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Carr's layup lifts Roman past Neumann-Goretti

01/08/2015, 12:45am EST
By Ari Rosenfeld

Tony Carr (above, last season) had 18 points and the game-winning layup against Neumann-Goretti . (Photo: Tug Haines)

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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When Roman Catholic and Neumann-Goretti match up on the hardwood, it’s guaranteed to be a clash of heavyweights.

Like always, neither side pulled any punches when the two powerhouses went toe-to-toe in front of a standing room only crowd at Philadelphia University on Wednesday.

But with the game--and potentially Catholic League supremacy--hanging in the balance, it was Roman junior Tony Carr who delivered the knockout blow, converting a layup with just 13 seconds left to give the Cahillites a 71-68 win in an instant classic between the longtime rivals.

Carr finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, helping keep Roman undefeated while knocking off the previously unbeaten Saints. He especially stepped up when it mattered most, scoring eight of those points and handing out two assists in the fourth quarter.

“He was cramping up a little bit too, so he just sucked it up,” head coach Chris McNesby said. “Down the stretch he’s our leader. He’s our captain, so that’s what you want to see, an unselfish leader, great teammate.”

Saint Joseph’s-bound senior Lamarr Kimble knocked down a contested 3-pointer for Neumann-Goretti to tie the game at 68 with 45 seconds left after Neumann had trailed by as much as nine in the final period.

Once his team got across halfcourt--no easy task against the Saints’ swarming full court pressure--McNesby called his point guard’s number, putting the ball in Carr’s hands to make a play and win the game.

Carr, unintimidated by the moment, let the clock run down to within 20 seconds before making his move, then spun off of Neumann guard Vaughn Covington and converted a hanging, left-handed finish over the help defense. After Saints head coach Carl Arrigale opted not to call a timeout, junior guard Zane Martin got into the lane but threw an errant pass out of bounds with just three seconds remaining.

Roman’s Gemil Holbrook, a Rider commit, made one of two free throws, and Covington’s heave from beyond halfcourt came up well short.

“I’m just trying to keep my composure,” Carr said of his mindset late in the game, “because I’m always confident in myself at the end of the game and just about the whole game. I just try to stay poised and just pick my spots on the court.

“I know once the fourth comes it’s gonna be my show and I’ve gotta close it out.”

If it was Carr that delivered the knockout, it was Roman’s interior duo that threw the body blows throughout the game.

Big-bodied senior Manny Taylor, who is committed to Rutgers as a defensive linemen, led the Cahillites in scoring with 17 points off the bench, with many of them coming off of critical offensive rebounds. Junior forward Paul Newman, who has replaced the injured TreVaughn Wilkerson in the starting lineup, finished with nine points of his own, including seven before halftime.

The two combined to keep Neumann’s only true big, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, in foul trouble all game, using their strength advantage to get into the taller defender’s body.

Taylor’s play was especially impressive, considering he’s a senior coming off the bench after two years of starting alongside a multitude of current Division I players. Instead of getting upset, Taylor has embraced his new role, going about it with a very unselfish attitude.

“The sport that I’m playing next year is football, and I know that Paul Newman, he’s a basketball player and he’s trying to pursue a basketball career,” Taylor said. “So if I can help him in any way, like if he’s starting I’m fine with that because that’s giving him confidence. He’s a junior, he’s a young guy so he has to come back next year. So if he starts, it’s nothing personal. It’s just the game.

“I’ve just been trying to be mature about it and taking it game by game.”

While Roman (10-0, 2-0 Catholic League) never held a double digit advantage, the Cahillites led for all but two and a half minutes of game time; Neumann was playing from behind for the entirety of the second and third quarters, with the exception of the 22 seconds before a Taylor putback at the buzzer gave Roman a one point lead entering the final quarter.

After the Saints (9-1, 1-1) took their first lead since the first quarter late in the third, then took a 49-48 advantage early in the fourth, Roman responded by playing some of its best basketball of the night, with a Nazeer Bostick free throw giving the Cahillites a 66-57 advantage with less than three minutes remaining.

While some fans started to file out at that point, the game was far from over, as Arrigale unveiled a full court press that forced two straight Roman turnovers and sparked an 11-2 Saints run, capped by Kimble’s trey to tie the game.

“Basically, just do anything to win,” Kimble said of his thoughts during that comeback. “If it’s a rebound, if it’s a pass, if it’s a pass, if it’s a defensive stop, just anything. [Arrigale] told us to show our heart and really scrap out there, and that’s what we did.”

Kimble finished with 17 points, tying sophomore guard Quade Green for the team lead.

Although this is the second consecutive year that Roman has won the regular season edition of this rivalry, don’t expect the six-time defending Catholic League champs to get nervous; after all, it was Neumann-Goretti that avenged its earlier loss last season by knocking off the Cahillites in the league championship.

But while Kimble admitted that the Saints are always focusing on the playoffs, Roman is content taking things game by game, looking to add to an impressive 21-game regular season win streak in Catholic League play, dating back to the 2012-13 season.

“We have a couple young guys like [D’Andre Vilmar] and Paul that are kind of finding the team identity, so each game I feel like we’re getting a little better, a little better,” McNesby said. “We still have a ways to go, we have a lot more to get better, so it’s just taking learning experiences into the game.”

That streak will be put to the test again on Sunday, when Roman takes on Archbishop Carroll, the preseason favorites in the league this year, in front of what is sure to be another capacity crowd at Cabrini College. First, they will host a young Cardinal O’Hara team on Friday night. Neumann-Goretti will travel to Lansdale Catholic on Friday before a big matchup at home against La Salle College on Sunday.


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