106840551
After an Archbishop Carroll player’s last-second three-point attempt found the net in a Valentine’s Day Catholic League playoff quarterfinal, junior forward Tanesha Sutton and her teammates from Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., left the gym as brokenhearted visitors.
Eager to endow a foe with comparable woe, the Saints fixed their tickers Saturday, thrashing Imhotep Charter, 57-26, in the District 12 Class AA title game at St. Joe’s Prep. The result gives the East Passyunk Crossing-based ballers added determination ahead of tomorrow night’s state tournament opener.
“That game hurt but gave us a sense of urgency,” Sutton, a Germantown resident, said Tuesday of the Carroll setback. “Against Imhotep, we wanted to continue to show we have great chemistry and discipline.”
One of four all-league honorees under first-year coach Letty Santarelli, the guard/forward contributed 11 points in the blowout, which earned her unit its 13th victory and District 12’s top seed in the Class AA state bracket. So stalwart was its defense that the team yielded no first-half field goals in building a 23-10 intermission cushion and surrendered only six the rest of the way.
“We’re much more athletic this year,” sophomore guard Sianni Martin, another All-Catholic selection, said in comparing this outfit to last year’s squad that dropped the City championship to Prep Charter, 1928 Point Breeze Ave. “Our focus and determination are sharper, and Imhotep witnessed that firsthand.”
The West Philadelphian and her peers credit Santarelli, who last season served as an assistant under Stephen Skedzielwski, for their endorphins boost, as the resident of the 2900 block of South Broad Street immediately stressed strengthening their resolve.
“We knew with Letty we were going to go hard,” Sutton said of the leader, a 1986 Immaculata University alumnus whose résumé includes an eight-year stint coaching the Philadelphia Comets Amateur Athletic Union club, with numerous national appearances to their credit, and a successful tenure as the overseer of St. Richard parish’s Catholic Youth Organization team, 1826 Pollock St. “She always encourages us to improve our games to an extent that I wouldn’t want any other coach.”
“As soon as she came in, we knew she wanted wins,” Martin added of the former First-Team All-American. “She gave us clear goals and really prepared us for the Catholic League schedule with tough nonleague games.”
Santarelli noted she needed to make small adjustments in assuming the top duty yet saw no need to baby her young team.
“We were excited to start this season because of our potential,” she said.
The Saints bonded by performing community service through Philly Girls Got Game, an organization that enlists Santarelli as its outreach director and will hold an April 27 clinic at Neumann-Goretti to further its mission to develop and improve girls’ hoops. When on the court, they have aimed to intensify their ties by toppling tough opponents.
“We wanted to come out with excitement from day one,” junior forward Stephanie Brown said. “I think we’ve done well to do that.”
The Northeast Philly inhabitant played her part Saturday, leading the Saints with 14 points. Her school entered with fewer triumphs than the Public League’s Panthers, but a tougher regular-season journey helped the local institution to the very definition of a comfortable win.
“The Public League teams can be tough, so I’m thrilled we played a solid game,” Santarelli, whose team dumped Engineering & Science, another public unit, 56-36 in its Dec. 12 season opener, said.
That nonleague contest offered few lessons, but others inspired them to give constant attention to fundamentals. That diligence resulted in a 9-4 mark against parochial adversaries, the biggest notch coming Jan. 17 when they ventured to Cardinal O’Hara and gave the eventual champion Lions their only league loss.
“Our work really paid off in that game,” Santarelli, an O’Hara product, said of the 46-45 win.
Though her charges could not veto the Patriots’ desires for postseason success last month, they more than made amends Saturday and joined the boys, who also brushed aside Imhotep 52-51 Friday at Saint Joseph’s University for their fifth straight District 12 plaque, as basketball royalty at Neumann-Goretti. Sutton, however, knows much more awaits.
“The City title is great to have, but it’s done with,” she said. “Now comes the state tournament, where we’ll really look to show our chemistry.”
The Saints face Lebanon County’s Annville Cleona 6 p.m. tomorrow at Archbishop Ryan High School, 11201 Academy Road.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
106840571
106840561
