by Alex Schwartz

It’s not only a matchup of quality basketball programs in urban areas, it’s New Jersey versus Pennsylvania, and public school versus private school. Elizabeth is overshadowed in the Garden State by the numerous basketball powerhouses, but is certainly a quality program in its own right. As for Neumann-Goretti, no one overshadows the Philly dynasty, including fellow Philadelphia schools Roman Catholic and North Catholic. Neumann-Goretti is led by Andre “Scooter” Gillette ’09, an uncommitted rising senior, who will likely end up in the Atlantic-10, and recently committed Tony Chenault ’10. The guars verbally committed to Wake Forest earlier this week. The affair is already well underway, so I’ll fill you in. Again, the scorebook only has numbers, so I’m sorry for not using all correct names.

12:20pm- Neumann-Goretti is in front 27-21 with 3:15 to go in the first half.

12:23pm- Along with Andre Gillette and Tony Chenault, Tyreek Duran ’10, Lamin Fulton ’11, and Mustafa Jones ’10 are all here for N-G, meaning that almost the whole core of their squad is playing. Right now, all but Gillette are on the floor.

12:24pm- There was some sloppy play by both teams to end the half. The score is 29-23 in favor of Neumann-Goretti at the break.

12:25pm- #40 and #13 both have eight points for Elizabeth. Lamin Fulton of Neumann is the game’s leading scorer thus far with eight points.

12:29pm- #40 scored a quick bucket for Elizabeth on a 17-foot jumper, opening the second half’s scoring and cutting Neumann’s lead to just four points, 29-25.

12:31pm- Chenault swished in a pretty jumper from the baseline.

12:32pm- Duran got a steal for N-G, ran the break, and got fouled going up for a layup with just over 16:30 left in regulation. He then hit the second of two from the stripe, giving his squad a 34-27 lead.

12:34pm- Gillette is being aggressive on the offensive glass, and maybe even a bit too much, as he just picked up a foul for going over-the-back.

12:35pm- Jones took a pass from Chenault and knocked in a three-ball, putting the Philly school up 37-29 with just over 14 minutes left.

12:40pm- With 10 minutes to go, Neumann is ahead 41-30, and appears to be running away with this game.

12:41- Duran just picked up another steal for N-G and was fouled tried to dribble out of traffic.

12:42pm- Lamin Fulton went coast-to-coast and got fouled going up for a layup with just over 7:00 remaining in the game. He knocked down both shots from the charity stripe to put Neumann ahead 43-33.

12:44pm- Neumann-Goretti has taken a timeout with the clock showing 6:24 in a 43-33 game.

12:45pm- #40 is having a nice showing for Elizabeth. He just scored again after receiving a pass in the low post.

12:46pm- #13 on Elizabeth made a nice move to get to the cup and he put it up and in, cutting the Neumann lead down to eight points, 45-37 with less than five minutes to play.

12:48pm- #00 on Neumann is stellar in the low post. He works hard and gets his hands on the ball when it comes off on a miss at either end.

12:49pm- Duran missed two free throws, then got his own board after the second, but could missed a close-up shot. N-G did retain possession of the ball though, and it went out of bounds off Elizabeth with 1:50 left.

12:50pm- Neumann-Goretti nailed a three-ball, and that was followed by a deuce from Elizabeth.

12:51pm- With 60 seconds left, the score is 50-41 in favor of Neumann-Goretti. A bucket from Elizabeth has just cut it to 50-43.

12:52pm- Elizabeth stopped the clock with a foul with 38.1 left in the game. Jones hit a couple of free throws to make it a nine-point game.

12:53pm- At the other end, #15 missed a triple for Elizabeth and #40 was called for an over-the-back trying to grab the offensive rebound.

12:54pm- #40 dished the ball to a teammate who drained a trey to cut it to a six-point N-G lead, 52-46, with 13.7 left.

12:55pm- Neumann-Goretti is the winner, 52-46.

The game’s top scorer was #40 of Elizabeth. Mustafa Jones was the top dog for Neumann-Goretti with 13 points including 6/6 shooting at the stripe. Tyreek Duran added 11 points for Neumann. #40 and Mustafa Jones are Northstar Basketball’s MVPs for each squad.