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While many fans tab the Phillies to be professional juggernauts this season, South Philadelphia already possesses a pair of reliable amateur machines.
Last night in games that ended after press time, the boys’ bunch from Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., and the girls’ gang from Prep Charter High School, 1928 Point Breeze Ave., looked to extend seasons featuring impressive winning streaks and blowout triumphs.
The Neumann-Goretti Saints, victors in their last 52 regular season and playoff endeavors against Catholic League foes, faced Center City-based Roman Catholic High School, twice a victim in the Passyunk Square school’s run.
The Saints, the two-time defending league champions and last year’s city and state vanquishers, advanced to the ballyhooed contest with a 63-39 pasting of Drexel Hill’s Monsignor Bonner. Friday’s home quarterfinal victory showed off the balanced attack that has become synonymous with the personnel that Catholic League Coach of the Year Carl Arrigale enlists. The team built a 10-point lead and stretched the deficit to 15 by halftime.
Further frustration awaited the Friars in the second half as they posted only 20 points over the final 16 minutes. Sophomore forward John Davis, a first-team All-Catholic selection, notched 12 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard La’Quan Coaxum and freshman guard Ja’Quan Newton also pumped in a dozen points each. Senior guard Lamin Fulton, the league’s Co-MVP, and junior forward Derrick Stewart, also first-team picks, scored 10 and nine points, respectively. Junior guard Billy Shank totaled six points, and sophomore guard Hanif Sutton added two points and six of the Saints’ 13 assists.
The win pushed the team to 19-4, with 15 of its last 16 games going into the win column. To set up the year’s second battle against the Saints, the Cahillites, owners of 28 league crowns, scored a 63-57 road quarterfinal win Feb. 18 against Holmesburg’s Father Judge Crusaders. The 16-7 group hoped to exact revenge for a 70-62 Jan. 23 loss in which Fulton scored 30.
The winner advanced to Feb. 28’s championship, also at the Palestra, but advancing to the semis earned both a spot in next month’s PIAA state tournament.
West Passyunk’s Prep Charter Huskies have spelled nothing but misery for all but one opponent. Coach Paul Rieser’s charges took a 21-1 mark into their Public League semifinal against the Engineering and Science Engineers.
The Huskies, with Drexel signee Tiffany Johnson running the point, set up the meeting with the 18-6 opposition by stealing the fire from the Freire Charter Dragons, earning a 75-31 victory at the same site on Feb. 18. The beatdown marked their smallest margin of victory since a Jan. 24 61-21 destruction of the Franklin Learning Center Bobcats.
The quarterfinal win netted the school the Public League Class AA title and gave Freire its second display of the Huskies’ dominance after annihilating the Dragons 63-20 on Jan. 21.
In the second game, Prep Charter built a 35-14 halftime lead. Junior forward Kahleah Copper scored 24 points and snared 14 rebounds. She and Johnson each scored 10 points in the third quarter, with the latter finishing with 12. Last night’s game was the school’s latest attempt to add to a growing trophy case. With Johnson’s legs and Rieser’s guile, the Huskies have won two state District 12 Public League championships. Heading into the match-up, their only setback came Jan. 16, a 63-44 loss to Maryland’s Bishop McNamara at the Blue Star tournament in Upper Dublin.
In other Prep Charter news, the school’s boys’ basketball team battled the Communications Tech Phoenix yesterday for the fourth District 12 spot in the Class AA state playoffs.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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