Neumann-Goretti wins state crown in a thriller
Then he sat down on the floor at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center and indicated he needed someone to help him with cramps.
In his hand was a sports drink, and he gulped it down. Well, tried to. Either there was an earthquake about 9:40 last night in this town, or serving as a last-instant hero is not even a little bit easy.
Ss. Neumann-Goretti 65, Chartiers Valley 63.
That was the final score in a rousing PIAA Class AAA championship game, and those numbers were not assured until a three-point shot sailed up, up, up, toward the rim and . . . clang, hit the side closest to the shooter.
Not just any shooter. We're talking about CV senior guard T.J. McConnell, who pumped it up 32 times from the floor en route to 32 points. He made 13, four of which were treys, and he added a 4-for-8 showing at the line.
But with the crown on the line, he could not drain the biggest one, and Jones, aside from being at least partially responsible, will be eternally grateful. Along with his teammates, and coaches and N-G's fans and the 184 cheerleaders (slight exaggeration) who made the journey.
With 13.1 seconds remaining, senior point guard Tyreek Duren went to the line for N-G's first double-bonus. The first shot rimmed out. Little too flat. With all that pressure, even though he'd just missed, Duren regrouped and perfect-swished the second attempt.
All game, N-G coach Carl Arrigale had used only man-to-man with four guys - Lamin Fulton, Jones, Tyreek Duren, Tony Chennault - all getting a crack at the Duquesne-bound McConnell.
Had Arrigale, at any point, thought about putting two guys on McConnell?
"We never practiced a junk defense all year," he said. "It was always man-to-man. You do think about it, but what if you lose trying something you never did?"
Out of a timeout, Jones and Chennault were as close to McConnell as humanly possible. But when the ball went to another CV player, Chennault remained in the vicinity, and Jones followed McConnell upcourt.
Oh, baby.
"Our plan was to make sure somebody else took the shot," Chennault said. "We wanted somebody aside from him to beat us. That guy made so many big ones. I give it to him. And to his team, really."
"I wanted that last assignment," said Jones, who stuck opponents' goodies all season. "Though I was fighting those cramps, I had to do it for my team."
McConnell wound up taking the shot, a right-wing bomb with good lift, from in front of CV's bench. Jones, after having chased McConnell all over, after having been bumped by screens, was nearby. The hand being stuck in McConnell's face belonged to Fulton, who was semi-jumping with his back mostly turned that way.
"I was scared until I saw it hit the iron," Jones said. "Lamin helped out, we both got our hands up, and prayed."
Said Chennault: "It looked good. Fortunately for us, it didn't go in."
Standing not too far way was senior forward-center Danny Stewart.
"I thought it might have a chance," he acknowledged.
The sound of ball hitting metal, followed by a buzzer, never sounded so good for the Saints. Long after most spectators left the venue, players and family members were still sharing the moment.
N-G owned the Triple Crown - Catholic League championship, City Title, state kingpin. All of that could have happened last year, but the Saints fell to Archbishop Carroll in a quarterfinal, and the Patriots stormed onward to become the first CL team to capture state honors.
Four juniors started for that squad, and that quartet did so this season as well, joined by Fulton. The senior starter in 2008-09 was center Andre "Scooter" Gillette, now at Niagara.
Guess where he was last night?
After the Saints received their gold medals and the trophy, they headed toward a corner of the arena for a TV interview. Gillette gave some of them hugs, and then stood right nearby, soaking it all in.
"I still feel a part of this team," he said. "I'm as happy as they are."
Had this triumph erased last year's pain?
After a long pause, he finally said: "A little bit. If I was still in uniform, it definitely would have."
N-G finished 30-1 and its only loss, by 97-96, came against Yates, of Houston, in the final of a pre-Christmas tournament in Hawaii. That school finished 34-0 and is widely considered the nation's No. 1 team. Also on the trail, the Saints bested state champs from North Carolina (Kinston, AA) and Illinois (Simeon, AAAA) and a team from Queens, Christ the King, that captured a New York City title and began state tourney play last night.
The Saints are only the fourth CL team in the last 61 years to finish with only one loss, joining La Salle in 1950, Cardinal Dougherty in '64 and then-Bishop Neumann in '65. Those squads garnered 24, 24 and 22 wins, respectively. CL squads have posted no perfect seasons in that time frame.
Truthfully, N-G's shortcomings turned this one into a contest. Caught up in the excitement, they took too many wild shots, especially treys, after rolling to an 18-8 lead.
"I thought we lost a little of our focus," Stewart said. "Once I got the ball, they were doubling me. I was hoping we could go inside-out a little more. The ball comes to me and then I kick it back outside for open shots."
Though McConnell missed eight of his first nine shots, he found his hot zone and, of course, jet-fueled the Colts' comeback.
Stewart (Rider) finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Though Chennault (Wake Forest) was guilty of seven turnovers, mostly resulting from too-excited, bull-in-china-shop moves, he was clutch overall with 18 points, 12 boards and three assists. He played the last 3:30 with four fouls. Jones (Hartford) dialed up four treys en route to 14 points while adding four assists.
N-G went ahead for good, 59-57, with 2:31 left as Stewart canned a follow after misses by Fulton (left-corner trey) and Chennault (in-traffic follow).
Stewart also sank two free throws at 1:08; the first hit every part of the rim before finding twine. Duren (La Salle), mostly quiet in this one, recorded a gigantic steal at 0:55 and, following a hack, also hit two free throws.
Six up. Less than a minute to go. Easy? Not quite.
Steve Burda, 4-for-4 for the game, drained a deep, left-side trey with Fulton almost in his shirt. Fulton hit only one of two free throws at 29.8 and McConnell - yes, him - buried another trey at 14.1.
What happened from there has already been detailed.
As the immediate postgame hysteria died down, Arrigale stood in front of N-G's bench.
Without having yet been asked a question, he blurted out, "Why does it feel like we lost?"
He knew why. Because he was exhausted, and because his wonderful squad had been pushed to the absolute limit by a gritty, undersized opponent with a star guard boasting a heart as big as all outdoors.
Some state titles are definitely harder to win than others. *