City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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Throughout Neumann-Goretti’s tear through the PIAA Class 4A tournament, senior Aamir Hurst has been tasked with guarding the opposing team’s top player.

Not necessarily known for his offensive prowess on a Saints team that has plenty of it, Hurst led the way with four 3s and a career-high 20 points as Neumann-Goretti defeated Quaker Valley 93-68 for the state title at Hershey’s GIANT Center Thursday night.

“Really it was in warm-ups,” Hurst said about when he knew his shot was feeling good. “I felt great, the ball was coming off my hand right. Then I got it in the game and it was laser focus, knock down.”

Averaging about eight points per game coming into the final, he had been struggling with his shot a bit, a product of a long season wearing his body down. But he and fellow senior Masud Stewart were built for this after enduring a three-year drought from Hershey due to multiple complications, mainly COVID-related.

If these seniors didn’t win a state title, it would’ve been the first N-G senior class that didn’t win it since head coach Carl Arrigale’s 2009 grads.

Instead, the senior leadership propelled the Saints to their ninth state championship, keeping the program’s state final record at an unblemished 9-0.

“Good players,” Arrigale said about the key to the undefeated mark. “Most of those times we played a tough schedule. Played at the Palestra in the playoffs. So we’re prepared when we get here. We’re not going to be swallowed up by the moment. I have a great staff; I love my guys. We just keep at it and the kids respond. It’s really about the players. We just guide them. I didn’t take one shot tonight.”

The game plan coming in was to get out in transition and neutralize Quaker Valley stars Markus Frank and Adou Thiero, the latter of whom had Kentucky coach John Calipari in the building. The transition game worked out of the gate, but stopping the 6-foot-5 Frank and 6-6 Thiero was a tough task.

Hurst scored 10 in a fast-paced, high-scoring first quarter that the District 12 champion Saints (23-4) won 27-23, but Thiero was getting into the paint and scored eight of his own.

The defense clamped down in the second, holding the District 7 champion Quakers (27-1) to only four points; Quaker Valley didn’t score its first basket of the second quarter until a touch over a minute left and by that point the lead had ballooned to 12.

Junior guard Bruce Smith provided a spark off the bench in the quarter for N-G, scoring eight points including two and-ones with sophomore guard Robert Wright III dishing to him off penetration.

Sophomore guard Khaafiq Myers was stuck on Thiero for the majority of the half and Stewart guarded Frank, with everyone else ready to help on the back end. The focus was to make the Quakers’ other players beat them.

“We locked in on them,” Hurst said of Thiero and Frank. “All week we watched film and emphasized guarding them.”

Two 3s from Jack Gardinier and one from Wil Dunda in the first made it appear the Quakers’ other role players would be able to step up, but the speed and athleticism of the Saints gave them trouble the rest of the way.

Neumann-Goretti led 41-27 at halftime.

The Saints celebrate their ninth PIAA championship in program history. (Photo: Sean McBryan/CoBL)

It got out of hand in the third quarter, with Hurst drilling a three in the beginning seconds and Stewart scoring eight straight Saints points to push the lead to 20 with 5:17 left.

Frank (29 points, 10 blocks and three steals) and Thiero (18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, three blocks) kept the Quakers afloat, but the talent of the entire N-G roster was just too much to handle.

Six players scored in double figures for the Saints with Wright adding 16 (and seven assists), Smith 14, Myers 12 and Stewart and Sultan Adewale (seven rebounds, four blocks) each with 10 to complement Hurst’s team high.

The Saints shot 63.8% from the field and 47.1% from 3 while holding the Quakers to 42.9% and 27.8%, respectively. It was the culmination of a dominant season for the state champions.

The sheer talent and balanced attack on N-G all year boosted them to a triple crown, winning league, district and now state titles. Multiple players were capable of changing the game on any given night.

For good reason, the heralded sophomore backcourt duo of Wright and Myers, each with multiple D-I offers, have been the talk most of the season, as has the 6-8 forward Adewale.  It was fitting for the senior Hurst to have his moment on the biggest stage, something he’s been waiting to capture for three years.

“To see [the seniors] finish it like that was terrific,” Arrigale said. “Aamir’s been struggling a little bit [offensively]. He’s been guarding everyone’s best player. The ball hasn’t really gone in for him so it was really nice to see him make some shots today.”

As Hurst heads off to continue his educational and basketball careers at a school to be determined, it’ll be left to the younger guys that watched him score a career-high on the biggest stage to carry the legacy on.

“It’s honestly surreal,” Hurst said. “It’s really crazy to me that I accomplished so much my senior year. Cause we haven’t been here in like three years due to COVID and other complications. It was really good to be back.

“They’ll be back for sure,” he said of the younger Saints. “100%. Easy.”

By Quarter
Neumann-Goretti    27  |  14  |  28  |  24  ||  93
Quaker Valley        23  |   4   |  17  |  24  ||  68

Scoring
Neumann-Goretti: Aamir Hurst 20, Robert Wright III 16, Bruce Smith 14, Khaafiq Myers 12, Masud Stewart 10, Sultan Adewale 10, Amir Williams 5, Tymir Smalls 2, Luke Bevilacqua 2, Ronald Johnson 2.

Quaker Valley: Markus Frank 29, Adou Thiero 18, Jack Gardinier 11, Daniel Bartels 5, Wil Dunda 3, Troy Kozar 2.