Saints hold off Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic, with a youth-laden and undersized lineup, threw a major scare into Neumann-Goretti's bid for a third consecutive Catholic League boys' basketball championship. But in the end, the Cahillites fell a few feet short.

The Saints needed a last-second blocked shot by Derrick Stewart, on Montana Mayfield's runner down the middle of the lane, to turn back the upset-minded Cahillites, 47-46, Wednesday night in a back-and-forth playoff semifinal at the Palestra.

With 22 seconds to go, after a Roman turnover off an inbounds pass under its basket, senior guard Lamin Fulton accounted for the difference with a 12-foot shot from the left baseline.

In a rematch of last year's final, the first-place Saints (20-4) will play third-place Archbishop Carroll for top honors Monday at the Palestra. Carroll downed second-place La Salle, 58-45, in the opener of Wednesday's doubleheader.

Carl Arrigale's squad will try for its fifth crown in seven seasons. Roman was seeking its first title since it won in 2007, under former coach Dennis Seddon.

Against Carroll, Fulton, headed for St. Peter's, paced the Saints with 14 points. Johnny Davis scored 11, and Hanif Sutton had seven.

A left-wing three-pointer from freshman Shep Garner and Britton Lee's free throw gave the Cahillites a 44-41 lead. With 44 seconds remaining, Lee hit two foul shots to make it 46-43. Stewart's two free throws closed the gap to 46-45 and set the stage for Fulton's game-winner.

For Neumann-Goretti, which notched a 70-62 win over Roman during the regular season, Billy Shank drained a pair of first-half treys for six points.

An 8-1 run at the start of the second half, highlighted by 6-foot-8 senior center Fortunat "Junior" Kangudi's dunk and a spinning six-footer on the baseline from Britton Lee, gave Roman a 29-26 lead.

Ending N-G's cold stretch and forging a 29-29 deadlock, Fulton drained a three with 2 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Roman, aided by freshman guard Rip Engel's bomb, took a 35-34 lead into the final eight minutes.

Mayfield netted 13 points to pace the Cahillites (16-8), and Kangudi, a native of Canada, had 10.

With Shank and Davis leading the way in the early going, Neumann-Goretti led, 25-21, at the break.

Roman Catholic   10 11 14 11 – 46

Neumann-Goretti   17 8 9 13 – 47

RC: Montana Mayfield 13, Britton Lee 7, Fortunat Kangudi 10, Shafeek Taylor 8, Shep Garner 5, Raquan Brown-Johnson 1, Rip Engel 2.

NG: Lamin Fulton 14, Billy Shank 6, Derrick Stewart 4, Johnny Davis 11, Ja'Quan Newton 5, Hanif Sutton 7.