City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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HERSHEY — As a relaxed Dymir Montague stood just a few feet away from one of Giant Center’s entrance ramps, the Neumann-Goretti senior had a terrific grasp on what Wednesday’s result meant to every member of the Saints’ traveling party and just how significant their latest dub was.

While the 6-foot-3 youngster had been involved in numerous other post-game celebrations — even a few that unfolded following state championship games — but this one carried a bit more weight.

Until Wednesday, no Pennsylvania boys basketball program had ever carted off five consecutive championships. Yet mere minutes after Neumann-Goretti closed out a 57-42 victory over Richland in the Class 3A final, there was Montague with both hands tightly wrapped around some hardware.

And, for the time being, Montague wasn’t going to let go.

Being part of a remarkably successful program that won its fifth consecutive state basketball championship will cause those memorable moments to burn indelibly into memory banks. And Montague was going to enjoy Wednesday afternoon then — and well into adulthood.

Pocketing 23 points — including a dozen that arrived from beyond the 3-point arc — Montague’s performance helped propel Carl Arrigale’s high-powered Saints (23-6) past the District 6 champions and into yet another post-championship celebration that carried into the back hallways.

“This travels you with your whole life,” said Montague, who added six rebounds, five steals and blocked four shots. “They always remember the state title whenever you play on TV or wherever you go. And being able to win all four over my four years is really big.”

Chris Ings and freshman TaQuan Woodley added eight points apiece for Neumann-Goretti — Ings also dropped seven dimes — while the 6-5 Woodley also pulled down seven boards. Ings, Montague and 6-9 George Washington recruit Marcus Littles each snared six rebounds.

“That’s just a prime example of how you do it on your way out,” Ings said of Montague. “[Scoring] 23 points and every point was a big bucket for the team.”

Tyler Zimmerman dropped in 16 points and Collin Instone added 12 for Richland (25-5), which was making its first appearance in a state championship game. Trevy Hardison added nine points — all on treys — and 10 rebounds for Greg Burke’s District 6 runners-up.

So, Neumann-Goretti’s experience in state finals was one edge.

“It’s a big difference because it’s not our first time and we know what to expect,” Ings said. “Today was a lot different, because I’ve never seen somebody pack a gym that much. Richland fans were all over the place and they were real loud. They had like the whole city there to back them up.”

And that buoyed the Rams as opening tip drew closer and closer.

Yet while a determined Richland side came out with its typical drive and got off to a good start — the 6-4 Hardison buried two of his treys as the Rams opened a 13-9 lead — Neumann-Goretti’s quickness advantage soon became apparent as the Saints ran off 15 consecutive points.

“We saw them on film and we thought that speed was our biggest advantage,” Arrigale admitted.

“And we were hoping we could bother them.”

“It was real important, because our team is a transition team,” said Montague, who scored three points in Neumann-Goretti’s 89-58 conquest of Lincoln Park in last year’s 3A title game. “Once we get going up and down the floor and get the other team to go up and down the floor, I know it’s hard for other teams to do that — and that’s one of our strengths.

“For teams to try to keep up with us, we’re going to go on a 15-0 run like that,” added Montague, who now has four gold state championship medals. “It was using our strengths instead of going to our weaknesses, which is not playing together. That 15-0 run, that was all team basketball.

“Everybody got a piece of that. It wasn’t a one-man army at all.”

Montague triggered the outburst with the second of his four treys — as an Ings dish set him up — while Ings’ finish at the hoop with 5:43 left in the half capped the run and made it 24-13. Woodley, Ja’cor Smith and Hakim Byrd also connected during the Saints’ timely spurt.

Instone authored a quick response by working underneath for a pair of buckets, but seven points was as close as the Rams got. Burke’s bunch shaved the lead to 35-27 midway through the third quarter on a Zimmerman finish, but, for the most part, Neumann-Goretti worked with double-digit leads.

Montague added seven points in the third quarter, burying another trey, scoring at the bucket off an Ings delivery and capping another productive eight-minute stretch with a late jam. By then, Neumann-Goretti was sitting on a 45-29 cushion that early in the fourth would continue to grow.

“[The basket] looked very big,” said Montague, who was 7-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. “Lot of hard work and a lot of dedication behind it.

“It was made for me to put on this performance today.”

“I was happy for him,” Arrigale said. “He took a lot of stuff on his own shoulders at the end of the year when things didn’t go well. There was a lot more that did go well. He felt a sense of letting the program down because we didn’t advance to The Palestra for the first time in a long time.

“I told him he had another chance in this tournament,” Arrigale added. “For him to play well in his last game — his mom and his brother and all came up on the bus because they wouldn’t have gotten here otherwise and I wanted them to be here for his last game. It was great. I’m really happy for him.”

Yet while the Saints were up by 19 (48-29) when Montague opened the fourth quarter with the last of his deep darts, Richland never offered to surrender. And when Zimmerman buried treys from the left corner on back-to-back possessions, then scored at the hoop, the Rams were down 50-40.

“This year more than ever, we played some teams and some seniors that didn’t want their seasons to end,” Arrigale admitted. “We ended up winning all the games by double digits.

“But it wasn’t as easy as that’s going to look.”

“A lot of teams that we’ve played in the state tournament or in the Catholic League, when we’d get up by a certain amount, they would just give up,” Montague said. “That’s one of the better teams that didn’t give up and I give them credit for that. They were a good team.”

No problem, however, as the Saints closed out their latest state final by going 7-for-11 at the stripe — with all of that late work at the line done by Montague and Ings.

“I tell these guys every year there’s only going to be six groups of seniors that win their last game,” Arrigale said. “If you can be one of those guys, it’s pretty special.

“And you can have it the rest of your life.”

Soon, the Saints were celebrating their five-peat as players bounced from one interview session to another as Montague calmly clutched the gold-tinted hardware.

“That was kind of the rallying cry,” Arrigale added. “No matter what happens, you guys could be the guys that win the fifth one. You can feel bad about everything else that happened or anything else that we didn’t achieve, but you can be that guy and they can never take it away from you.

“You’re the first to do it.”

“It’s definitely a big accomplishment for the school,” Ings mentioned.

“We’re the only ones in the state to ever win five straight and we plan on making it six straight next year and to keep going until we can’t get no more.”