City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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NORRISTOWN — Keon Long-Mtume got a feel for what the state playoffs are like at Neumann-Goretti from the bench last season.

A spectator during the 2024 state quarterfinal run due to PIAA transfer rules, Long-Mtume was itching for the chance to head to gyms and fend off new foes and quiet opposing crowds.

On the court this season, he’s attempting to do just that.

The lone senior in Neumann-Goretti’s rotation had a big fourth quarter Tuesday night to help the Saints pull away from Pottsgrove for a 63-56 win at Norristown High School and advance to the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals on Friday night.

“This is kind of personal to me,” said Long-Mtume, who had eight of his 11 points in the fourth. “I didn’t get to play in states last year, so these aren’t just regular games to me.”

Junior guard Stephon Ashley-Wright scored 20 points to lead Neumann-Goretti (15-11). Junior Deymein Doctor had 19 for the Falcons (23-5). Ashley-Wright had it going early with 12 points in the opening frame. The Saints built a 22-11 lead after a quarter of play, helped by a 14-0 run during the period, sparked in part by Ashley Wright.

Pottsgrove trimmed that deficit to three, 35-32, by the end of the first half with an 11-3 spurt. The last play off the half was a full court pass from senior Julius Marshall to senior Kamal Curry with 1.6 seconds left to beat the buzzer and rally the Pottsgrove crowd into the game.

“Me, personally, I think it’s fun, and I think a couple of my teammates can agree with me for sure,” Long-Mtume said of the crowd. “Playing through adversity is definitely fun. Environment’s like this when no one’s expecting you to win or the crowd thinks you’re going to lose, I feel like those are the best games to play with.”

There wasn’t much separation between the two squads after the Falcons played their way back into the game. Neumann-Goretti got up by as many as seven in the third quarter, but the Saints’ lead was just 45-44 heading into the final period.

A steal by N-G freshman EJ Stanton led to a Long-Mtume slam to start the fourth. The defensive play signaled an increased intensity from the Saints on the defensive end in the final period. Each Falcons possession felt like a little harder in the fourth.

“I feel like through the game we weren’t playing that much defense, but when the game counted we had to lock in to get those stops that we needed for sure,” Ashley-Wright said.

“We just wanted it. They wanted it too, but we just knew we couldn’t lose, so we had to get after it and pull out the win.”

Even with Neumann’s defense locking down, the Saints’ lead was still just one before a bucket by Ashley-Wright was followed by a steal and score by junior DeShawn Yates to put the Saints ahead 53-48 with 3:07 to go.

Pottsgrove went 0-for on two free throw trips early in the fourth with a chance to take the lead and never had a better opportunity. When the Falcons’ offense finally found some room down the stretch, the Saints answered every time.

Long-Mtume scored his team’s last four points — an open layup inside with 43 seconds left that put his team up seven and an alley-oop layup from Ashley-Wright 18 seconds later that pushed the lead to nine — to finish off the win.

“I’m gonna be 100 percent honest, I feel like this is the worst we’ve played in two months,” Long-Mtume said. “But as my coach just said in the locker room now, this is a tournament. You just play and whoever is the most grittier is gonna get the dub. That’s how it is in a tournament. We stayed with it and got the win. That’s all it really was. We stayed together as a team.”

Pottsgrove capped a historic season, making the state playoffs for the first time since 2019 and winning a state playoff game for the first time since 1979. Key graduations for the Falcons include Marshall, Carry and senior forward Cam Waller, but Doctor and junior Bryce Phillips, who fouled out with 5:37 to play, will look to build off the 2024-25 success.

For the Saints, Long-Mtume is the only member of the rotation finishing out his high school career in these playoffs.

“This is my last impression,” Long-Mtume said. “I’m just trying to leave my best last impression on this season because the next game we lose is no more games.”

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By Quarter

Pottsgrove 11 | 21 | 12 | 12 | 56

Neumann-Goretti 22 | 13 | 10 | 18 || 63

Scoring

Pottsgrove: Deymein Doctor 19, Cam Waller 11, Bryce Phillips 8, Kamal Curry 8, Julius Marshall 8, Greg Rosenberger 2.

Neumann-Goretti: Stephon Ashley-Wright 20, DeShawn Yates 15, Keon Long-Mtume 11, Alassan N'Diaye 9, EJ Stanton 6, Cam Van Norden 2.