PIAA Boys AAA and Girls AAAA Championship Recap

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 22, 2014 | 1:05 AM

The only two PIAA state basketball championship games this weekend at the GIANT Center in Hershey NOT involving teams from the WPIAL took place Friday night. Here are recaps from both the Boys AAA and Girls AAAA state title games.

Girls Quad-A PIAA Championship
Cumberland Valley Eagles 49 – Spring-Ford Rams 30

In the Quad-A girls championship contest at the Giant Center, it was a rematch of the 2013 title game, but with an entirely different result. Cumberland Valley, the 3rd seed out of District 3, claimed their second PIAA state championship with a dominant performance on Friday night.

Spring-Ford won last year’s matchup 60-45, the teams played during the regular season with the Rams winning 52-37. In the championship game, it was an entirely different story. After trailing 2-0 at the start, Cumberland Valley scored the next 9 points, the Eagles led 11-4 after one and 23-14 at the half on 3 three pointers, 2 by Kelly Jekot.

Cumberland Valley shot 52 percent in the second half, the Eagles were 18 of 37 for the game with five three-pointers and 8 of 9 from the line. But the Eagles did their best work defensively, challenging the Rams all night on every shot, holding Spring-Ford to just 9 field goals on 44 shots, 20 percent for the game.

Senior Kelly Jekot led the way with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Taylor Sneidman scored 12 points and dished out 3 assists. Meghan Rhoades grabbed 7 boards. Cumberland Valley finishes 28-5 with a 6 game winning streak. The Eagles won the battle of the glass 29-28.

Senior Sammy Stipa, a Lafayette recruit, led the way for the Rams with 11 points, Shelby Mueller scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. The District 1 runner up ends the season at 27-7.

Score by Quarters:
Cumberland Valley Eagles  11 – 12 – 16 – 10 = 49 
Spring-Ford Rams  4 – 10 – 11- 5 = 30

Boys Class AAA PIAA Championship:
Neumann-Goretti Saints 64 – Susquehanna Township Indians 57 in Overtime

The Saints and Indians had to play four extra minutes but when it was all decided, it was Neumann-Goretti claiming their fourth Class AAA PIAA title in the last five years. Miami(Fla) recruit Ja’Quan Newton pumped home 33 points, including 20 in the second half and overtime.

The Saints are ranked 16th in the country by Prep Nation and first in the Northeast Region. The District 3 champion Indians were game thru out, hanging with the Saints for 36 minutes as neither team could gain more than an eight point lead.

Neumann-Goretti led 50-44 early in the fourth on a Tony Toplyn three pointer. But the Indians got a three point play and a jumper from senior Gabriel Mack to cut the lead to two points. Mack would go to the line with a chance to tie the game, he missed both free throws, but was not boxed and put back the rebound to knot the game. Newton tied the game but a three point play by Quintin Ward gave Susquehanna Township the lead with 1:35 remaining.

Newton had his chance to put the Saints on top but made only one of two free throws, Susquehanna Township held the ball for 66 seconds, Gabriel Mack’s jumper in the lane was blocked by Toplyn. Newton had two chances to win the game but could not connect, setting up overtime.

It was all Neuman-Goretti during the extra session as Susquehanna Township turned the ball over and missed three straight three pointers on four consecutive possessions.

Newton was also 6-8 from the foul line, he added 8 rebounds and 2 steals to his efforts. His season average is 21.2 points per game and he is the leading scorer in Philadelphia Catholic League history with over two thousand points. Harper ended with 12 points and 6 boards, Lamar Kimble added 10. The saitns shot 20 of 49 for 40 percent with 6 three pointers. Neuman-Goretti, now 27-4, won three straight titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Saints committed just 8 turnovers and were 18-26 from the line.

The Indians were led by Ward with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Nehemiah “Bud” Mack with 16 points, the sophomore is getting several Division I looks. Gabriel Mack finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Joseph Marshall had only 5 points but grabbed 11 off the glass.

Susquehanna Township came up just a bit short in their bid to win a third PIAA title, the Indians claimed AA gold in 1980 and won the 1997 championship. Susquehanna Township falls to 23-8 and now has lost two straight title games, falling to Steelton-Highspire in 2008.

Score by Quarters:
Neumann-Goretti Saints  12 – 14 – 21 – 6 – 11 = 64
Susquehanna Township Indians  13 – 13 – 18 – 9 –  4 = 57