PHILADELPHIA-- Coming off their first Catholic League loss on Friday night against Archbishop Wood, Neumann-Goretti (12-6, 8-1) was determined to get back to being more disruptive on defense, and they did just that.
After allowing 82 points in the loss to Wood on Friday, the Saints held the Friars to 51 points on their way to an 80-51 win.
“That game got away from us the other night and we just let Wood get way too comfortable,” Saints head coach Carl Arrigale said. “Disrupting the other the team has been a staple of ours and that was our focus the last two days, to get back to being disruptive on defense.”
The Saints’ constant pressure forced the Friars into nine turnovers in the first half and throughout the game, they just never let the Friars get into any rhythm in their half-court offense.
On the offensive side of the ball for the Saints, Quade Green, a Kentucky commit, finished the game with 33 points (12-22 FG, 7-9 FT) to go along with four rebounds and five assists. Senior Mike Millsip chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds for the Saints.
The game started with the Friars getting two technical free throws because Neumann-Goretti had dunked in warmups. After that, both teams got rolling and Green immediately displayed why he is one of the best guards in the country. He attacked the basket and finished multiple buckets while being fouled, on his way to 19 first half points.
NG Senior Quade Green helps seal win against BP with a game high 33 points (photo by Zamani Feelings for PSD)
BP's Tymir Cooper brings up the Ball with NG's Noah Warren on defense (photo Jacob Guzdek)
The Saints went into the half with a 32-23 lead, and despite their trouble with turnovers, the Friars were able to stay in the game because they hit five three pointers in the half, three of which came from Dylan Higgins who finished the half with 11 points and four rebounds.
For the first four minutes of the second half, the Friars were able to keep the game within single digits, but then a string of plays from the Saints helped them start to pull away.
In about a ten-second span with just under four minutes left in the third quarter, Millsip hit a three pointer, picked up a rebound on the defensive end, and delivered an assist to Noah Warren in transition and the Saints had extended their lead to 47-33.
“I challenged Mike coming into the game and he stepped up today,” Arrigale said. “I told him with a big body like his he’s not getting involved enough on the glass enough and with Dhamir [Cosby-Roundtree] who usually cleans the boards, being off today, we needed Mike and he got it done.”
With two minutes to go in the third quarter, the Saints looked to end the Friars hope of any comeback when Green made a bullet pass from half-court to Millsip in transition for the bucket and the foul. On that same play, Higgins (15 points), the Friars leading scorer in the game, fouled out. The Saints ended the third quarter with a 54-35 lead.
Tymir Cooper had a handful of good finishes to highlight the fourth quarter for the Friars, but the game was already out of reach as the Saints cleared their bench about halfway through the quarter.
Neumann-Goretti will be back in action on Friday when they make a trip to Archbishop Ryan to take on the Raiders.
“Were just looking to finish out these last four league games strong, keep winning, keep putting pressure on [Archbishop] Wood to also keep winning, and hopefully we finish with that number one seed going into the playoffs.” Cosby-Roundtree said.
BP's Tymir Cooper comes around a screen (photo Jacob Guzdek)