PIAA Class 4A Semifinals
Matchup: Allentown Central Catholic (Dist. 11 champ, 23-8) vs. Neumann-Goretti (Dist. 12 champ, 25-3)
When/where: 7 p.m. Monday at Pottstown High School.
What’s next: Winner plays either Uniontown (Dist. 7, No. 6, 23-5) or Lincoln Park (Dist. 7 champ, 28-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center in the 4A title game.
ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
Coach: Dennis Csensits (11th season, 226-77)
Key players: David Fridia (6-8, Jr. F), 2.5 ppg, two 3s; Nico Pulieri (6-3, Sr. G), 10.4 ppg, 29 3s; NaSean Davis (5-9, Jr. G), 1.8 ppg, nine 3s; Anthony Jones (6-2, Sr. G), 9.7 ppg, 47 3s; Griffin Patridge (6-2, Sr. F), 3.7 ppg, 17 3s; Jahrel Vigo (6-1, So. G), 12.3 ppg, 14 3s; Lucas Mushrush (6-1, So. G), 11.7 ppg, 81 3s; Ja’Keir Ensley (6-0, Jr. F), 1.9 ppg, six 3s; Alistair Stewart-Smith (6-2, Sr. F), 1.9 ppg, seven 3s. About the Vikings: Average 56.65 ppg, allow 44.45 ppg … Have made 218s, allowed 160 3s … Shoot 70.2% from foul line … Have won nine straight postseason games after ending the regular season with back-to-back losses to Allen and Emmaus … Advanced in the second round with a 49-46 win over Cardinal O’Hara on Mushrush’s 3-pointer at the buzzer … Advanced in the quarterfinals with a 60-44 win over Eastern York, building leads of 15-4 after one quarter and 29-8 at halftime … Vigo led a balanced attack with 16 points and Mushrush added 12 … Made seven 3-pointers … 52-34 all-time in the state tournament … Lost 59-58 in the first round last year at West Philadelphia … Appearing in their 37th PIAA tournament, in the state semis for the eighth time … 5-2 in final four games, with the most recent win coming over Middletown 46-43 in 2021 on Aiden Burmeister’s shot at the buzzer.
NEUMANN-GORETTI Coach: Key players:
Carl Arrigale
Robert Wright III (6-0, Jr. G), 22.2 ppg, 5 rpg, 5 apg, 2.4 steals per game, more than 65 3s; Sultan Adewale (6-8, Sr. F), 14.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.8 blocks, shoots 58.4% from field; Khaafiq Myers (5-11, Jr. G), 11.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.3 steals per game; Amir Williams (6-6 Jr. G/F), 9.2 ppg. About the Saints: Arrigale has won a record 12 Philadelphia Catholic League and nine PIAA state titles … Wright is the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year and a Baylor commit. He scored a Goretti singlegame record when he tallied 43 points against Overbrook in the District 12 finals. … Adewale has received multiple Division I offers, as has Myers. … Williams made five 3s and scored 17 points against West Catholic in the PCL semifinals. … Advanced with a 74-64 win over Bishop Shanahan
when Wright scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter. Adewale added 16 and Amir Williams chipped in 14. … Goretti and ACCHS have met once in the state playoffs, a quarterfinal-round matchup in 2014 at Souderton. Goretti ended the careers of Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Jeanlee Baez with a 60-50 win. Abdur-Rahkman scored 30 in his final game as a Viking. ACCHS was 29-0 before playing Goretti. … Goretti has a 61-3 all-time PIAA tournament record. Its losses were to Archbishop Carroll in the 2009 quarterfinals, to Donegal in the 2013 quarterfinals and to Bishop McDevitt in the 2019 quarterfinals.
Prediction:
Allentown Central Catholic has proven it is the best Lehigh Valley boys basketball team this season and it’s fitting that the Vikings are the last team standing. They won the Cedar Beach Summer Tournament title last June, won the fall league in October and won the EPC and District 11 4A championships in their current nine-game postseason win streak. They are playing exceptionally well. But it would be disingenuous to suggest they are favored in this game. After watching West Catholic wear down Executive in the fourth quarter and Roman Catholic do the same to Parkland, it’s likely this one will follow a similar pattern. ACCHS will play hard and well, but it probably won’t be enough. Neumann-Goretti 67-61.