City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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Kabe Goss woke up Sunday, went to the gym to get up some shots and then looked at his phone after his workout to see 30 text messages waiting for him telling him he was on SportsCenter that morning.

“That was pretty cool,” Goss said.

Goss, a Roman Catholic graduate who is a sophomore on the Montclair State men’s basketball team, is no stranger to SportsCenter. He appeared on Scott Van Pelt’s “Best Thing I Saw Today” segment after hitting the game-winner at the buzzer to lift the Cahillites to a thrilling victory in the 2024 Philadelphia Catholic League championship game.

“I definitely didn’t think I was going to be on SportsCenter again,” Goss said.

Goss, a 5-foot-8 guard, made a spectacular steal and three-pointer in the final seconds of an improbable 94-92 win over Stockton on Saturday that kept the Red Hawks perfect on the season at 14-0 and put Goss back on ESPN - this time with the No. 3 play in the SportsCenter Top 10.

Montclair State, which is now ranked 8th in the country, was down 92-88 when it called its final timeout with 7.8 seconds left in regulation.

“Coach drew up a play to get one of the best shooters on the team a three,” Goss recalled.

That part of the plan worked to perfection, as Jacob Morales banked in a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull the Red Hawks to within 92-91 with 4.2 seconds remaining.

“We automatically got into our press, and I face-guarded my guy,” Goss said. “I noticed the inbounds was a weak pass, and I saw the opportunity to shoot the gap. It was my instinct to go to the three-point line and shoot the ball.”

Goss stole the ball in front of his team’s bench, took one dribble and then let fly a 3-pointer as he was falling out of bounds. The shot found nothing but net and gave Montclair State a 94-92 lead with 1.6 seconds left in the second half. Stockton’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer was no good.

Up until that game-winner, Goss had uncharacteristically struggled from the field, making just 2-of-15, including 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. But he said he knew that his final shot of the game was good when it left his hand.

“I do get up a lot of shots,” Goss said. “I know what it feels like.”

Goss had a terrific freshman season when he was named the NJAC Rookie of the Year on a team that finished 22-7 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, but this season he has been even better. 

Goss has worked tirelessly in the gym, taking hundreds of shots a day, and that dedication to improving his game has paid off. This season, all of his offensive statistics are better - field goal percentage (40.0% to 44.3%), three-point percentage (28.9% to 41.4%), free throw percentage (71.9% to 88.9%) and scoring (6.0 to 13.1 points per game). His assists per game (4.0 to 5.9) and rebounds per game (1.5 to 2.7) have also improved.

“I’ve worked on improving my all-around game,” Goss said. “Even in-season you can still get better every day.”

Goss said he takes hundreds of shots outside of practice each day.

“It can vary,” he said. “I don’t ever try to put a number on it per se. I find shooting with consistency is better than shooting for numbers.”

Goss and his team are looking to return to the NCAA tournament.

“We got off to a pretty good start,” he said. “We have a great group of guys with a lot of talent. I’m grateful.”

More than two months into the season, Montclair State remains undefeated thanks in large part to the incredible play that Goss made on Saturday that landed Goss back on SportsCenter.

“I don’t think that is ever something you get used to,” Goss said. “I definitely didn’t think I’d be on SportsCenter again, but I was more excited about the fact that we were able to move to 14-0.”

So, which shot was better - the one that won Roman Catholic the PCL or the one on Saturday that kept Montclair State perfect on the season?

“I’m not in the business of ranking shots,” Goss said, “but this is definitely one I’m always going to remember.”

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Johns Hopkins strikes Gold-stein

The Johns Hopkins women’s basketball team is 13-0 and ranked 5th in the country with a freshman starting at center. That freshman is 6-foot-2 Jocelyn Goldstein, a Masterman graduate, where during her junior year she became the fastest female Public League player to reach 1,000 career points when she accomplished that feat in her 47th high school game.

Goldstein is averaging 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds - both third on the team - in approximately 17.5 minutes per game for the Blue Jays. She had her most productive game on Saturday against Gettysburg when she established career bests with 22 points and seven rebounds.

Johns Hopkins has been dominant all season with an average margin of victory of 28.6 points per game while holding opponents to nation’s low 28.7% shooting.

Johns Hopkins plays locally at Ursinus at 3 PM on February 7.

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Neumann men’s team on cloud nine 

The Neumann men’s basketball team has not lost in more than two months. The Knights fell at Swarthmore on November 12 to fall to 1-3 on the season but since then have won nine straight games to improve to 10-3.

Neumann, which earned a berth in the NCAA tournament last season, is 2-0 in the Atlantic East Conference with league games this week against Marymount at home at 6 PM on Wednesday and at Gwynedd Mercy at 3 PM on Saturday.

The Knights boast a potent inside-outside combination of 6-foot-4 senior forward Donte Dupriest and 6-foot senior guard DJ Earl. Dupriest, who is tied for third nationally with 10 double-doubles, is averaging 21.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. Earl is averaging 19.5 points per game and is the reigning AEC Player of the Week.

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Coleman continues to shine

There have been hundreds and hundreds of Division III women’s basketball games this season, and only 12 players have recorded a triple-double. One of those players is Immaculata sophomore Carly Coleman. 

The 5-foot-10 forward accomplished that milestone during a 90-61 win over Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday when she had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Coleman is the first Mighty Macs player to record a triple-double since Tessa Liberatoscioli did so in January of 2024.

Coleman, a standout at Cardinal O’Hara, was the AEC Rookie of the Year last season as a freshman and is averaging 16.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game so far this year. 

The Mighty Macs are 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the AEC as they look to return to the NCAA tournament after making it last year.

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Layups

Ursinus guard Ava Possenti continues to excel for the Bears. The 5-foot-6 senior from Garnet Valley was named the Centennial Conference women’s basketball player of the week after leading Ursinus to a 3-0 record while averaging 20.3 points, 7.0 steals and 5.7 rebounds per game. Possenti, who has games with eight, nine and 10 steals this season, ranks fourth nationally with 4.85 steals per game. She is second in program history with 235 career steals and is within reach of the record of 275. … After missing the first eight games of the season with an injury he suffered in the team’s first scrimmage, sophomore guard Zander Jimenez has returned to the court for the Swarthmore men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-2 guard, who was the Rookie of the Year in the Centennial Conference as a freshman, has played in five games and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 21 minutes per game. The Garnet are 7-6 overall and 1-0 in the league. … The top-ranked NYU women’s basketball team leads the nation in scoring margin, winning by an astounding 53.0 points per game and outscoring their opponents by an average of 102.2 to 49.2. … Ben Malley, a 6-foot freshman guard out of West Chester Rustin, has moved into the starting lineup for King’s men’s basketball team. Malley came off the bench for the first 10 games - scoring 31 points in one of them - before starting the last three for the Monarchs. Malley is averaging 9.5 points per game in the season.