PIAA Basketball Recaps for Boys AAAA, Boys AAA, Boys A and Girls AAAA

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, March 20, 2015 | 5:41 PM

All the action is complete in Hershey as eight state champions were crowned. Here are recaps of all of the games not involving WPIAL teams: 

Quad A Boys: Roman Catholic Cahillites 62 – Martin Luther King Cougars 45
Leading 30-29 at the break, Roman Catholic held Martin Luther King to just 4 points in the third quarter and a 4 of 34 shooting performance in the second half to claim their first ever PIAA Quad-A boys championship. This game was a rematch of the District 12 final, a two point win for Roman Catholic, the Catholic League champion. Rider recruit Gemil Holbrook led with 20 points including 12 in the final two quarters.

DeAngelo Vilmar gave Roman Catholic, now 29-2, the lead for good early in the third, that basket started a 9-0 run and allowed Roman Catholic to pull away. Tony Carr added 14 points and dished out 6 assists. Rutgers football recruit Manny Taylor came off the bench to score 8 points and grab 6 boards.

Roman Catholic shot 17 of 28 from the field, including 5 of 10 from behind the arc. The Cahillites were 23 of 41 from the line and committed 12 turnovers.

Sammy Foreman led MLK with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Tyheem Harmon added 10 points for the Cougars, now 23-9. MLK shot 15 of 55 for the game, making 5 trifectas and were just 10 of 12 from the line. The Cougars won the rebounding battle 31-28. Three of Martin Luther King’s 9 losses came to PIAA champions, twice each to Roman Catholic and Constitution.

Score by Quarters: 

Roman Catholic Cahillites  14 – 16 – 14 – 18 = 62

Martin Luther King Cougars 11 – 18 – 4 – 12 = 45

Class AAA Boys: Neumann-Goretti Saints 69 – Archbishop Carroll 67

In the end it was the same result, this time it was for the PIAA Class AAA boys state championship. The Neumann-Goretti Saints completed the boys and girls doubleheader sweep with a 69-67 victory over the Archbishop Carroll Patriots in an all Philadelphia Catholic League matchup at the Giant Center.

The Saints have defeated the Patriots 13 straight times and 31 of the last 32 games. The win gives the Saints five PIAA titles since 2010 and back to back titles. It wasn’t without some tense moments in the final minute as Archbishop Carroll made it a one possession game on two separate occasions. Trailing 66-59, UNLV recruit Derrick Jones jammed home a rebound, sophomore Dave Beatty scored on a jumper then hit a three to cut the lead to three. Junior Zane Martin hit two free throws but Josh Sharkey came down and hit a three in the final seconds. Archbishop Carroll was out of timeouts and could not stop the clock, Neumann-Goretti did not inbound the ball and the party was started for the Saints.

Neumann-Goretti trailed for the entire first half, the Saints took the lead for good on a Jones goaltending call, the Saints used that lead to gain that small cushion to allow them to win it at the foul line. Neumann-Goretti went 16 of 20 in the final frame, they were 21 of 29 for the game.

Martin led the way for the Saints with 26 points, junior Vaughn Covington added 17 points and 7 rebounds, he also dished out 5 assists. Sophomore Quade Green, who is getting numerous D-1 looks added 14 and leading scorer Lamar Kimble was held to just 10 points, eight below his average. Neumann-Goretti shot 21-53 from the field, making six threes, the Saints committed only six turnovers in going to 29-2 on the season, their only losses were both to Quad-A finalist Roman Catholic.

For Archbishop Carroll, Jones had a whale of a game, as is the norm for the 6-7 senior. He scored 30 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, his only downside was a 4-15 performance from the line. Beatty had 11 points, all in the fourth quarter. Junior Josh Sharkey scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. The Patriots finished 27 of 68 from the field, including 3 of 12 from behind the arc. Archbishop Carroll was 10 of 25 from the line, they committed 9 turnovers.

The Patriots finish 23-7, with two losses to Roman Catholic and Neumann-Goretti on their plate.

Score by Quarters:
Neumann-Goretti Saints  :  9 – 15 – 19 – 26 = 69
Archbishop Carroll Patriots  :  14 – 9 – 9 –  31 = 67
 

Quad A Girls:  Cumberland Valley Eagles 40 – Central Bucks West Bucks 35
After a 2-0 deficit, it was all Cumberland Valley in the Girls Quad-A championship game on Friday night. The Eagles used a first quarter run of seven straight points, a 9-0 run in the third and six straight to start the fourth to pull away for the win. It’s the second straight title for Cumberland Valley and third in school history, the Eagles also won the 2002 Quad-A title.

It got tight down the stretch for the Eagles, who were making their third straight title game appearance as they missed eight straight free throws after taking a 40-29 lead with 3:10 left. Senior Nicole Munger picked the pocket of Kelly Jekot and scored, she followed that with a drive and score to make the score 40-35 with 38.4 seconds remaining. But the Bucks could not get any closer and the game ended with the Eagles pilling on the Giant Center logo at center court.

Jekot, the 2014 Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year and Villanova recruit, scored seven of her 15 points in the opening quarter, the junior added seven rebounds. Senior Meghan Rhoades, headed to  West Chester, only scored four points but tied sophomore Katie Jekot with eight rebounds each. Tge Eagles shot 14 of 43 for the game with three triples, they were 9 of 22 from the line and committed 15 turnovers. Cumberland Valley finishes 32-1 on the season, the Eagles won 26 straight games after a loss to Central Dauphin East in the sixth game of the year.

Munger finished with nine points for CB West, she grabbed twelve rebounds. Senior guard Mackenzie Carroll, a Colgate recruit, was held to just six points, another senior Corrinne Godshall scored eight as she battled foul trouble the entire second half. The Bucs were 13 of 53 from the field with three trifectas, they were 6 of 11 at the line and committed 16 turnovers. Central Bucks West saw a 26 game winning streak come to an end, the Bucs finish 32-2.

Score by Quarters:
Cumberland Valley Eagles  :  12 – 5 – 13 – 8 = 40
Central Bucks West Bucks  :   5 – 12 – 7 – 11 = 35

A Boys:  Constitution Generals 85 – Farrell Steelers 53

Leon Lewis hit a three pointer forty seconds into the Class A boys final to knot the score at three, that would be the only highlight for the Steelers as they were outscored 31-4 in the opening period. The Steelers were held to just seven shots in that quarter and turned the ball over nine times.

The Steelers would get back into the game in the second, trailing 39-20 at the half. That glimmer of hope was quickly put out by the District 12 champions as they scored the first fourteen points of the third to take a 53-20 lead and never looked back.

Constitution claimed their third PIAA title, the Generals won the Double A crown last season with a victory over Seton LaSalle. George Mason recruit Ahmad Gilbert had a career game with 28 points, including shooting 6 of 10 from behind the arc. The senior added 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Generals end at 24-8. Senior Kimar Williams added 20 points and eight assists, another senior in Chad Andrews-Fulton scored 14 points and cleaned 15 rebounds off the glass. The Generals shot 32 of 70 from the field, including 11 of 22 from downtown, Constitution also claimed a sizable advantage on the boards at 54-25.

Junior Malik Miller tried his best to keep Farrell in the game with 24 points, including four triples. He was the only Steelers player in double figures. Farrell shot 15 of 44 for the game, 5 of 19 from outside and committed 21 turnovers. The District 10 runners-up finished the season at 24-5.

Score by Quarters:
Constitution Generals  :  31 – 8 – 30 – 16 = 85
Farrell Steelers  :  4 – 16 – 14 – 19 = 53