High school basketball: No. 5 Imhotep Charter defeats Exeter Township 78-40 to capture back-to-back Pennsylvania Class 5A state titles

No. 5 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia) cruised to a wire-to-wire 78-40 victory over Exeter Township (Reading) Friday night to capture their second consecutive PIAA Class 5A state title and ninth championship in the past 15 seasons.

Five-star Kentucky signee Justin Edwards led the way with a game-high 16 points, while Florida Gulf Coast-bound senior Rahmir Barno added 15 points in the win.

Imhotep Charter (30-3) is now 9-0 in state title contests with previous championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. The Panthers have won 84.5 percent of their games during that span.

The Panthers jumped ahead 6-0 to start the contest before methodically stretching their advantage to 16-6 at the end of the first quarter, 43-21 at the half and 65-36 at the end of the third quarter.

On pace for their second top 5 finish in the MaxPreps Top 25 in program history — Imhotep Charter has put together an impressive resume that includes claiming the City of Palms Classic title with signature victories over fellow nationally ranked opponents No. 9 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) and No. 21 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.).

Exeter Township (25-7) made their deepest state tournament run since making the program's only other title game appearance in 1974 and captured their first District III title in school history this season.