BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Philadelphia Eagles won’t win the NFC East, but the City of Brotherly Love has some bragging rights on the Big Apple.
In a matchup of arguably the two city’s top teams, Neumann Goretti hammered Christ the King, 73-41, to win the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, N.Y. Friday night. The Saints scored the game’s first eight points and never looked back. They led by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter, a stunning margin against the loaded Royals and its prolific backcourt of UConn-bound senior Omar Calhoun, Isaiah Lewis and Jon Severe. The trio combined for 33 points – well below their season average – and shot 8-of-34 from the field.
“They had me a nervous wreck coming to the game,” Neumann Goretti coach Carl Arrigale said. “We made a conscious effort to have all five guys keep their heads around to swarm the ball as much as we could.”
John Davis led the Saints with 18 points and six rebounds, Billy Shank had 14 points, and Ja’Quan Newton added eight points and eight assists, three more than Christ the King (4-2) managed the entire way.
“We play selfish, we can’t win,” Severe said. “First two games we played great, this game everyone’s trying to be the MVP. We only had 40 points – everybody went for 40.”
The three high-major Division I prospects struggled mightily after playing so well over the tournament’s first two games. The Saints (7-1), meanwhile, had their way at both ends of the floor. They out-rebounded CK, 35-22, forced 11 turnovers with their relentless pressure defense, held the Royals to 27 percent shooting from the field and made 10-of-22 from beyond the arc.
“Neumann Goretti is a good team – they’re not a great team,” CK coach Joe Arbitello said. “That should’ve been a much better game. I don’t think they’re that much better than us.”
Arbitello felt his team regressed after two solid efforts, going one-on-one on offense, missing assignments on defense and getting beat to loose balls.
“This lets them see the good part and the bad part,” he said. “Hopefully, they buy into the good part. If they don’t, we’re gonna be standing here bounced out in the quarterfinals.”
Neumann Goretti broke the game open in the third quarter as Shank caught fire. He scored 13 in the frame, including three 3-pointers, as te Saints built a 51-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. It was a sweet victory for the senior, who missed a game-winning layup in regulation the last time the two teams met, when the Royals pulled out an overtime victory in Philly last season.
“Hopefully this will cover it,” he said. “I needed this bad.”
New York City will have a chance at revenge on New Year’s Day as five of the area’s top teams – Christ the King, South Shore, Boys & Girls, Wings Academy and Cardozo – travel to Philadelphia for the fifth annual Villa Holiday Classic. Last year, New York swept the series, 4-0. Already this year, Philly has the edge – with five games to go.
The Royals have the toughest game of the five, a 7:45 tip against Chester, ranked 14th in the country by USA Today, at Widener University in Chester.
Arbitello is actually pleased with the upcoming challenge – if only to force his team to improve because it will be under fire.