PREPLAYOFF
(At La Salle High)
  McDevitt 51, Judge 40: The teams combined to miss 30 of their first 32 shots, but McDevitt was on fire (8-for-9, 6-for-7) in a 23-7 fourth quarter. Therein, Tyrell Long (13 total rebounds) scored 10 of his 15 points and Amin Taylor posted six of his nine. Sub Fateem Jackson claimed 18 rebounds. Sophs Quincy Reed (14)/Justin Fleming (12) and frosh Marc Rodriguez (11) led Judge, which shot 7-for-26 on threes and 6-for-21 on twos.

FIRST ROUND
Home Sites
  McDevitt 58, Conwell-Egan 57: Playing a do-or-die game for the third consecutive day, the lower-seeded Lancers lassoed this win as Jayson Clark passed to Amin Taylor (17 points, seven rebounds) for a three-point play and his fifth assist with 14 seconds left, then hit a clinching free throw at 0:04. Tyrell Long (four blocks) and frosh Qadir Burgess halved 30 points. With Burgess (5-for-7) and Taylor (3-for-4) leading the way, McDevitt shot better on treys (8-for-16) than it did on twos (11-for-25). In all, the Lancers were playing for the fourth consecutive day. The string began with a 102-69 loss to Neumann-Goretti and then a win over Bonner-Prendergast to earn a preplayoff with Judge. These two CL playoff wins were just the third and fourth in the school's 51 seasons of membership. C-E was denied its second; No. 1 had come in '64. The Eagles were led by Stevie Jordan (19), LaPri McCray-Pace, Jordan Burney (13 apiece) and Vinny Dalessandro (10). Burney was a junior. The others were sophs.
  W. Catholic 48, Lansdale 45: Small forward Jahmil Harris (23 points, 11 in fourth quarter) drained a top-of-the-key trey with 1.3 seconds remaining to cap a wonderful performance. The hosts posted 18 field goals and he was involved in 16 of 'em -- scored nine, assisted on seven. Brandon Cole packed 11 of his 13 points into the first half. Brian Rafferty (16, seven rebounds) and Kyle Pavlik (12) reached double digits for LC, which had dropped a two-point decision to West (also on a last shot) in the same gym five days earlier.

QUARTERFINALS
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  Roman 84, McDevitt 56: At West Catholic, the Cahillites trailed by 36-34 at halftime and were in danger of becoming just the fifth CL team with a perfect league record to fall in a quarterfinal. So much for nervousness: Roman scored 30 of the next 34 points. All five starters -- Rashann London (15), Shep Garner (14), TreVaughn Wilkerson (13), Manny Taylor and Tony Carr (12 each) -- scored in double figures, Taylor swept 11 rebounds and London/Carr halved 12 assists. Tyrell Long scored 22 points for McDevitt, finalizing his career total at 1,140 (No. 2 in school history to 1,272 by '84 grad Eric Ervin).
  Neumann-Goretti 98, West Catholic 58: Ja'Quan Newton (26) led the way as the Saints had no trouble breaking the record for points in a CL playoff (89 by Roman in a '91 quarterfinal). Newton shot 6-for-12 on treys. Eleven guys scored and three more reached double figures -- frosh sub Quade Green (15), Troy Harper (13) and Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble (12, eight rebounds). For visting West, Brandon Cole netted 20 points while Jahmil Harris mixed 12 points, eight boards, four assists.
  Carroll 64, Wood 44: Derrick Jones shot 9-for-17 and 6-for-10 for 24 points and snatched 13 rebounds for the Patriots, who owned the second half at 29-14. Austin Tilghman totaled 12 points, four assists. Dave Beatty scored 10 points off the bench. For visiting Wood, which shot 8-for-24 on treys, no one reached double digits. Joe LoStracco claimed seven rebounds and Cody Fitzpatrick dealt three assists.
  La Salle 38, SJ Prep 33: The teams combined to shoot 22-for-76 from the floor (28.9 percent) and 4-for-24 on treys (16.7 percent) and only one player from each team -- David Krmpotich (16) for La Salle; Chris Clover (17) for SJ Prep -- scored in double figures. The Explorers' top rebounder, with seven, was their shortest starter, Najee Walls. The visiting Hawks, who missed wing sniper Tom Fox (knee injury), posted just six points over the initial 14:37 of the second half and went 0-for-8 for treys before hitting their first of two with 19.9 left.

SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at the Palestra
  Roman 52, La Salle 45: The Cahillites owned a 15-point lead after three quarters, but La Salle stormed back within 46-43 before experiencing a late fade. Fueling the comeback was sixth man Sean Greenberg, who notched eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. His dad, Chip, starred for the school's '81 CL champs and was the Daily News City Player of the Year in '82. Tony Carr led Roman with 13 points while sub Gemil Holbrook and Manny Taylor evenly spilt 20. They added nine and eight boards, respectively. David Krmpotich led La Salle with 15 points, 10 boards and four blocks. Najee Walls dealt six assists.
  Neumann-Goretti 67, Carroll 62: By draining a left-corner, west-end, step-back trey to end the third quarter, Ja'Quan Newton (1,809) surpassed '85 grad Steve Benton (1,808) to become the leading scorer in N-G's many-names school history. He finished the night with 15 and 1,816. Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble had 17 points and three assists. Though the Saints were embarrassed on the glass (35-15), they triumphed in blocked shots, 10 to four (six for Tony Toplyn, four for Jamal Custis), and three-pointers (8-for-13 to 1-for-10). For Carroll, junior Derrick Jones used a late free throw to reach 1,000 career points while he and Ernest Aflakpui (14 points) halved 20 boards. Newton's three-point play off an outrageous dunk made it 63-56. His reverse layup stretched the edge to 67-57.

FINAL
At the Palestra
  Neumann-Goretti 53, Roman 48: Becoming the first player to start for four CL championship teams since at least the 1920s (and likely ever), Ja'Quan Newton entertained a packed house (and then some) by scoring 23 points while adding half of N-G's six assists and two-thirds of its six steals. In 12 playoff appearances, he scored a record 211 points and averaged better numbers in finals, as opposed to overall, in every statistical category. The title was the Saints' sixth in a row, matching Roman's record feat from 1989-94, and their CL record during this glorious run was 100-2. The crown was No. 10 for coach Carl Arrigale, tying him for all-time CL honors with ex-Roman boss Dennis Seddon. Jamal Custis (three dunks) added 12 points and four blocks and was joined in double scoring figures by Troy Harper (10). Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble shook off a poor shooting night (1-for-10) to snag eight rebounds and his bucket sent N-G into the lead for good, at 34-33. For Roman, which was missing two frontcourt rotation guys (starter TreVaughn Wilkerson, sub Carnell McGirt) due to injury, Rashann London notched 22 points and Manny Taylor claimed 15 rebounds. Since 1942, the Cahillites were the 13th CL team (of 23) to go unbeaten in the regular season but not make it through the playoffs unscathed. N-G's girls (over Wood) also triumphed, paving the way for a Saintly sweep.

CITY TITLES
(Tripleheader at Saint Joseph's University)
CLASS AA
  Constitution 68, West Catholic 49: Kimar Williams was terrific throughout, earning game MVP laurels by shooting 7-for-10 (4-for-6 on treys) and 6-for-9 for 24 points. Ahmad Gilbert added 11 points and eight boards. Floyd Preito dealt four assists. Best for West
was Jahmil Harris (11 points, 12 boards, five assists).
CLASS AAA
  Neumann-Goretti 69, Phila. Elec. 55: Game MVP Ja'Quan Newton racked up 10 of his 26 points in a 17-10 first quarter as the Saints mostly coasted. Troy Harper (15) and Jamal Custis (13) provided scoring help while guard Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble collared eight
rebounds. Larenz Thurman (12), Jihad Barnes (11) and Devante Truitt (10) paced the Chargers, who received nine boards from James Suber.
CLASS AAAA
  Roman 58, King 55:  Due to two delays caused by fan misbehavior (plastic soda bottles were heaved onto the court from high in the stands), the final 21 seconds required about 20 minutes. After the first stoppage, Rashann London sank two free throws to give Roman a 56-55 lead. London had been hit in the head, a ref ruled, right after having his fastbreak layup swatted by Jahmir Taylor. Thereafter, Roman went 2-for-4 at the line while King missed two shots and a pair of free throws (one on purpose in desperation mode). London and game MVP Gemil Holbrook (4-for-4 on treys) evenly divided 36 points. Manny Taylor (no relation) claimed 10 rebounds and Shep Garner made six steals. Greg Bennett scored 17 points for King and received major help from Taylor (13, 14 rebounds, seven blocks).