and 13 rebounds for a team that reached the state semifinals, one year after winning the PIAA Class A title.
Teams for each of the PIAA’s six classifications will be announced throughout the week. The Non-PIAA All-State team was announced Monday.
Pennsylvania Sportswriters’ Class 1A All-State Team
Player of the Year: Davion Hill, St. John Neumann
Coach of the Year: Gino Palmosina, Bishop Canevin
1st Team
Davion Hill, 6′ 1″, junior, St. John Neumann Regional Academy
Marquis Ratcliff, 6′ 6″, senior, Nativity BVM
Vinnie Cugini, 6′ 2″, junior, Aquinas Academy
Jaden Gales, 6′ 6″, senior, Bishop Canevin
Kevaughn Price, 6′ 2″, senior, Bishop Canevin
Hanief Clay, 5′ 9″, senior, St. John Neumann Regional Academy
2nd Team
Lambert Palmer, 6′ 1″, senior, Williamsburg
Pace Prosser, 6′, sophomore, Berlin Brothersvalley
Alec Srock, 6′ 2″, senior, DuBois Central Catholic
Evan Dumaine, 6′ 3″, junior, Mount Calvary Christian
Matt Stanley, 5′ 10″, junior, Union
Braden Adams, 6′ 2″, senior, Shanksville-Stoneycreek
3rd Team
Grant Landis, 6′ 1″, senior, Lancaster Country Day
Cody Miller, 6′ 2″, senior, Nativity BVM
Xavier Spears, 6′ 10″, sophomore, Notre Dame (East Stroudsburg)
Charlie Breindel, 6′, senior, Elk County Catholic
Avery Kopcha, 5′ 11″, sophomore, Mount Calvary Christian
Lamont Samuels, 5′ 9″, junior, Farrell