City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA, PA — This has been a season of secrets and milestones for legendary Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale. Some of the surprises have been orchestrated and upheld, like when in January Neumann-Goretti renamed its basketball court after Arrigale, complete with the shellacked engraving of his name on the hardwood without his knowledge.

This next deed would be a little tougher. It took some daring because of the uncertainty, along with some pressure. The Neumann-Goretti coaching staff knew Arrigale was approaching his career No. 600 victory. So, they had a special ceremonial ball made up with the date, the PIAA state playoff round and the opponent victory No. 600 came against.

The risk: The game had yet to be played.

Thankfully, the Saints delivered for their coach with an easy 86-63 victory over Littlestown, the District 3 No. 6 seed, in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A state playoffs on Friday night at Father Judge High School.

No. 1-seeded District 12 champion Neumann-Goretti (23-3) will now advance to the second round and play District 3 No. 3-seed Berks Catholic, a 43-32 winner over Blue Mountain, on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Saints’ assistant coach Micah Coen had Arrigale’s No. 600 victory ball tucked in a box in the backseat of his car, parked out in the Judge lot. As soon as the game wrapped up, Coen snared the ball and ran it inside to present to Arrigale in front of the team.

“The hair was darker and I was a little thinner when win No. 1 came years ago, and if we would have lost tonight, we would have been in some trouble, because they made up the ball before the game was played,” said Arrigale, laughing. “These guys had a lot of confidence in me and the kids. Coaching has never been about me. It’s always been about the kids and I didn’t want to make this (No. 600) with the kids.

“I didn’t know about the ball at all, until they just gave it to me a few minutes ago.”

Arrigale mentioned No. 600 was approaching in passing to Saints’ senior leader, West Chester-bound Larenzo Jerkins, after Neumann-Goretti beat Engineering & Science in the PIAA District 12 Class 4A championship. That was it. Jerkins did not say anything to his teammates, so it came as much of a surprise to them as the painted trophy ball was to Arrigale.

“We didn’t know at all until right now,” said Saints’ sophomore guard DeShaun Yates, who dropped a team-high 24 and got Neumann-Goretti going in the third quarter. “We were taking these games one by one to get here. This was fun. 

“I am glad we got this done, and get us going. This was good for us. We get to build some momentum and get Amir Williams [out with a shoulder injury] back and give him another chance.”

The Saints had some problems in the first half pulling away from the stubborn Thunderbolts and problems the whole game dealing with 6-foot-8 senior center Chris Meakin, who was a handful, finishing with a game-high 33 and at times singlehandedly carrying Littlestown. The Frostburg State University-bound Meakin had Littlestown within 20-19 of the Saints with 5:08 left in the first half.

That was the closest the Thunderbolts would come. Yates, Torrey Brooks and Matt Guokas rained three-pointers down on Littlestown, and the Thunderbolts would not recover. The trio combined for nine treys in the second half, and Jerkins switched over to defend Meakin, making him work harder inside. In a blink, it seemed, Neumann-Goretti was up 80-53 as the fourth quarter was winding down.

With 1:08 left, Arrigale pulled his starters, who all scored in double figures and let some of the them know about the magical No. 600, before the final buzzer sounded and it was announced to the crowd.

“Coach Arrigale has accomplished so many historic things and being a part of this has been special,” Jerkins said. “I was the only one who knew coming into this game. I knew we were going to get No. 600, and I didn’t want to put any stress on my teammates, so I didn’t let them know about it until after the game. I played with a special motivation to win this for coach Arrigale. Hopefully, we use this to push forward after this.”

By Quarter
Littlestown:            14 | 10 |  19  | 20  ||  63
Neumann-Goretti: 14 | 17 |  28  |  27 ||  86

Scoring
Littlestown: Chris Meakin 33, Zyan Herr 18, Brandon Clabaugh 6, Cole Riley 6.

Neumann-Goretti: DeShaun Yates 24, Larenzo Jerkins 19, Torrey Brooks 15, Stephon Ashley-Wright 12, Matt Guokas 12, Orece Torrence 4.

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PIAA Class 1A: Bethlehem Christian 64, The City School 58

The City School, District 12 No. 1 seed, started well, bolting out to a 15-5 lead, but the Lions (11-11) went on dry shooting spells, and missed many layups, while Bethlehem Christian gradually chipped away and gained its first lead with 3:02 left in the first half.

After that, it was a fight, with neither team able to gain substantial control until the final 2:39 to play. Bethlehem Christian’s Gabe Transue snapped a 55-55 tie and the Panthers’ Owen Wescoe hit his only bucket of the game, but it happened to be a three-pointer that gave Bethlehem Christian a 62-58 lead with 42 seconds left to play. The Lions, who were led with 17 points each by Talan Hawkins and Carlos Monroe III, never scored again.  

By Quarter
Bethlehem Christian (21-7):  10 | 18 |  16  | 20  ||  64
The City School (11-11):  17 | 13 |  14  |  14 ||  58

Scoring
Bethlehem Christian: Gabe Transue 20, Amari Williams 14, Isaiah Long 12, Myles Harris 6, Roman Rex 9, Owen Wescoe 3.

The City School: Talan Hawkins 17, Carlos Monroe III 17, Shawn Murphy 9, Marcus Banks 8, Tyler Ryan 3, Jaden Johnson, Albert Davis 2, Judah Edwards 2.

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, 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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PIAA 4A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
12-1 Neumann-Goretti 86, 3-6 Littlestown 63
12-4 Overbrook 53, 1-1 Pope John Paul II 49 (OT)
12-2 Engineering & Science 51, 11-3 Pottsville 44
12-3 Archbishop Carroll 66, 3-2 Big Spring 59
11-1 Allentown Central Catholic 68, 12-5 School of Future 33

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
12-1 Neumann-Goretti vs. 3-3 Berks Catholic
12-4 Overbrook vs. 2-1 Scranton Prep
12-2 Engineering & Science vs. 4-1 Danville
11-1 Allentown Central Catholic vs. 12-3 Archbishop Carroll

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PIAA 1A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
3-3 High Point Baptist 66, 1-1 Chester Charter 46
11-3 Bethlehem Christian 64, 12-1 City School 58
1-2 Phil-Mont Christian 51, 3-2 Greenwood 41