For Andrea Peterson, leading Neumann Goretti girls to another state title ‘means more’ during a trying year

HERSHEY, Pa. — Neumann Goretti coach Andrea Peterson did not exactly know what to do or where to go seconds after her team won its second-straight PIAA Class 4A state championship on Saturday afternoon at Hershey’s Giant Center.

She wandered behind her team, lined up at the foul line to receive their gold medals. She looked up at the crowd, knowing the two people she wanted to see were not there, when she finally came around to face her players.

It was a rewarding finish to a trying year for the Saints’ coach, who lost her parents within a span of 133 days before the season began. It was Thomas and Alice, her parents, who Peterson first thought about after the Saints beat District 7 champion Oakland, 53-48, to earn Peterson and Neumann Goretti’s seventh state championship (two in 2A, three in 3A, and tw0 in 4A).

» READ MORE: Neumann Goretti’s Andrea Peterson is more than a girls’ basketball coach. She’s a tenacious leader.

“This means more than the previous six [state championships], because I was thinking about my parents and remembering the last words my dad said to me before he passed, ‘Just get another one,’ and these young ladies did,” said Peterson. “We spoke finishing the task and I know my dad wanted to see one more. These girls did this for me, they’re my kids and I know they wanted to do this for me. I wanted this for them.”

Reginna Baker, Neumann Goretti’s 5-7 junior guard, finished with a team-high 18 points, going 9-for-9 from the foul line, while 5-5 freshman guard Azzure O’Connor, the daughter of former Simon Gratz and St. Joe’s star Marvin O’Connor, added 16 points and drew 11 fouls, making 7 of 10 from the foul line.

“This season was about Coach Petey,” O’Connor said. “We spoke many times with each other about what she was going through with her parents, and we have been through a lot and that forced us to stay together. We dedicated this season to Coach Petey, and that started with our captain, Reginna and Zion [Coston].”

Entering the game, Oakland Catholic featured 6-3 senior Josie Fontana, who’s committed to Richmond, but junior Madison Pullen did most of the damage to the Saints, hitting her first five shots and scoring 22 of the Eagles’ first 28 points.

Senior guard Sanai Johnson began picking up Pullen, who went 0 for 4 in the fourth quarter, while Baker and O’Connor combined to score 13 of the Saints’ 16 fourth-quarter points.

It was a pair of O’Connor free throws that put the Saints (19-10) ahead, 51-45, with 32.8 seconds left.

“Everything we did this year we did for Coach Petey,” said Coston, who plans to attend Clark Atlanta in the fall and may not play basketball. “She’s like a second mom to me. It’s like a second mom to a lot of girls on this team. She sacrifices so much for us, we had to do extra for her. The gold medal may mean a state championship to a lot of people, but it means more to us, because we faced a lot of adversity this year and spoke to fighting together. We made it a habit after each practice [to hug] Coach Petey, and told her we loved her.”

Nyeire Farlow did not even see the basket when he released the ball, but the West Catholic 6-foot-3 junior guard’s shot looked true as it arced its way to the basket — but came a few inches short in the last seconds of the Burrs’ PIAA Class 3A state title game against District 3 champion Trinity.

The miss ignited a Trinity celebration after the Shamrocks defeated West Catholic, 52-49, on Saturday.

The loss ended a perfect six-for-six run of Philadelphia area teams brining home a state title in the three-day PIAA championship tournament, and it ended the Burrs’ attempt of repeating as state champions.

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“It hurts,” said Farlow, who finished with 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting from three-point range. “To be honest, I just caught the ball and shot it (with 4.8 seconds left in regulation). I didn’t even see the basket. I just let it go. I prayed it would go in. I feel bad for the seniors. This is a team that had its share of ups-and-downs this year, and some of our bad habits come to us at the wrong time today.”

Trinity came out strong, leading 15-6 late in the first quarter, when the Burrs went on a 19-4 run to take control of the game, 25-19. From there, West Catholic maintained the lead until a driving layup by Trinity’s Andre Steele made it 31-30 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Driven by Steele, the Shamrocks created what seemed to be an insurmountable 48-41 lead with 2:55 to play.

“We had our chances, which is the frustrating part,” Burrs’ starting sophomore guard Rakim ‘Rocky’ Johnson said. “Nothing was easy. We did a lot to get to this moment, and I knew every junior and senior on our team wanted this. The other team wasn’t better than us, they were more together. Two more inches and Nyeire would have hit that shot.”

It was a tough way for 6-7 West Catholic senior forward Kingston Wheatley to end his season. Wheatley will attend Florida Gulf Coast next year. He finished with a team-high 15 points, but fouled out with 1:35 to play and West Catholic trailing 51-44.

“You never want to go out like this, have a game like this be your last in high school,” he said. “But I’m proud on what we did to get here. We were playing for a first-year head coach [James Lewis]. We did a lot of good things this season that I’ll always remember. I’ll always remember these guys. We played our hearts out. It’s all we can ask for.”

» READ MORE: PIAA boys’ basketball finals: Sankofa Freedom and Devon Prep each take home state titles

Lewis took over for former Burrs’ coach Miguel Bocachica. Lewis was an assistant coach under Bocachica.

“I’ll always remember the resilient group we had this year,” Lewis said. “I’m not satisfied. We were the first District 12 team that lost and I didn’t want to be the first one. But maybe later on, when I look back, I’ll take in the good things we did this year. We’re just getting started.”