South Allegheny defeats Aliquippa in PIAA semifinal thriller

South Allegheny pulled off a surprising victory against Aliquippa in the PIAA Class 3A semifinal on Saturday. With just 90 seconds left in the game, Josh Jackowski made a crucial steal and scored the go-ahead dunk. This rally marked another late comeback for South Allegheny, similar to their previous win over Aliquippa in the WPIAL finals. In this game, South Allegheny managed to outscore Aliquippa 19-5 in the last 10 minutes. At one point, Aliquippa had a nine-point lead, but they struggled to maintain it in the fourth quarter. After leading 29-23 early on, Aliquippa could not stop South Allegheny, who finished the game on a strong 13-2 run. Cam Epps led the Gladiators with 16 points, while Josh Jackowski contributed 10 points. Aliquippa, who ended the game with a score of 31, was without their top player, Josh Pratt, due to an ankle injury. Qa’lil Goode was the leading scorer for Aliquippa with 12 points. With this victory, South Allegheny improved their record to 27-3 and will face West Catholic from Philadelphia in the PIAA Class 3A final next Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.