Lincoln Park defeated Ridgway 51-34 in the second round as the Elkers worked hard to keep the scoring down. The slower pace also kept the Leopards’ junior Elijah Minnie out of the flow as the 6-9 Minnie scored just four points.

He still finished the week with an average of 23 points per game as he exploded for 42 points and 12 rebounds in a 86-84 win over Bishop Carroll in the quarterfinals. Every point Minnie scored was needed in that game, too, as the Leopards roared to a 20-point lead in the first half before falling behind in the fourth quarter and coming back.

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Lincoln Park repeats win in rematch

Lincoln Park entered the PIAA playoffs as the fourth seed from the WPIAL – a seeding that belied their top-seeding before an upset by Clairton.

In the first round, the Leopards drew a trip to Farrell to play Kennedy Catholic practically in their backyard. In addition, the Golden Eagles had had an intense scouting report on the Leopards in a 70-62 Lincoln Park home win on January 23.

On this PIAA basketball playoffs first day, we bring you photos from some of 2012-13’s best teams.

The Leopards were upset in the WPIAL semifinals by Clairton (click here to look back to the video highlights).
The following photos were taken at the game.

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As the playoffs continue, coaches often devise special defenses to stop the biggest scoring threat on opponents. One of the most common is the box and one where one player is assigned to shadow the star and the other four form a box to cover everyone else.

It’s likely Lincoln Park will never see such defense because there is no one player that the opponent decide to focus on. In two big wins last week, junior Elijah Minnie had a triple-double and a double-double. In a 95-37 win over Mapletown, he had 26 points and 10 rebounds and, in a 99-58 win over Wilkinsburg, he had 26 points, 13 blocked shots, and 10 rebounds.

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