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Neumann-Goretti holds off Roman Catholic to jump in PCL driver's seat

02/03/2023, 11:45pm EST
By Joseph Santoliquito

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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SOUTH PHILADELPHIA — There was no place to park. There was no place to move in the cyclone-fenced lot behind Neumann-Goretti High School. And this was two hours before the titanic Catholic League tilt between the host Saints and Roman Catholic Friday night.

If you got in, it was well worth it.

What promised to be a South Philly basketball brawl turned into one—and it could be a glimpse of what’s to come in the weeks ahead leading into the Catholic League championship at the Palestra.

This round, in a surprising turn, went to Neumann-Goretti, 62-60, playing in front of more Roman fans than their own, in their gym, and without Baylor-bound star guard Robert Wright III, who’s been battling an illness.


Neumann-Goretti senior forward Sultan Adewale made clutch plays late in Friday's win over Roman Catholic. (Photo: Joseph Santoliquito/CoBL)

Still, it’s possibly the best the Saints shared the ball all season. Junior guard Khaafiq Myers led the way with a team-high 16 points, which topped four Saints in double figures, including freshman guard Stephon Ashley-Wright, Robert’s younger brother, who chipped in with 15 and played with a moxie well beyond his years, 12 from senior guard Bruce Smith and some clutch play by 6-8 senior center Sultan Adewale, who scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a key free throw with 7.2 seconds to play.

Roman had a chance to tie it, but St. Joe’s-bound Xzayvier Brown’s driving layup caromed high off the backboard with some help from Adewale’s long reach. Brown finished with a game-high 27, and Jermai Stewart-Herring was exceptional for three quarters, dropping 20.

The victory gave the Saints, who improved to 16-2 overall and 9-1 in the Catholic League, the edge over Roman in a tiebreaker by winning head-to-head. Neumann-Goretti now controls its own destiny as regular season champs if the Saints win out the remaining three league games at Cardinal O’Hara on Monday, hosting Archbishop Ryan next Friday and finishing their league schedule hosting Conwell-Egan on Mon., Feb. 13.

Roman, which fell to 17-2 and 9-1, and will need someone to upset the Saints, has La Salle, at home this Sunday, next Friday at dangerous St. Joe’s Prep, and hosts Archbishop Carroll next Sunday.

“We’re growing up a little bit, we’ve had our adversity with injuries, getting one guy back and then losing another, and sometimes life isn’t fair, but you don’t always have to be at your best to have a good outcome,” Saints’ coach Carl Arrigale said. “Sultan has been playing terrific and he was shooting fouls well, so I’m glad he was fouled in the end. He didn’t get a break. This win puts us in a great position, but if we lose to O’Hara on Monday, this would mean nothing. We have O’Hara, Ryan and Conwell-Egan, three tough games left.”

This could have been a shock to Roman. There were more Roman fans in Neumann-Goretti’s gym and the Saints were without their top player, Robert Wright.

“We knew it, we knew were going to be outnumbered in our gym, so this was another test for our guys,” Arrigale said. “Apparently, our rims cost them the game,” which was a reference to the vocal Roman contingent complaining about the loose rims in Neumann-Goretti’s antiquated bandbox gym that was more like a sauna with everyone so jam packed next to one another.

A number of Neumann-Goretti players emerged in this intense setting. Ashley-Wright, known as “Munchie” because he was a chubby baby, showed a defiance each time he drove to the basket or was knocked down by a pick or while diving for a loose ball.

Roman was expecting Wright to be a problem. With Robert out (he wasn’t at the game), the Cahillites got a good dose of the wrong Wright.

“We had to work as a team and stayed focused, and we knew we would have to play without Robert, and for real, I stayed locked in, so I could go home and tell Rob that we did it,” Ashley-Wright said. “We have a good five, and we’re deeper. We hit a lot of threes. Coach Carl stressed that we had to make plays for someone else.

“Roman had more fans than we did in our own gym. We beat them without Rob. Just imagine what we can do when Rob gets back. We got rattled in the end, but with Rob back, that won’t happen again.”

Amir Williams came up with big rebounds during crucial moments, and Smith nailed important threes.

Neumann-Goretti led 59-47 with 4:00 left. That’s when Roman coach Chris McNesby turned up the heat. Saints’ turnovers, along with rushing a few shots, gave the Cahillites some openings.

The problem Roman had was finishing those openings. The Cahillites were 5-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter.

Roman was up, 19-8, late in the first quarter. With 1:53 left in the third quarter, Neumann-Goretti went up for the first time, 47-45, on an Ashley-Wright three-pointer. Roman tied it at 47-47, then proceeded to go 4 minutes, 43 seconds without scoring.

By then, Neumann-Goretti had built a 59-47 lead.   

“You’re never comfortable in these games,” McNesby said. “That’s just Roman-Neumann. They played well and they made shots. I think these kids need a reset. We were 9-0 coming into this game, but for us, this is a great time of the year to look at ourselves in the mirror.

“I don’t think it a psychological blow that they beat us without Robert. We missed free throws and didn’t get stops in the second and third quarters, and this gives us the motivation to play teams like that again. That’s a team that’s going to be in the (Catholic League) final four, and we have that hunger to get back in that game.”

Adewale was never placed in a situation like Friday night, standing on the line with the game literally in his hands in the waning seconds, in a gym where the opposing fans outnumber the home fans.

“I kept composed and remember that it’s just basketball,” Adewale said. “This was a statement game. We blocked a lot out and now we’ve put the league on notice. We know moving ahead we have to play well, or all of this will go to waste.”

By Quarter

Roman Catholic (17-2, 9-1 Catholic League):  22   | 12  |  13  |  13 ||  60

Neumann-Goretti (16-2, 9-1):  10  | 22  |  18  | 12 ||  62

Scoring

Roman Catholic: Xzayvier Brown 27, Jermai Stewart-Herring 20, Erik Oliver-Bush 7, Anthony Finkley 4, Shareef Jackson 2.

Neumann-Goretti: Khaafiq Myers 16, Stephon Ashley-Wright 15, Bruce Smith 12, Sultan Adewale 11, Amir Williams 5, Matt Guokas 3.

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.


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