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Covington, Green next up at Arrigale's guard factory

02/20/2014, 11:45am EST

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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Carl Arrigale laughed when talking about his knack for producing next-level guards.

“I was a slow guard,” the 15th-year Neumann-Goretti coach quipped.

That’s not true of his players. One after another–D.J. Rivera, Scoop Jardine, Tony Chennault,Tyreek Duren, Lamin Fulton, and now Ja’Quan Newton–Arrigale has turned out quick, attacking, 1,000-point scoring guards.

Arrigale has had his share of big men come through during his run of success; you don’t have to think too far back to remember frontcourt stars like Danny Stewart, John Davis and Rick Jackson. But that’s not what makes Arrigale’s Saints go–it’s the uptempo style that’s made them so successful.

“I believe that guards win games, especially in high school,” Arrigale said. “Big guys are late-developing players, you need them. I give our guards some freedom, as long as they do it the right way. If they’re sharing the ball and they care about each other and they care to make the right play, without caring who gets credit, it works.“

With Davis gone to Towson last year, Newton off to Coral Gables, Fla. in the fall and senior Troy Harper graduating and going to Campbell University to play, there must be some young guards waiting in the wings, right?

Of course.

Insert sophomore Vaughn Covington and freshman Quade Green, the next batch of talented guards to grace the floor in East Passyunk Crossing.

With Newton, Harper and junior Lamarr Kimble ahead of them in the pecking order, Covington and Green are pieces that come in to provide more than just scoring off of the bench.

“I love these guys,” Arrigale said. “Their first job is to try to change the game defensively.”

That’s not to say that they don’t have the ability to score when needed. In Wednesday’s 67-62 win over Archbishop Carroll, Covington knocked down three triples for nine points. Green also buried a trey of his own. Covington would also add two steals and two assists.

Green scored 15 points in Neumann’s quarterfinal trouncing of West Catholic.

“Vaughn is a spark,” Arrigale said. “He’s found his niche and the guys look for him. Quade is explosive, he’s going to be a guaranteed 1,000-point scorer unless he gets hurt. I gotta reign him in a little bit every once in a while because he’s got so much confidence.”

For now, the young duo embraces their role as the spark-plugs.

“We’re comfortable,” Covington said. “Coach wants us to play our role, we obviously play it well so we’re really comfortable.”

“We’ve got the green light,” Green said. “The green light to come off the bench and do what we got to do and play defense, that’s what we want to do – play defense.”

In future years though, as quick as next year even, Arrigale will be relying on Covington and Green to do much more than just provide a spark. Filling the holes of Newton and Harper won’t be an easy task, but it’s a task that Arrigale looks forward to seeing fulfilled.

“I’m excited about what they can bring to our program, the tenaciousness that they both play with and the love of the game that they both have,” Arrigale said.

There probably isn’t a better combination of guards that Covington and Green can learn from in the Philadelphia region than Newton and Harper. Newton became Neumann’s all-time leading scorer when he beat the third quarter buzzer with a step-back 3-pointer.

Each young guard has taken things from their elders.

“I’ve learned a lot playing with those guys,” Covington said. “They kind of took my game to the next level from middle school to high school.”

“They taught me to be aggressive, be smart, play defense and think ahead of your opponent,” Green said.

In the present, everyone’s eyes are focused on Monday’s showdown at the Palestra with Roman Catholic in the Catholic League Championship. The Saints will look for their sixth straight title.

With a win Monday, and with Covington and Green on deck, it would be no shock to see that number grow to eight or nine.