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Neumann-Goretti boys roar past La Salle

Vaughn Covington is an extremely intelligent basketball player with a deft shooting stroke. The slender point guard for Neumann-Goretti also knows his limitations.

Vaughn Covington is an extremely intelligent basketball player with a deft shooting stroke.

The slender point guard for Neumann-Goretti also knows his limitations.

In Saints' 74-50 win at La Salle on Monday night, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound senior did his damage from the perimeter.

"That definitely was a big focal point coming into high school," Covington said. "I had to develop a good jump shot because I knew I wasn't going to be over 6-foot-1, and I'm skinny already so I wasn't going to be able to finish at the rim against bigger guys. I definitely had to develop my jump shot. I've worked very hard at it."

Covington's 14 points against the Explorers came on 5-of-6 shooting. And he excelled mostly from behind the three-point line, draining 3 of 3 three-pointers.

Putting on weight, however, hasn't been that easy.

"Please send food," an N-G assistant coach joked as Covington fielded questions in an interview.

A bout with pneumonia earlier this season certainly didn't help. But did it cause him to lose weight?

"I hope not," Covington said, laughing.

"I'm over it [now]," he said. "I had missed school for about a week and a half."

Covington helped lead the Saints' offensive assault that finished 29 of 52 overall (56 percent) and 6 of 14 overall from three.

Quade Green led the Saints (10-2, 5-0) with 21 points. Zane Martin added 16, while Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree provided 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

La Salle (10-2, 3-1) was led by Shane Stark and Ryan McTamney, who each finished with 12 points.

The Saints defense pressured the Explorers into turnovers, while its offense helped turn an 11-point halftime advantage into a 74-44 lead that quieted the La Salle faithful late in the fourth.

"This was a really important win because this was a big road game for us," Covington said. "My freshman year, they ended our streak here, so to me it was a really important game. And it was important for us as a team because we haven't faced a hostile crowd on the road like that."

Neumann-Goretti 22 16 15 21 - 74

La Salle 17 10 12 11 - 50

N-G: Quade Green 21, Vaughn Covington 14, Rasheed Browne 7, Zane Martin 16, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree 12, Noah Watson 2, Mike Millsip 2.

LS: Shane Stark 12, Dan Remolde 2, Isaiah Jones 2, Chris Ferguson 10, Phil Held 4, Jarrod Stukes 4, Matt Paulus 2, Ryan McTamney 12, Zach Crisler 2.

cartera@phillynews.com

@AceCarterINQ

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