Rookie success

All season long, St. John Neumann head coach Carl Arrigale has preached the importance of consistency.

With a dominating win over visiting Monsignor Bonner Friday night, the Pirates showed the coach his words finally might be sinking in.

Neumann established a double-digit lead by halftime and never looked back, spreading the ball around effectively while giving emerging talents some time to shine.

Sophomore shooting guard Earl Pettite continued to improve his shooting and rebounding skills, contributing nine points in Neumann’s 66-42 victory.

Pettite, a first-year starter who has impressed coaches with his speed and play-making ability, relished every moment of Neumann’s 10th win of the season — especially after not being able to play at all last year.

"I’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point," Pettite said, noting that grades kept him off the court last season. "So, you know, it feels great to be out there, contributing to the team."

Arrigale credited Pettite for having "great determination," offering as an example the athlete’s ability to play through an early-season illness. The coach said he expects good things from the 16-year-old.

"He’s a very coachable kid, which is something you don’t always find with talented players," Arrigale said. "Although he is young and still has a learning curve to work through, he’s been all that we hoped for entering this season."

The Pirates have high hopes for the rest of their season, which includes tomorrow night’s home game against Kennedy-Kenrick and Monday night’s away contest at West Catholic.

Both games will be valuable tests for Arrigale’s team, which has suffered from inconsistent efforts on defense in its three losses.

"That’s something that I continue to get on them about a lot — the need to play tight, determined games all the time," Arrigale said.

The Pirates came out swinging in Friday night’s game, brushing aside Bonner’s early attempts at keeping the match-up close.

Scores by Pettite, junior David Burke and freshman Antonio "Scoop" Jardine helped the Pirates build a 29-15 halftime lead with seven points.

Jardine, another young player who excites Neumann coaches, hit an impressive three-pointer with less than four minutes left in the first half — a feat he would repeat again with less than two minutes left in the game.

The 14-point cushion relaxed the players and allowed them to focus on playing patient, heads-up basketball in the second half, according to senior point guard Richard "Tabby" Cunningham.

"[Bonner] is a solid team, so building that big lead was a huge plus for us," Cunningham said.

"Now we just have to take the momentum from this win and carry it over into the next game," Cunningham said of the Pirates, who at the moment are tied for third place in the Catholic League’s Southern Division.

For younger athletes like Pettite — who credits his cousin, Cunningham, for much of his maturation as a player — that means simply going out on the court and having fun.

"We still have a lot of work to do [to get into the playoffs], but we’re a close team that plays with a lot of hustle," Pettite said.

Arrigale hopes the lure of making the playoffs and winning a championship in what will be Neumann’s final season as the Pirates motivates his rookies and veterans.

"I don’t know how sentimental these kids are, but we talked about it before," Arrigale said. "They want to go out as winners and make this last season a special one for everyone to remember."