Saints keep soaring

It’s no wonder Derrick Rivera was able to dazzle the crowd at La Salle’s Tom Gola Arena with the kind of slam-dunk that normally shows up on highlight reels.

As the nephew of the late Eric "Hank" Gathers, his basketball roots run deep.

Rivera, a junior at Neumann-Goretti, was just 2 when his uncle Hank died on the court of a heart condition at age 23 in 1990. He didn’t get to see Gathers’ Dobbins team defeat Southern in the Public League championship in 1985. He missed watching him become the nation’s top college scorer (35.6 points per game) at Loyola Marymount.

But Rivera is very much aware of his uncle’s legend and might even have inherited part of his legacy.

The 16-year-old writes "R.I.P. Hank #44" on his sneakers in honor of Gathers’ college number. He also emulates his uncle’s winning attitude.

"I knew he was a hard worker, and that’s one of my qualities," Rivera said. "I never give up."

The 6-foot-2 athlete did not rest even though Neumann-Goretti had a comfortable lead in Saturday night’s Catholic League quarterfinal game against Roman Catholic at La Salle. With his Saints ahead 55-41, Rivera caught an alley-oop from teammate Antonio "Scoop" Jardine, spun around and hung from the rim.

"It was just something that goes with the flow of the game," said Rivera, who finished with a game-high 25 points.

The Saints won 61-41, advancing to last night’s Catholic League semifinal contest against Archbishop Wood, which started after press time. The winner will play St. Joe’s Prep Saturday night for the Catholic League title at La Salle.

Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale said Rivera, of North Philly, has been an athletic and talented addition.

"We knew he was going to be good when he came to the school. We just didn’t know how fast he was going to get this good," the coach said. "I always liked his game. He plays very hard."

NOW RIVERA IS driving hard for a coveted Catholic League title. After the Saints’ two-point loss to St. Joe’s Prep cost the team an undefeated Catholic League record, the player became even more motivated.

"We probably had our best week of practice ever as far as being focused and knowing what we needed to do," he said. "We are just going to take everything game by game and practice hard every day."

As one of the nation’s top high-school basketball programs, Neumann-Goretti faces high expectations. The Saints are ranked 17th in the USA Today top-25 poll, but that will mean nothing if the team isn’t hoisting a Catholic League trophy Saturday night.

"We are working for a championship," Rivera said. "That’s what we came here looking for, and that’s what we want."

The player is one of four averaging 10 or more points a game, which helps account for the Saints’ 23-2 overall record. Junior Earl Pettis scored 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Roman, while Jardine tallied nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

"I know if I am not on, somebody will pick me up," Rivera said. "If they aren’t on, I am going to pick them up. We just carry each other."

When Roman trimmed Neumann-Goretti’s lead to 30-25 early in the third quarter, Rivera threw his switch on high to hit three-pointers, get the big steal and rebound. Within minutes, the Saints pulled away 43-31.

"I had to put the team on my back," said the junior, who racked up five rebounds, three steals and one block to go along with his 25 points.

Once the Saints led for good in the fourth quarter, Rivera started to thrill the crowd with his fancy dunks.

The guard tried to woo his fans with a 360-degree dunk in the game’s final seconds but missed.

"I knew everybody was waiting for me to give them a 360, but I couldn’t give it to them today," said the Division I prospect, who got the rebound and scored a layup for the game’s final basket. "Maybe next game."

State tournament preview

The game: Bok Wildcats (10-7, District XII, first seed) vs. Phoenixville Phantoms (22-5, District I, third seed) in opening-round action of the PIAA AAA basketball championship tournament

Time and place: Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m., Germantown High School

Wildcats’ starting five: Marquise Salley, senior guard; Cory Moultrie, senior point guard; Lamont Butler, senior wing guard; David Lorn, junior forward; and Garry Harris, junior forward

Key stats: Bok has three players averaging double figures in scoring, with Salley’s 21.9 points per game leading the way. Butler (14.8 per game) and Moultrie (11.4) are the other top scorers.

Concerns: The Wildcats have been idle since losing to Prep Charter in the Feb. 15 Public League quarterfinals. Coach Lloyd Jenkins said Tuesday’s scrimmage at University City and yesterday’s scrimmage with Engineering and Science would be key to preparing his players for the state tournament.

"We really need the two scrimmages to get ourselves back in the basketball frame of mind to prepare for Friday," the coach said.

Thoughts on Phoenixville: "They have some very athletic kids who pressure the ball well and play tough man-to-man defense for just about the entire game."

Keys to the game: "It would be a big help if we get some shots from the outside from Marquise and Lamont to create some mismatches on the inside."

Up next: The winner will move on to Tuesday’s second-round game against the winner of tomorrow night’s contest between Crestwood (24-5) and Danville (16-11).

Taking another shot

The athlete pictured in last week’s sports feature "Consolation pride" was Neumann-Goretti sophomore guard Jasmine Daniels, not senior Shonte Skinner (above).