Philadelphia schools dominate
HERSHEY — Zane Martin bucketed 26 points — including a pair of clutch free throws with just under 13 seconds to go — as Neumann-Goretti held off Philadelphia rival Archbishop Carroll 69-67 in the PIAA Class AAA boys’ basketball championship game Friday night at Giant Center.
Vaughn Covington added 17 points, Quade Green chipped in 14 points and Saint Joseph’s recruit Lamarr Kimble finished with 10 as Carl Arrigale’s Saints (29-2) won their second straight Class AAA title and fifth in six seasons.
UNLV recruit Derrick Jones scored 30 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked five shots for Archbishop Carroll (23-7), which won the Class AAA title in 2009.
Class A Boys
Getting 28 points from Ahmad Gilbert and 20 from Kimar Williams, Constitution wheeled past Farrell 85-53 in the PIAA Class A boys’ basketball championship game Friday at Giant Center.
Chad Andrews-Fulton added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Rob Moore’s Generals (24-8), who a season ago captured the PIAA’s Class AA title.
Constitution, which owned a 54-25 edge on the glass, also captured the PIAA’s Class A championship in 2012.
A 23-0 run in the opening quarter helped Rob Moore’s club snap an early 3-3 deadlock and roll to a 26-3 lead with 1:26 left in the first.
Farrell (24-5) was able to pull within 19 (39-20) by the halftime break, but Roland Shannonhouse’s Steelers never got closer than that.
Headed to George Mason, the 6-7 Gilbert also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists.
Quad-A Girls
Cumberland Valley earned its second straight PIAA Class AAAA girls’ basketball title on Friday, getting a team-high 15 points from Villanova commit Kelly Jekot in a physical 40-35 victory over Central Bucks West.
Jekot, Pennsylvania’s reigning Gatorade Player of the Year, was Cumberland Valley’s lone double-digit scorer at Hershey’s Giant Center.
The Eagles (32-1) handed head coach Bill Wolf his third Class AAAA championship.
Class AA Girls
Philadelphia Catholic League power Neumann-Goretti completed its perfect PIAA girls’ basketball season Friday, outracing WPIAL champion Seton-La Salle 79-34 at Hershey’s Giant Center.
Coach Andrea Peterson’s deep stable of Division I talent turned in a dynamic 24-0 first-half run, then coasted by the same Pittsburgh program that handed Neumann-Goretti its only loss during the 2013-14 season. The Saints (30-0), ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today and ESPN, are 60-1 over two seasons.
Pittsburgh recruit Cassidy Walsh scored a team-high 11 points for Seton-La Salle.
