Philadelphia Catholic League powerhouse Ss. Neumann-Goretti reaches state quarterfinals in its first state tournament
By Gorden Blain
READING – The Ss. Neumann-Goretti Saints didn’t have to change anything to cure their early game jitters against Susquehanna Township in their PIAA AAA second round state playoff game Tuesday night at Reading High School’s Geigle Complex.
Quickly falling behind the Indians 15-5 late in the first quarter, the District 12 and Philadelphia Catholic League champions just had to keep doing what they have been doing all season.
And when they did, they rallied and then dominated the District 3’s third place team and last season’s state runnerup with a complete performance on both ends of the court that gave the Saints a 65-51 win and a spot opposite their league rival Archbishop Carroll in the state quarterfinals Friday night.
“The guys got a little nervous when their shots weren’t falling,” said Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale. “They looked at me, ‘What do we do?’ I wasn’t going to tell them to stop shooting. That’s how we played all season.”
Sure enough. as Susquehanna’s early shooting touch faded, Neumann-Goretti found its range.
The Saints outscored Susquehanna 14-8 in the second quarter to close the gap to 23-22 at halftime and then scored the first five points of the second half while Susquehanna missed its first six shots to take a 27-23 lead.
NG, led by a dynamic backcourt of Wake Forest recruit Tony Chennault and Tyreek Duren and shot blocker Andre Gillette patrolling the paint, stayed in front the rest of the game.
“We’re a tough team to play from behind against with our guards,” said Arrigale. “Fortunately for us, their two guards got into foul trouble.”
Township’s underclassmen backcourt of Ben Dupree and Tajh Turner never got untracked and both eventually fouled out. Dupree finished with eight points and Turner had six. The Indians made just two of 13 shots in the third quarter as they fell further behind, 37-29. NG’s lead swelled to 50-32 and the Indians never got closer than 10 in the fourth quarter.
Forward Greg Edwards led the Indians with 15 points and center Akeem Wilson, who suffered an eye injury early in the game but continued to play, scored eight. Edwards and Wilson are both seniors.
Duren led Neumann-Goretti with 20 points and Chennault had 15. Sixth-man Lamin Fulton scored 11 and Gillette had 10 points to go along with six blocked shots.
The Saints, who are ranked No. 1 in the state AAA rankings and No. 22 in USA Today’s national Top 25 ranking of high school basketball teams regardless of size, have already defeated Archbishop Carroll twice this season. They’ll need to do it a third time to keep their shot at a state title alive in their first-ever state tournament.
“Hopefully we get our guys up one more time,” said Arrigale.

The NG-Archbishop Carroll winner will face the York Suburban-Crestwood winner in the state semifinals on the eastern side of the bracket. On the western side, District 1's Holy Ghost Prep will play Hampton from the WPIAL in one quarterfinal and Farrell will meet Greensburg-Salem in the other.