The Blue Devils senior had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks in a 64-48 win over previously undefeated District 6 champion United on Tuesday in the PIAA Class 2A boys basketball semifinals. He added 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks in a 52-36 loss to District 7 champion Sewickley Academy in the final Friday.

Family: Mom, Karen; dad, Mark.

What did you think of the team’s performance in the final against Sewickley: I thought we played incredible. It was a really gritty game from us. Our defense was really on point the whole game. For how much bigger they were than us, I thought just everything for us was on point. We could have had a few more shots fall. That was the issue for us. I feel like offensively we just couldn’t get the good looks that we’re used to because of their height, but I think under the circumstances we still played an incredible game.

Your team got off to fast starts in the semifinal win over United and in the final. What was the key to you guys getting out to quick starts: All year, we kind of struggled against local opponents with our first couple minutes of the game. We would always dig ourselves holes, so our coaches really stressed that coming into the postseason how well we had to start. We had so many fans their for us, too. Every single game, they would always make the trip, so just having a huge crowd there for us really helped us just know that we had support there and we really weren’t nervous going into too many games.

What has it been like being a part of the Old Forge community: It’s been awesome. Everybody has been so together, everybody’s been cheering us on so much. We’ve gotten so much support, just local businesses giving us food, like local restaurants and stuff. We have team meets after every practice, basically, because everybody wants to show love to the team, and it’s great. The one day in school, we went on a walk through the elementary and just seeing all the kids that look up to us, it was such a special feeling. All the parades after every single win, it’s just awesome to be able to see how many people are behind us and really supporting us.

You played well against Delone Catholic in the quarterfinals, but scored just five points. You had 22 points in the semifinal against United. What did you think of your performance against United: That game, we were really, really confident going into, and I think that’s a huge thing for me. I know, myself, I was pretty nervous going into Delone because last year that was the same position we lost in. But after moving past that, there was a lot of confidence there, and going into it I knew I had a bit of a height advantage over United. They were kind of a shorter team compared to what we’d seen so far, and I just knew I wanted to be super aggressive, and we really came out hot that game. It was just great to get going like that.

What did it mean to you guys to have your injured teammate Ryan DeMarco at the games: It was just so awesome. He’s so strong for coming out and still supporting us. Obviously, it’s hard on him. He wants to be out there so bad, and it really shows how much he loves us that he’s coming to the games just 60 hours after having surgery and making an almost two-hour drive to come support us and watch us play. It’s just such a motivating force for us. I think that’s also a big part of our start, because during handshakes we went over right to him just reminded ourselves that he’s there for us and we’re playing for him.

What did this run to the state final mean to you: It actually just meant the world. It’s something we’ve dreamed about since we were in kindergarten just going to Hershey and just playing basketball together for as long as possible. The fact that we made it to the last possible game our senior year, they basically had to force us to stop playing. None of us wanted this to end, and there’s probably only one better way to make it end and that would have been with a state championship, but this still feels pretty good.

Other sport you play: Soccer

Athlete you admire: Probably Nikola Jokic. I really like his game, just how he plays. I like his passing a lot. I feel like he does a lot of things that I want to do really well on the court.

Superstitions or rituals before a game: When I get over to the bench, I always untie and then retie my shoes before a game. I really don’t know why, but it’s just something I’ve always done.

Favorite food: Chicken

Favorite sports teams: Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA and Liverpool for soccer.

Favorite movie: “It” (2017)

Favorite TV show: “Ted Lasso”

Favorite musical artist: Tyler, The Creator

Three people you’d like to have dinner with: Lionel Messi, LeBron James and George Washington, just to hear about what it was like back then.

Future plans: I’m going to the University of Scranton to major in biology. I don’t think I’m going to play basketball, though.