City of Basketball Love

Justin Allen (@jallen_town)
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Everyone dreams of sinking a game winning shot. For most people, that’s all it is–a dream.

Quade Green is now living that dream, as the Neumann-Goretti guard sank the game winning 3-pointer to beat Archbishop Carroll, 71-69.

In fact, what the sophomore has accomplished this season has been nothing short of extraordinary. Whether it’s leading the now front running Saints in scoring, hitting buzzer beaters, or racking up scholarship offers and prom proposals.

Behind 26 points and a buzzer beater from Green, Neumann-Goretti was able to overcome Carroll and move to 7-1 in the Philadelphia Catholic League, as well as 15-1 overall.

After Josh Sharkey sank a pair of free throws to put Carroll on top 69-68 with 10.1 seconds to go, it was Green’s time to shine.

Green’s feed came off a beautiful pass from Neumann-Goretti senior guard Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble, who knew to defer to the guard who’d been hot all fourth quarter.

“I honestly didn’t think Fresh was going to pass the ball, but when he did, I knew I had to make it,” Green said.

“I tried to call time out at the end of the Roman game and run a similar play, but it didn’t work,” Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale said.

“We put the ball in the hands of our senior, and he got the ball to the best shooter in the gym. He made the right call.”

All fourth quarter long, the two PCL heavyweights traded buckets, with neither team leading by more than four.  The fast paced back-and-forth type of play was what the capacity crowd had hoped for, as the gym was packed more than an hour before tip-off.

“It was like a college atmosphere. It felt awesome all night long and it definitely motivated me to play better,” said Green.

Neumann-Goretti graduated the all-time leading scorer in the Catholic League last year in current Miami (Fl.) freshman Ja’Quan Newton, who was the most feared scorer in the area and one of the best clutch performers in the city’s history.

With Newton gone, the coaches in the Catholic League might have thought there was a chance for a brief respite from a Saints guard with that get-it-done ability. Not so fast.

“Well, you thought Ja’Quan Newton graduated and that was their killer, their last-quarter killer,” Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said. “And here steps up a sophomore that has 13 points in the fourth quarter, in our gym, and I don’t know if he even hit the rim on any of those shots.”

Arrigale downplayed the significance of the win afterwards, despite the fact that it now puts the Saints in a four-way tie for first place and a game ahead of a Carroll team which many picked to be on top: “It’s just another game. We have to play another game this weekend and so do they. I’m sure we’ll see them again.

“It is a good character win for these guys, though. To be down six at half on the road, it’s good.”

The Saints did find themselves in a six point hole, 33-27 at the half, which was Carroll’s largest lead of the game.

Joining Green in the scoring efforts were Kimble, who finished with 15 points, as well as sophomore big man Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, who scored 13 points.

Cosby-Roundtree sat for much of the first half after picking up two fouls in the early going. He provided a big spark in the second half, as he scored 11 of his 13 after the break. The 6-foot-8 forward also faced the unenviable task of guarding Carroll star Derrick Jones.

Jones, however, did not go down quietly, as he too scored 26 points to lead the Patriots, 11 of which came in the final quarter. Jones also hauled in 14 rebounds.

Sharkey added 21 points for Carroll, including 10 points on 4-of-4 from the line in the fourth.

“He was fantastic. He was so good, he’s a warrior, he’s a warrior for us. I figured at the end of the game there we’d get some good shots because Josh was playing with a great pace to his game tonight,” Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said.

“He did not turn the ball over at all, that’s what we want from him. And then the 21 points is just an added bonus, he really had himself under control and played a great game for us.”

Romanczuk also sang the praises of Kimble for turning down the final shot and finding his red hot, open teammate.

The Saints will continue their tough stretch of Catholic League games on Monday against St. Joe’s Prep.

“We still have to beat the Prep. Once we beat them, then we can start to feel a little better about being on top,” Green said.

Archbishop Carroll will next face LaSalle, which has recently developed a reputation for knocking off the top teams, while building a resume for themselves.

Carroll will need to bounce back Sunday if it hopes to stay alive in the Catholic League regular season race.