North Catholic forward Andrew Ammerman (45) drives past a Lincoln Park defender during the WPIAL Class 4A title game Monday night at North Allegheny. Ammerman, a Cranberry Townsip resident, scored 35 points in the Trojans' 66-57 loss.

WEXFORD — In an age of slippery guards slashing to the hoop and sharpshooters draining 3-pointers from the corner, Andrew Ammerman is a throwback.

At 6-foot-7 and with a mix of brawn and grace in the post, the North Catholic senior had been a nearly unstoppable force this season.

He was again against Lincoln Park in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game at North Allegheny High School Monday night, scoring 35 points to go with 16 rebounds and five blocked shots.

But the Leopards let Ammerman have his day so they could have theirs.

Lincoln Park's main goal was to stymie the outside shooting of North Catholic and it did just that on the way to a 66-57 win for the WPIAL title.

“That's exactly what we wanted to do. Our plan was to stay attached (to their shooters),” said Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski, who added he hoped to do a little better job on Ammerman. “He didn't miss many shots. He was tough. One of the best big men I've seen in a while.”

Ammerman kept North Catholic (18-5) neck-and neck with Lincoln Park for much of the game.

He had 16 points in the first half as the Trojans trailed 30-27 at the break.

Ammerman scored 12 points in the third quarter as North Catholic took a 48-45 lead into the final eight minutes.

“He played a great game,” said North Catholic coach Dave DeGregorio. “The guards did a nice job getting him the ball. He got rebounds and blocked shots. He did a lot of great stuff.

“They were going to let Andrew play down there and take away our shooters. We didn't shoot it well.”

At least not from the outside.

North Catholic was just 3 of 15 from 3-point range.

As well as Ammerman played for North Catholic, Brandon Cummings did so for Lincoln Park.

The lanky freshman scored 22 points to lead the Leopards. He had three big baskets during a 9-1 run in the fourth that turned the tide for the Leopards.

“He is a kid that played at a high level in AAU. He's used to this,” Bariski said. “He's a hard, hard, hard worker.”

Dakari Bradford added 19 points, nine coming in the fourth quarter, for Lincoln Park.

The Leopards switched up their offense in the final quarter to, as Bariski said, “Let Dakari free.”

It all worked for Lincoln Park, which avenged a WPIAL title game loss to North Catholic last season.

Both teams were radically different this time around.

“Last year we were all outside,” DeGregorio said. “This year our first focus was inside.”

NORTH CATHOLIC 57Owen DeGregorio 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Jackson 4-10 0-0 9, Matt Gregor 2-7 0-0 6, Connor Maddalon 1-9 1-1 3, Andrew Ammerman 12-19 11-13 35, Max Rottmann 1-4 0-0 2, Ben Tomer 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Tipinski 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Maddalon 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-51 12-14 57.

LINCOLN PARK 66Ali Brown 0-4 0-0 0, Dakari Bradford 7-9 5-8 19, L.A. Pratt 4-10 0-1 10, Joseph Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Cummings 10-15 2-3 22, Elias Bishop 4-7 7-8 15, Daquan Bradford 0-1 0-0 0, Montae Reddix 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-48 14-20 66.North Catholic 17 10 21 9 — 57Lincoln Park15 15 15 21 — 663-point goals: North Catholic 3 (Jackson, Gregor 2); Lincoln Park 2 (Pratt 2)