Neumann-Goretti wins fifth straight CL title

JA'QUAN NEWTON roared downcourt, buried a three-point field goal and, as he backpedaled toward the west end of the court, a pretty obvious look appeared on his face.

"Did they really think I wasn't gonna give them an answer?"

If he'd mouthed something right then, those would have been the exact words.

The moment occurred Monday night at the Palestra in the Catholic League basketball championship game and it happened right after Stephen Vasturia buried a trey for St. Joseph's Prep, drawing his squad within 26-20 of Ss. Neumann-Goretti and causing the Hawks' gigantic student section to ramp up its energy level.

"I definitely wanted to give them an answer," said Newton, a 6-3, 175-pound junior wing guard. "That's one of the things I like the most, shutting up the other teams' fans."

He also likes winning titles - wait, he treasures that - and, like all of his teammates, he has the routine down pat.

Before just short of a full house, the Saints rolled past the Prep, 60-42, to seize their fifth consecutive crown. That accomplishment leaves N-G one short of the modern record for in-a-row crowns (Roman earned six from 1989-94) and lifts it into a tie for second with Roman's 1924-28 teams.

"Well, I have three now," Newton said as his teammates cut down the net. "And, of course, I'll want that fourth one. To get that sixth in a row for the school, that'll be huge."

Newton did more than drain the aforementioned trey. Overall, he exploded for 27 points (8-for-15 floor, three treys, 8-for-11 line), snagged six rebounds and dished three assists.

To boot, he played excellent defense on Wake Forest commit Miles Overton, who was limited to eight points, while shooting 3-for-16 from the floor.

In three seasons, Overton had appeared in six playoff games. He'd averaged 20.5 points, while shooting 40-for-80 from the floor and even better (20-for-38) behind the arc.

"I played him during our regular-season game, too," Newton said. "I did OK then, but I was much better this time. I knew how important my defense on him would be. I was excited about it. I got right up under his skin."

Like always in recent meetings, the Saints jumped on the Hawks' collective throat with both feet.

They jumped to a 12-2 lead, with the capper being a trey by soph Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble off a pass from John Davis. Though N-G missed three of its first eight shots, Tony Toplyn nixed the bad vibrations for two of them by scoring on follows.

Though other parts of the game proved to be challenging, and the Prep did storm within 35-34 with a shade over 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter (Kyle Thompson drained back-to-back threebies), N-G regrouped and erased any possible thoughts of an upset.

Prep coach William "Speedy" Morris inserted five subs with 2:03 remaining and the count at 57-42. N-G's Carl Arrigale, who starred for Morris at Penn Charter in the '83 and '84 seasons, followed suit shortly thereafter.

Arrigale and Morris have met 22 times and the former owns a 15-7 lead. Also, Arrigale has now eased past Morris for total number of CL titles, 9-8. (Morris won six at Roman Catholic; he owns two with the Prep.)

As the final buzzer sounded, the players rejoiced by hopping around the court. Their fans were prevented from rushing out of the west stands, so the players surged in that direction to greet them. Soon, the Saints were posing for pictures while chanting, "Fivepeat! . . . Fivepeat! . . . Fivepeat!"

Off to the side, Arrigale noted, "They all feel good. This one was hard. A lot of people thought we were leaking oil, and that they were gonna get us."

Arrigale also made a reference to the Saints' woeful performance against Chester, which occurred right before the start of the playoffs. On national TV, no less.

"A lot of guys were making funeral arrangements for us after we laid that egg," he said. "Hey, we were dead a couple times this year. But these guys believed in themselves and came together and I'm so glad how things turned out tonight."

Meanwhile, also prominent among Newton's big moments were treys to end the first and second quarters and a strong sequence that turned back the Prep's third-quarter uprising.

On the quarter-enders, Newton dribbled, dribbled, dribbled out front and then fired very late, leaving little chance, if any, for a follow. "I love buzzer-beaters," he said. "They're the best. They really silence the crowd."

The second one was a bank shot, and he failed to call it. "God put that one in," he cracked.

As for the key sequence . . .

Out of a calm-things-down timeout, Newton twisted in a layup, posted a three-point play off a fastbreak started by Jamal Custis' block, then passed to Custis for a bucket, turning 35-34 into 42-34.

"I always have confidence that I'll make the big plays," he said.

In its 15 playoff victories over the last five seasons, N-G has won by an average of 17.5 points. In his nine outings, Newton has shot 61-for-112 and 36-for-52 for 147 points (16.3 ppg.)

Also prominent, like always, was senior forward John Davis, who totaled 11 apiece of points/rebounds and joined Arrigale at the top of the ladder to complete the net-cutting ceremony. Senior point guard Hanif Sutton, with some help from Troy Harper and others, helped to limit Vasturia (Notre Dame) to 14 points and 5-for-15 shooting from the floor.

N-G next will meet Imhotep Charter, the Public League's overall champion, for the full-blown (and AAA) City Title Friday night, 8:30, at Saint Joseph's University. The 7 o'clock opener, for AAAA CT laurels, will pit Roman Catholic vs. Martin Luther King.

Because of a complicated points formula, the Hawks failed to top Roman for the CL's AAAA spot. They'll meet John Bartram on Thursday night, 7:30 at Southern, in a seeding game, and only the winner will advance to the state tournament.