FEB. 20
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 55, Neumann-Goretti 53
   The packed house at the Kelly Gymnasium on the campus of St. Joe's Prep was
treated to one heck of a game. The contest featured 13 lead changes and four
ties. The biggest lead came at the 7:20 mark of the fourth quarter after a 14-foot
jumper by the Prep's Joe Fox gave the Hawks a 42-35 advantage. N-G got
within two at 48-46 with 2:46 remaining on an Antonio Jardine layup off a nifty
pass by Rich Jackson. The Prep answered on a tough running drive down the
lane through several defenders by Corey O'Rourke. Although they were his only
points of the game, he managed to bank the ball high off the glass over the
outstretched arms of Jackson at the 2:21 mark.
   Trailing by four (50-46), the Saints would not go away as Jardine nailed a
jumper and David Burton converted an easy layup after a steal by Jackson to tie
the score at 50 with 1:05 to play. After a Prep timeout it appeared that St.
Joe's would hold for the final shot. Somehow the ball ended up in the left
corner along the baseline after Jardine deflected a pass. Seeing that the ball was
loose, Jackson dove to the floor and captured the ball. Now in transition it
seemed N-G would take the lead, but Jardine rushed his layup attempt and
the Hawks regained possession.  Reggie Redding (26 points, 7 RB's) put the home
squad up for good when he hit a 10 footer with 20.6 seconds to go. Now down by
two, the Saints decided to let Earl Pettis do the work. It seemed like a good
choice since Pettis was 8 for 11 from the field and finished with 17 points.
Coming off a screen to the left of the key, Pettis was being closely hounded by
O'Rourke. After a quick change of pace dribble it looked like Pettis would be
able to shake loose from O'Rourke. Unfortunately, Pettis thought he needed
some assistance from his right arm and pushed off O'Rourke, who fell to the floor
and drew the offensive foul with 12.2 seconds on the clock. N-G coach Carl
Arrigale went ballistic on referee Tom Skellan and literally ripped his tie
from his collar and threw it to the floor. Some of the Saints faithful didn't
live up to their nickname as some plastic bottles and other debris was tossed on
the floor.
   Sensing a bad situation, the officials decided not to issue any technicals,
and let the game play out. Fox (20 points) went to the line with 9
ticks left. He made the first and missed the second, but rebounded his failed
attempt. He was fouled again with 6.4 left. This time he made both free throws
to put his team up five. Jardine closed the scoring with a 3 pointer at the
buzzer to make the final 55-53.
Notes:
   For N-G, Burton, Jackson and Jardine all finished with 10 points. Jardine's
all came in the fourth quarter. Jackson grabbed 13 boards and Burton 11.
The Prep's Redding scored all of their 10 first quarter points. Redding and
Fox combined for 14 second quarter points, thus resulting into the 24 first
half points scored by the Hawks, who held a slim 24-22 halftime lead.
Overall, I felt the officials, Skellan, Pat Nolan and Don Cominsky did a
great job considering the vocal jabs usually thrown towards them by Arrigale and
"Speedy" Morris. The language coming from the mouths of some coaches in the
Catholic League, at every level from Freshman on up, including assistants, is
disgraceful. As former Catholic League referee Joe Carchidi used to say,
"Watch out for the suitcoat gang."