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PIAA Class 1A Boys' Championship Preview: Sankofa Freedom vs. Neighborhood Academy

03/25/2025, 11:30am EDT
By Josh Verlin

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Nobody on Sankofa Freedom’s roster has been to a state championship game. 

But head coach Isaiah Thomas and most of his staff were there six years ago when the Warriors won their first and only PIAA Class 1A title over Vincentian Academy, and they’re hoping that helps give them a little bit of advantage on the return trip. 

“Oh, it’s extremely helpful,” Thomas said during a Monday afternoon phone call. “When you think about just the logistics of the game, something small like the amount of time halftime is going to be, what needs to happen pregame, all the things you want to do to make sure that the young people are mentally prepared, to make sure that everything is organized and ready to go.”


Nasir Brown (above) was a sixth grader at Sankofa the last time the Warriors won a state title. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

That experience aside, everybody else in the 2025 edition of the PIAA Class 1A Boys Basketball Championship will be making their debuts on the biggest stage in the state. Sankofa’s roster was in elementary and middle school six years ago; The Neighborhood Academy, out of Pittsburgh, is making its first-ever appearance. 

The two will meet Thursday at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at the GIANT Center in Hershey with a trophy, a banner, and a little bit of history on the line.

The Warriors’ opponents are a young program on the rise, boasting one of the top candidates for state player of the year honors. 

The Bulldogs (28-1) are in their fourth year under Jordan Marks, who came in during the 2021 offseason to build a program from scratch, something he also did at Winchester-Thurston. A former Pitt manager under Jamie Dixon, Marks led Neighborhood Academy to its first-ever WPIAL (District 7) title this season behind three starters who’ve been at the school since sixth grade in seniors Courtney Wallace and Shamar Simpson as well as junior Derick Hardeman. 

Wallace, a 6-foot-3 wing and Yale commit, is TNA’s no-doubt standout, leading them in just about every major statistical category. He had 22 points in the quarterfinal win over La Academia Charter and then contributed a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in a 17-point win over District 9 champs Otto-Eldred in the semis. 

“Courtney’s by far the best high school player I’ve ever coached, AAU or high school, and an even better young man,” Marks told CoBL by phone on Sunday. “All the kids, they’re like a coach’s dream. The help defense, the communicating, coming together, the unselfishness. It’s been special.”

Marks said his team averages “18 or 19” assists per game in its uptempo offense, getting production from a starting five that includes Wallace, Simpson (5-11) and Hardeman (6-5) plus sophomore Kedron Gilmore (5-10) and senior Syncere Nicholson (5-11). All except Hardeman reached double figures against Otto-Eldred as the Bulldogs reached the state championship game for the first time. 

Senior Junior Onwubiko (6-3) and a pair of freshmen, Dante Wright (5-9) and D’Andre Green (6-1), round out the rotation as its primary reserves. 

Depth is something that Sankofa (19-11) has plenty of, Thomas getting production from all of his top seven and beyond with regularity. That was clear in the Warriors’ semifinal win over Lancaster Country Day, when senior and sixth man Kaden Stewart led an effort that saw seven players between six and 11 points. 


Nafis DuBose (above) is one of three Sankofa starters 6-3 and taller. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Senior point guard Asim Hardy (5-8), junior shooting guard Nasir Brown (5-10), sophomore wing Terrence Fortson (6-3), sophomore forward Samad Geary-West (6-4) and junior forward Nafis DuBose (6-4), Thomas’ typical starters, have all had their games to shine, like West’s 22-rebound effort in the state quarterfinals. Stewart and junior guard Jameel Brown combined to hit five 3-pointers in the semis.

Focus too much on any one or two, and the others will make you pay.

“To be honest with you, not having one guy but having five, six, seven guys that can play is challenging because you don’t usually have that here in the WPIAL,” Marks said. “We predicate ourselves on playing great man-to-man defense [...] it’s going to be more difficult when you don’t have just the one guy that you can put Courtney on and say ‘I know he’s out.’

Like The Neighborhood Academy, Sankofa also has three starters who’ve been at the school since middle school. All four of the Warriors’ seniors, including reserves Rahzir Seals and Raheam Benjamin, have been at the school since kindergarten. Another senior and one of the team’s projected leading scorers, guard Nasir Williams, transferred to Coatesville in the offseason, but the Warriors have moved past his departure and found ways to fill in the gaps.

“Those guys are tight, and that’s the Sankofa story,” Thomas said. “We’ve had a number of kids who’ve been there since elementary school, middle school. [...] We always reflect back on that 2019 year and hopefully this year’s team can add to the legacy of the basketball team at Sankofa.” 

Brown was in sixth grade when the Warriors won their last title, watching a group led by Derrius Ward (Coppin State), Khalil Turner, Scott Spann and more set the bar as high as it could go for future Sankofa teams. Even then, Brown was thinking he’d get his turn one day, soaking in some of the high school team’s practices and even joining them for a few shootarounds to see what it took to get to the state’s biggest stage.

“I learned that dedication,” Brown said. “Always staying true to your passion, I was witnessing their practices so I was seeing how hard it takes to make it this far, staying focused at practice, and that’s it.”

Thomas knows there will be nerves on Thursday. He’s trying to get his team acclimated to playing in a bigger arena, bringing them from Sankofa to the Sixth Man Center this week for practices. 

The Warriors are taking advantage of the six days between their semifinal and the championship to watch as much tape as possible, spending plenty of time in the gym to stay sharp and be ready.

“I wouldn’t have minded the game being Friday or Saturday, that wouldn’t have bothered me at all,” Thomas said. “There’s no such thing as a team (being) too prepared.”

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