City of Basketball Love

By Tom Robinson
—

BETHLEHEM – Scranton Prep led briefly in the first and second quarters and pulled within one point of Neumann-Goretti four times in the third quarter Saturday afternoon.

Reginna Baker and Amya Scott made sure the Saints shook off the Classics for good to begin the fourth quarter.

Baker and Scott combined for the first 10 points of the quarter, allowing Neumann-Goretti to break away for a 59-48 victory in a quarterfinal game that was an early pairing of top threats in the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball field.

Neumann-Goretti is seeking its sixth state title in the last 10 completed championship tournaments. Scranton Prep has never won a state title but returned its entire starting team from last year’s finalist and added one of Pennsylvania’s top freshman post players.

Baker hit her first three shots of the fourth and Scott made a four-point play in the 10-0 streak to a 49-38 lead midway through the fourth.

“At halftime when we came back to the locker room, coach was giving me positives, giving advice and just lifting me up,” said Baker, who was 8-for-13 while scoring 18 points. “Coach and Amya called me to the side and said they really needed me to step up.

“That’s what I did.”

After Scott penetrated to set up an open Baker to complete the streak, the Saints never let the Classics closer than seven the rest of the way.

Scott made all six of her free throws and Carryn Easley made both of her attempts in the final 1:36.

“Once we got the lead, we knew they were a very good team and they were capable of making shots and scoring,” said Easley, who had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. “We just wanted to burn time off the clock, defend them, protect the ball and trust each other.”

The combination of Scott, Baker and Easley helped Neumann-Goretti overcome a 22-point game by Maya Jenkins, one of Scranton Prep’s two all-state guards. The Saints held Jenna Hillebrand, the other, to three points.

The Saints needed help from foul trouble to offset 6-foot-1 freshman center Chloe Mamera.

Mamera comes off the bench to spark Scranton Prep. In her 20:07, the Classics outscored the Saints 36-29 with the help of Mamera’s 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Three fouls in less than five minutes during the second quarter, then a fourth foul picked up in the third quarter sent Mamera back to the sideline. In the 11:53 she was not on the court, the Saints dominated, outscoring the Classics 30-12.

Neumann-Goretti (24-4) moves into the semifinals and a rematch of its District 12 championship game loss to Audenried Charter (20-7).

By Quarter
SP:   9  |  15  |   14   |  10  ||  48
NG:  15   |  12  |  13  |  20  ||  59

Scoring
SP: Jenkins 22, Mamera 14, Dennebaum 6, Hillebrand 3, McGrath 3.

NG: Scott 20, Baker 18, Easley 16, Berry 3, King 2.

~~~

Class 3A: West Catholic locks down perimeter, Riverside

When West Catholic coach Miguel Bocachica watched Riverside on video, he saw a lot of 3-pointers being made.

What unfolded in front of Bocachica Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A boys basketball state quarterfinal at Liberty High School looked much different.

The Burrs defense made sure of that.

West Catholic harassed Riverside into 2-for-23 shooting from beyond the arc on the way to a 55-41 victory.

The District 12 champion Burrs (14-13) advanced to face Holy Cross, a Lackawanna League Division 2 rival of Riverside that split four games, including a pair of championship matchups, with the Vikings this season. The Dunmore-based Crusaders (25-4) defeated Lancaster Mennonite 63-52 in the final game of Saturday’s tripleheader to advance into the March 22 semifinal.

West Catholic reached that game with its perimeter defense and the strength of its bench.

“I’ve seen them hit a lot,” Bocachica said of Riverside’s average of nine 3-pointers made per game. “It was about controlling (Nico Antoniacci) and making sure we ran them off the line and we did that.”

Antoniacci, a freshman coming off a 28-point game in the second round, was limited to 10 on 1-for-11 shooting from long range.

West Catholic threw waves of players at Riverside on both ends of the floor. The Burrs bench outproduced its Vikings counterparts 23-4 in points, 9-0 in rebounds, 6-2 in assists, 2-0 in steals and 1-0 in blocked shots.

“We’re usually equal opportunity,” Bocachica said. “Those guys who came off the bench have started a lot of games as well. We’re very selfless.

“When their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. Kudos to them. They did a really good job.”

Eric Scott, the last of the four reserves to enter the game, finished 4-for-6 from the floor with a team-high 12 points and three assists. He shared the assist lead of three with sixth man Saaid Lee, who also contributed seven points and seven rebounds.

“Sometimes you get energy off the bench,” Scott said. “Sometimes we start the game off slow, so we can look to the bench and the defense’s energy to pull us up.”

Both were effective Saturday.

The Burrs made Antoniacci’s shots difficult and kept second-leading scorer Gerry Rose’s shots scarce. Rose had just four tries through three quarters and finished with five points, like Antoniacci, 10 below his average.

Connor McNally, along with Rose a 1,000-point career scorer, led all players in the game with 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

West Catholic answered with balance and accuracy.

Kingston Wheatley, who was 4-for-5 from the floor, and Rahmir Speaks, who was 3-for-4 on 3s, added nine points each. Six players scored at least six points.

The Burrs shot 22-for-39 (56.4 percent) to overcome small Riverside advantages in rebounds and turnovers forced.

“They played zone the whole game,” Scott said. “We just needed to find open shots and make shots.

“And, we played defense to put the game away.”

By Quarter
R:      8   |   9   |  10   |  14  ||  41
WC:  12  |  12  |  11  |  20  ||  55

Scoring
R: McNally 15, Antoniacci 10, B. Rose 7, G.Rose 5, Godlewski 4

WC: Scott 12, Wheatley 9, Speaks 9, Byrd 8, Lee 7, Fauntroy 6, Perez 2, Banner 2.