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“We have a philosophy. If you’re in it, you might as well win it,” coach Carl Arrigale said Tuesday at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St.
The latest “it” for his Saints was the PIAA Class AAA State Basketball Championship and win it they did, notching a 55-45 victory over Montour High School at Penn State University’s Bryce Jordan Center. The Friday triumph gives the Passyunk Square ballers their second-straight sweep of the Catholic League, District 12 City and state crowns.
Having lost four starters to graduation from last year’s 30-1 unit, Arrigale relied on his lone holdover, senior guard Lamin Fulton, to lead a previously unheralded bunch of hoopsters. The Saints began the year 4-3 but finished 23-1 to give their fans even more thrills.
The culmination of the latest title run came on the same floor where they eked out a 65-63 win over Chartiers Valley in last year’s championship. For much of the first three quarters, this year’s rendition looked as if it would mimic its predecessor’s nail-biting status.
The Saints entered the game having topped four teams at four different locations over a 12-day stretch. As District 12’s No. 1seed, they faced District 7’s top seed, Allegheny County’s Montour Spartans, with a chance to give the Catholic League its third-straight victor in the 32-team field.
The opposition had other ideas, grabbing a 12-9 lead after the first quarter. The Saints, winners of their previous state matchups by an average of 24 points, won the second session 15-9 to build a 24-21 halftime advantage. While the Spartans seemed up to the task of ending the defending champions’ 16-game winning streak and thwarting history, freshman guard Ja’Quan Newton restored his gang’s momentum towards the end of the third frame. The Southwest Philadelphia resident instigated a flurry that included a 15-0 run between that point and half of the fourth quarter, taking his mates from down 34-33 to up 48-34.
Newton scored a team-high 17 points and collected eight rebounds. Junior forward Derrick Stewart, whose brother Danny started for last year’s state conquerors, continued his late-season dominance by dropping 14 points and snaring 10 rebounds. Expected to be Arrigale’s horse next year, he also blocked two shots and made two steals.
Sophomore forward John Davis, his frontline partner, deposited 12 points and ripped seven rebounds. The left-hander led the Saints with 16 points in their March 11 62-34 first-round win against Annville-Cleona High School.
Junior guard Billy Shank, who went for 44 points combined in March 18’s 57-30 quarterfinal win against Octorara High School and March 22’s 82-75 semifinal victory over Lancaster Catholic High School, added five points, with three coming on one of his squad’s three triples. Fulton, the Catholic League’s co-MVP, capped his distinguished career by scoring seven points, dishing out two assists and earning five steals. When he left the game with only a few seconds remaining, he and Arrigale hugged, a fitting end to a fruitful partnership.
The familiar sound of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” honored the Saints as they celebrated duplicating last year’s hat trick of crowns, which made them the first Catholic League and District 12 athletes to hold three championships simultaneously. Arrigale, now the holder of seven league titles, three City championships and two state crowns, beamed as the players congregated. The slick haired leader distributed medals to the ecstatic victors, offering gratitude for their contributions with each golden token’s placement.
Back at school, the decorated players united Tuesday to honor a season that saw them finish undefeated in league play (16-0) for a third-straight season. They set a record for most consecutive league victories with their 50th on Feb. 11 and will enter next fall with 54 straight triumphs against Catholic League adversaries. They also became the first team to repeat as AAA state champions since Beaver Falls’ Blackhawk High School did so in 1996. With only Fulton and fellow senior Jordan Johnson departing, Arrigale will not have to hear naysayers’ predictions for a down year, prognostications his boys endured this campaign.
Not a part of last year’s success, Newton grew tired of hearing his initial season would likely produce more frustration than fascination.
“At first, I hadn’t expected such a successful year,” the skilled ball handler said.
One could say that advice Arrigale gave him at halftime of the title game served as an apt motto for the whole team’s season.
“Coach told me to be more aggressive,” Newton said of his 13-point second-half effort. “This year, we had to overcome losing four guys, but we believed in our defense and got the job done.”
Davis, of the 400 block of Washington Avenue, never doubted his squad’s chances.
“We wanted to prove everybody wrong,” he said.
This summer, he will look to build his perimeter game to ward off any thoughts that limiting his interior moves will diminish his contributions.
“I expect to do what we did this year for the next two years,” Davis said.
“When we were down, I thought this is our year, we are supposed to win this,” Stewart, who noted his confidence grew as the season progressed, said of overcoming the title game’s mini deficits.
He feels his willingness to battle down low will enhance his play next year.
“You have to be a man about stepping up,” the Upper Darby resident said.
This year, Fulton was the man. Bound for St. Peter’s College in New Jersey, the resident of the 1300 block of South 29th Street led the team in scoring and believing.
“The only people who knew we would be this good were those in our locker room,” he said. “Coach preached defense and we used that to key our offense. We bonded and defied expectations.”
“Lamin is an extension of our coaching staff,” Arrigale said of the floor general. “He helped our young guys to believe in themselves.”
The 13th-year coach noted his team immediately took to the underdog role and transformed it into the more customary favorite designation as the year advanced. He sees as their turning point a Jan. 27 to 29 trip to Florida during which his players captured two close wins after suffering a 20-point loss at the Montverde Academy Tournament. With their return, they played more freely and competently.
“It was a fun year,” he said. “People had expected a drop off but not us. We never backed down.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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