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Green's 24 Leads Neumann-Goretti over Archbishop Wood

01/18/2015, 1:45am EST

By Aron Minkoff

Aron Minkoff (@AronMinkoff)
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The Archbishop Wood Vikings came into the Neumann-Goretti gym on Sunday afternoon with one word on their mind: upset.

And after an hour delay of the start of the game due to rain causing hazardous weather conditions, there was a game played and a reunion of sorts at the South Philadelphia Catholic school.

After a four-point halftime lead, the Saints were struggling to keep the game from getting out of hand. They needed a 24-point game from sophomore Quade Green to survive the Vikings with a final score of 82-77.

“They really played well, hats off to Wood,” Saints coach Carl Arrigale said. “They had them ready, they came here and shot it well, they did a good job of spreading it out. They had us on our heels.”

Green got hot in the second half, after a technical foul on his teammate Dhamir Cosby-Roundtreesent the N-G big man to the bench with his fourth foul early in the third quarter.

The switch to a smaller lineup certainly seemed to help out the Saints, especially Green. The high-major prospect, with offers from schools like Temple and Maryland already under his belt–Owls coach Fran Dunphy was in the building–was dominant throughout the half recording five rebounds to go along with his 19 points in the half. He showed off an arsenal of tools, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

N-G connected on seven 3-pointers, five of them coming in the second half.

“We went five guards, that changed the dynamic of the game,” Green said. “It made Luke [Connaghan] have to guard a point guard out there. Five guards spread the floor out get the shooters going.”

In addition to Green’s performance, the Vikings were led by senior Saint Joseph’s commit Lamarr Kimble, who recorded 19 points of his own, and junior Zane Martin, who contributed 16 points.

Though the change in lineup might have hurt Connaghan defensively, the senior more than made up for it on the other end.

The 6-5 forward and Division II recruit led all scorers with 32 points and 10 rebounds. He showed just how crafty he is with a plethora of post moves that led to tough baskets and trips to the free throw line.

“Luke was a beast,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “Not too many people come into this building and do that to Neumann-Goretti.”

Wood has had its fair share of struggles this season after coming into the year with high expectations in Mosco’s second season as head coach.

The loss to N-G was their third consecutive loss after losing to Father Judge and Conwell-Egan last week, but

In addition to Connaghan’s double-double, junior guard Tommy Funk scored 19 points along with the other senior in the Vikings trio, Cody Fitzpatrick, who scored 12.

“We came in and we played hard,” Mosco said. “Its a hard place to come in and win, I know that Ive been here for a lot of the wins. We just tried to play with a lot of energy and try to get after them. They are bigger and stronger than us and more experienced than us and it showed.”

Prior to the game Arrigale, presented his longtime former assistant with a plaque to commemorate his time with the program.

“He was with me for a long time, and we were friends for when we were kids,” Arrigale said. “It meant a lot to me to let him know that we appreciate what he did with us, we are the program that we are today because of him.”

This was Mosco’s first trip “home” since he took over the Wood program prior to last season.

“My wife will tell you I was nervous getting here,” Mosco said. “I graduated in ’83 and have been home for 16 years. And me and Carl are still best friends, I talk to him every day. And the staff, I coached them so it was a tough experience. Now we got it over with.”

After the pleasantries were exchanged there was a basketball game played and Arrigale added that while he wants him to have success at Wood that he “obviously wants to beat him when I see him.”

If today’s game was any indication, Mosco has a team that has the potential to surprise quite a few people as the season plays out. The Vikings sit at 11-4 and 3-4 in conference play and will host Cardinal O’Hara on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The win improves Neumann-Goretti to 14-1 overall and 6-1 in the PCL and the Saints will play at Archbishop Carroll at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.