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Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | 7:42 PM
There’s a new all-time leading scorer in WPIAL basketball history, but the newly crowned record holder had a somewhat subdued celebration.
Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini broke the WPIAL record with a 33-point effort Tuesday night, bettering a mark that had stood for 30 years, but was slightly disappointed the achievement came in a 68-62 section loss at Neighborhood Academy.
The 6-foot-2 guard needed 30 points to tie the record and scored his 31st on a free throw with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The game was paused, and Cugini was greeted on court with giant balloons that celebrated his 2,839th point.
“It feels great,” Cugini said. “Obviously, I wanted to get the win, but it is what it is. It feels good. It’s a huge accomplishment.”
The occasion drew a standing-room crowd to a small gym that holds around 350 at Neighborhood Academy, a private school in Stanton Heights that’s close to Cugini’s home.
Much of the crowd was there to witness history, but it wasn’t clear the record would fall until the fourth quarter, when Cugini scored his last 12 points.
“I knew a lot of people were going to come,” he said. “Obviously, I wish it would have ended a little bit differently, but it’s something I’m never going to forget.”
The previous record was set by former Valley star Tom Pipkins, who graduated with 2,838 points in 1993.
It became clear early in the Cugini’s high school career that the WPIAL record might someday be his. The Pitt-Johnstown recruit needed only 29 games to reach 1,000 career points, and 55 games to reach 2,000, a milestone he celebrated last February.
This winter, Cugini wasn’t counting down to the record himself, he said, but others around him surely were.
“It was a fun process,” he said. “I really appreciate everyone coming out and all the attention I’ve been getting. But it is kind of like a sigh of relief. Now we’ve just got to worry about playoffs.”
Aquinas Academy coach George Yokitis added: “I think everyone is glad to have it over, especially Vinnie. He’s not the kind of kid that wants a bunch of attention. That’s not him. He wants the team to win. All he worried about tonight was trying to win this game. It was an important game for us. This record would happen when it happened.”
Tuesday’s game was a key matchup in Section 3-A where Neighborhood Academy (13-4, 4-3), Aquinas Academy (14-3, 3-3) and Summit Academy (8-4, 3-3) are all battling for second place.
He finished 8 for 18 from the foul line but had two chances to make history with 2:08 left. He missed the first free throw but made the second — the cue to bring in the balloons.
“He’s a great athlete, a super student and a gentleman,” Yokitis said. “He’s the trifecta, so I couldn’t be happier for a young man like that.”
Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at charlan@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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