Catholic League Playoff Recaps, 2005-06

QUARTERFINALS
(At La Salle University, Doubleheaders on Back-to-Back Days)
Ryan 39, Judge 26: In his third game back from a devastating football knee injury, sixth man Joe Zeglinski scored 12 points and the Crusaders (8-for-43 floor) posted the CL's lowest postseason total since South Catholic fell to La Salle, 28-23, for the 1950 championship. Jon Bruce had 10 rebounds and Kevin Hudgeons notched five blocks. Only James "J.J." Franklin (13) and Arthur Livingston (seven, 12 boards) had field goals for Judge.
Dougherty 71, North 56: Kahlil Mumford (21) and sixth man Roberto Townsend (20) led the way for the Cardinals, who used a 35-11 run to seize a 41-24 lead, then closed with an 18-3 run after North forged a tie at 53. Timothy Gates had 10 rebounds. Vinny Simpson dished six assists. Chris Edwards, one of three unrelated Falcons with that surname, shot 11-for-19 (4-for-4 on treys) en route to 28 points and claimed nine rebounds. Nate Edwards had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Neumann-Goretti 55, SJ Prep 35: The Saints cruised through the first quarter, at 12-3, and forged ahead to a surprisingly easy win in what everyone figured would be the best of the quarterfinals. Derrick "D.J." Rivera, wearing the No. 44 of his late uncle, Hank Gathers, who died in 1990 while starring for Loyola Marymount, led in scoring with 17 points. Rick Jackson mixed 10 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. No one reached double figures for Prep and coach Speedy Morris removed his best four players, for good, in the waning moments of the third quarter, with the score at 45-17. A win would have given Morris 800 for his high school/college career.
Roman 62, Bonner 37: The pattern was maintained as the quarterfinal victory margins again increased. Bradley Wanamaker (18) and Mike Ringgold (15) led the way in points, Rockeed McCarter snagged 13 rebounds and Raymond "Doodles" Sims dealt seven assists. For Bonner, Jeff Jones had 16 points and the driver of one of the fan buses earned a dimwit award for going to La Salle High instead of the university, causing those kids to arrive one quarter late. After deep sub Colin Liberatore, a fan favorite, scored a field goal on a pass from Brian Campuzano in the late going, the Bonner kids roared, "You can't guard him! You can't guard him!" And with 0:10 showing, one guy bellowed, "I smell comeback!"
SEMIFINALS
(At La Salle University, Back-to-Back Nights)
Roman 59, Ryan 39: The Cahillites, playing for the second time in three nights, and after some early trouble, cruised while advancing to the final for the first time since 2001. Mike Ringgold raised the city-leagues portion of his career total to 1,020 with a 24-point effort (41 at Fels in '03) while adding 10 rebounds, four assists. Bradley Wanamaker shot 8-for-12 en route to 19 points and Raymond "Doodles" Sims dished six assists. Ryan rolled to an 8-2 lead, but surrendered 13 consecutive points (from a 16-16 tie) after 6-8 Kevin Hudgeons sat down with his third personal 6:14 before halftime. Joe Zeglinski scored 16 points, finalizing his career total at an even 1,300.
Neumann-Goretti 84, Dougherty 73: Though the victory margin once again hit double digits, no one came close to minding. This was one of the best games you could ever hope to see. The 157 total points set a CL postseason record and the teams shot a combined 60-for-121 from the floor (49.6 percent). N-G closed with an 18-2 rush in the last 4:31 after Dougherty's Roberto Townsend threw down a vicious dunk on a pass from Vinny Simpson (29 points, record-tying six treys, four assists). N-G used just six players and the starters scored all the points: Derrick "D.J." Rivera (24, six assists), Rick Jackson (23, 17 rebounds), Antonio "Scoop" Jardine (six assists) and Jamal Wilson (13 apiece) and Earl Pettis (11). Dougherty's other headliners were Kahlil Mumford (14, nine assists) and Justin Minter (12, seven rebounds). The basket that put N-G ahead for good, at 75-73, came on Rivera's one-handed, alley-oop dunk on a pass from Jardine.
FINAL
(At La Salle University)
Neumann-Goretti 44, Roman 41: An exciting finish wound up leading to what was likely the darkest day in CL history. Derrick "D.J." Rivera drained a left-wing trey with 1.4 seconds left, and then dashed immediately down and across the court to a spot in front of Roman's student rooters, who'd been heckling him hard all game. Players and fans followed, the Roman kids threw debris, including plastic bottles, and a Roman student received a cut nose when something was fired back. There were also on-court scuffles involving adult N-G fans and police and a city-wide assist call resulted in 100-plus police officers rushing to Tom Gola Arena. Two juveniles were among six people arrested and the incident drew national attention. Though intense and close, the game was not especially clean. The teams combined to shoot 31-for-108 (28.7 percent) from the floor and 21-for-41 at the line (51.2) and were guilty of 30 turnovers. Rick Jackson had 12 points, six boards and seven blocks and helped hold Mike Ringgold, the South MVP, to two points. Roman's Rockeed McCarter totaled eight points and 15 boards while Raymond "Doodles" Sims mixed nine points, two assists and three steals. A week-long investigation of the incident by principals, ADs and the archdiocese resulted in a suspension for N-G coach Carl Arrigale for the first four games of the 2006-07 CL regular season. Among other sanctions: no spectators for the N-G/Roman games.