So close.
Yet when Friday night’s remarkably taut PIAA Class AAA championship game finally came to a close — following a dramatic finish in regulation and eventually overtime — Vince Rogers’ basketball-playing Susquehanna Twp. probably felt like they’d been defeated by dozens and dozens of points and not merely a handful.
That’s how emotionally draining a back-and-forth affair that had more than 6,600 spectators at Hershey’s Giant Center on the edges of their comfortably padded seats was — for a pair of highly competitive outfits that pushed each other to the max.
Only one contingent could emerge victorious, however, and it was perennial Pennsylvania power Neumann-Goretti that wound up hoisting the championship trophy for the fourth time in five years with a 64-57 triumph.
Just one day after losing his mother (Lisa Brown) to a lengthy bout with breast cancer, Ja’Quan Newton pocketed a game-high 33 points and snared a team-high eight rebounds as Carl Arrigale’s top-ranked Saints (27-4) prevailed.
Troy Harper checked in with 12 points and Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble added 10 more as Neumann-Goretti closed out its latest state title run with its 17th straight victory. The Saints also captured PIAA gold in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Quintin Ward (18), Nehemiah “Bud” Mack (16) and Gabe Mack (11) shared 45 points for Susquehanna Twp. (23-8), which was seeking its first state championship since 1997. The Indians came in riding an eight-game winning streak.
Joe Marshall added 11 rebounds for Vince Rogers’ District 3-AAA champs.
PIVOTAL SEQUENCE
Locked in a 53-all tie with 1:19 to play in regulation after Newton cashed the front end of a two-shot look, Susquehanna Twp. worked the clock down and had a chance to win it late when Gabe Mack rose up from just beyond the foul line.
Mack’s pop was blocked by Tony Toplyn, allowing the Saints to latch on to the defensive rebound and set up their own potential game-winning rip.
Newton, however, could not get his shot in the waning seconds to drop. And even though the 6-1 senior grabbed the offensive board, he turned the ball over.
Overtime awaited.
Susquehanna Twp. had a chance to jump in front, but Bud Mack could not get a transition finish at the rim to fall. Moments later, the Miami-bound Newton’s runner pushed Arrigale’s Saints in front with just 25 seconds gone.
While Marshall had a two-shot trip to the line that yielded just one freebie, Neumann-Goretti stayed there. And the Saints quickly built on their lead.
At the line.
Newton canned two, Kimble nailed three of four and Harper drained a pair as Arrigale’s club opened a 62-54 lead with 21.2 showing.
And that lead would prove too long for the gallant Indians.
We'll have much more — post-game reaction, stats and a piece on Ja'Quan Newton — in a bit.
BULLOCK ON TWITTER: @thebullp_n