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Neumann-Goretti seniors to go out on the biggest of stages

03/19/2014, 12:15pm EDT

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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Carl Arrigale’s favorite memory about his current group of seniors hasn’t happened yet.

The 15th-year Neumann-Goretti coach has seen his share of talented players come through East Passyunk over the years, but none seem to carry the legacy that this group does.

Ja’Quan Newton, Tony Toplyn, Troy Harper and Jamal Custis have all been a part of one of the more impressive runs in program and Catholic League history.

On Feb. 19 – led by Newton – the Saints won their sixth straight Catholic League title. On Tuesday, Newton became the Catholic League’s all-time leading scorer.

In their freshman and sophomore seasons, they won back to back PIAA Class AAA state titles.

None of that is what Arrigale wants to picture when thinking about this tandem.

“Hopefully Friday night,” Arrigale said when asked what his favorite memory was.

On Friday night, they’ll go for their 105th win in their final game as Saints players. Neumann-Goretti will take on Susquehanna Township for a state championship at the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pa.

Arrigale couldn’t envision a better way for them to go out.

“They deserve to win the last game they play. They’ve all contributed differently over the four years so this will be a really nice moment for them.”

Newton is the star of the bunch, the 6-foot-2 guard is heading off to Miami (Fla.) next year after being a key contributor for all four years. Arrigale calls Toplyn the quiet one, though he’s been a mainstay in the Saints lineup for the last three seasons and consistently providing some length and athleticism on the defensive end.

Newton and Toplyn alone are enough to win plenty of games in the Catholic League, but Arrigale credits the development of Custis and Harper as the biggest reasons for this year’s success.

Harper especially. After scoring 89 points in Catholic League play last season, he nearly doubled that total with 165 points in league-play this year.

“One of the biggest satisfactions is watching the maturation of Troy from freshman year to this year,” Arrigale said. “He was terrific again tonight, he’s been rock solid. Last year, we just didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. He really, really made the next step.”

“That’s why we’re where we are to be honest with you because I knew what I had in Ja’Quan. Jamal and Troy have made us a championship team.”

The four are like brothers, and the chemistry shows on the basketball court. When things are going well on the court, you’ll see them smiling and having fun together. When things aren’t going so well, they’re always encouraging one another.

Being teammates for four years certainly lends to that sort of thing.

“I’ve been with them for four years, everyday,” Newton said. “We have a great bond, off the court we love each other and on the court we love each other.”

“We’re all really close,” Custis said. “We’re always with each other in school, we joke around, after school we’re with each other.”

But soon enough that bond will be pulled apart. Newton is off to The Sunshine State to continue his basketball career. Custis, a 6-foot-6 wide receiver, will be taking his talents on the gridiron up to Syracuse University. Harper and Toplyn, on the other hand, will play another four years together, as both players committed to Campbell University.

The thought of not playing together anymore has certainly been on their minds.

“We always talk about it,” Newton said. “We’ve been saying ‘is this really our last game, our last two games?’ So we definitely talk about it a lot.”

“It’s kind of frightening but it’s exciting at the same time,” Toplyn said. “I’m ready to go on to the next level. We got to go out hard in this last game and play our hearts out.”

“It’s crazy,” Custis said. “We’re not even thinking about it, it’s going to hit us soon though. It’s going to be tough, we’ve been with each other for four years. We’re still going to try to keep in contact with each other.”

After a long season with some ups and downs along the way. Arrigale laughed when thinking about the end of the line, especially when talking about Newton.

“Right now it feels pretty good, but I’ll probably miss them later,” he said “It’s been a long year. I’ll be cheering at graduation when Ja’Quan leaves because we butt heads a little bit. But the first game we can’t score a basket next year, I’ll be looking all over the place for him.”

He won’t need to look all over the place for him on Friday night. He’ll be there, where he always is, with the ball in his hands, creating shots and filling up the stat sheets.

For Newton, putting the icing on the cake on a storied career is all that’s on his mind. A win will give this group of seniors three state championships as Saints.

“Last game of my career so I got to go out with a W,” Newton said. “I got to win, I’ll do everything in my power win.”