By:  Rich Flanagan

UPPER DARBY >> Cameron Young wasted little time making his presence felt. Right off the inbound, he was up in Donovan Rodriguez’s face, making it as difficult as possible for the Bonner-Prendergast senior to receive the ball.

As much as Rodriguez jostled him and fought for position, he could not break free. Young eventually took the ball away on the pass and found Neumann-Goretti teammate Hakim Byrd down the lane. Byrd was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws. Those were the first two points of the game and that play began what would become a long night for the Rodriguez and the Friars and a game in which Young and the Saints displayed their persistence to return to the top of the Philadelphia Catholic League.

Young’s mentality to find a way to be out on the floor throughout his career has been locking down his defender and using his length to cut off passing lanes when the Saints switch to a zone. Gradually, head coach Carl Arrigale has inserted Young to be his primary defender and the versatile forward has taken that role with great acceptance.

“(Coach Arrigale) trusts me defensively and I want to come through for him and my team,” Young said. “If they need me to guard the best player or another player, I’m on him.”

Young hit a pair of free throws then drilled a three-pointer to push the Saints lead to 14-3 with 3:37 remaining in the first quarter. Hall, who finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals, showed off his smooth jumper in the second quarter as part of a 12-3 run. His second triple during the run pushed the lead to 25-17 and Neumann-Goretti (10-2, 4-0 Philadelphia Catholic League) was in control. Young hit the other two treys in that run.

Miller scored 21 points off the bench including seven in the second quarter alone. His first three-pointer gave the Saints their first 20-point lead of the game. Byrd was dynamic to end the quarter scoring the final eight points to give his side a 58-35 advantage heading into the half.

One of the Saints best attributes is corralling defensive rebounds and pushing the ball down the floor without ever putting it on the floor. That aspect has been a key to Neumann-Goretti’s success under Arrigale and it’s certainly a strength with this group.

The 20-year head coach feels this corps is learning to trust each other and sees the direction that could take them.

“We’ve been talking to them about advancing the ball instead of dribbling it up,” Arrigale said. “We get up the floor so then we can hit the corner guy, the trailer or get to the middle before the defense is set. Right now, they have a lot of confidence and trust in each other that if they pass it to that guy, he’s going to make that shot. It makes it easier to convince them to make that play in the future.”

The Friars (10-2, 4-1) were coming off a tough victory over Roman Catholic in overtime three days earlier but any momentum gained in that game was zapped out of the gym before the team got into any type of rhythm. Rodriguez, stifled from the defensive prowess of Hall and Young, fouled out with 6:33 left to play and finished with four points. Leading scorer Tyreese Watson poured in 16 points, but he had to work for them. He exited the game briefly after injuring his hand but also had to deal with the Saints two primary defenders as well. Rodriguez and Watson combined for 41 points against the Cahillites but the Neumann-Goretti defense was too much to overcome.

 Arrigale could not have been more pleased with Young’s play on Rodriguez and noted how it changed the complexion of the game.

“They have a lot of guys they can throw at you,” Arrigale said. “Cam’s original assignment was Rodriguez because I wanted him to match his energy. He’s a big part of their team and got into foul trouble tonight. I was hoping they could offset each other.”

“We wanted to make (Tyreese and Donovan) work as hard as they can to score,” Young said. “We worked so hard on defense this week. We tried to come out and put defense first because the offense will take care of itself.”

Neumann-Goretti scored the first eight points of the third quarter then Young made his presence felt once again by draining a triple from the wing as he was fouled. His four-point play put the Saints in front, 70-37 at the 4:45 mark of the quarter. Hall closed out his impressive night with five points to begin the fourth before heading to the bench. Young’s final free throw make the score, 90-59.

Malik Edwards had 18 points and Oscar Uduma had 16 points including five makes from behind the arc for Bonner-Prendergast, who trailed by as many as 37.

Friars head coach Kevin Funston had seen his team come back from deficits like this, but the Saints’ shooting was unlike anything Bonner-Prendergast had come across yet this year.

“Our mindset going into the game was to run their guys off the three-point line,” Funston said. “It’s a little bit tougher preparing for a team like that can shoot from all over the floor while also being unselfish and a good passing team. We were trying to stutter step in contesting instead of running then off the line. They came out and made the first couple of shots and it kind of just snowballed from there.”

It’s a different season compared to years past for the Saints as they’re not defending state champions for the first time since 2013 but that is only increasing their drive. Learning from Arrigale and what former great Neumann-Goretti players have accomplished is helping them understand how to win.

Young wants to absorb that and leave his mark on the program that has helped build him into a Division 1 recruit.

“(Coach Arrigale) pushes me every day and I’ve been trying to be a leader,” Young said. “I’ve taken what I’ve learned in this program and added it into my game to help my teammates.”