N-G streak is history

ALL KINDS of games up, one finally down.

After storming to perfect records, counting playoffs, in the 2009 through 2012 seasons, then opening this campaign with three more triumphs, Ss. Neumann-Goretti Monday night waved bye-bye to an impressive Catholic League winning streak.

The Saints fell at La Salle, 65-62, and that stopped all the fun at 73 consecutive wins.

The Explorers were paced by a pair of Division I signees. Amar Stukes (La Salle) scored 11 of his 26 points in a 22-15 fourth quarter while Steve Smith (Fairfield) buried six treys en route to 19.

Junior guard Ja'Quan Newton led N-G with 18 points.

The Saints had won 19 CL games in each of the first two seasons, then 16 apiece in the next two. This campaign's league triumphs had come against Conwell-Egan, Lansdale Catholic and Archbishop Carroll.

There'd been hints of possible vulnerability. In the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, the Saints went 2-2 in a tournament in Oregon. And just this past Saturday, in a showcase event in West Virginia, they were dealt a 29-point thrashing by Whitney Young, a national powerhouse from Chicago.

- Ted Silary