Saints take in Mass.

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Friday afternoon, the Neumann-Goretti boys’ basketball team headed to Springfield, Mass., for the Basketball Hall of Fame Magic32 Hoophall Classic High School Invitational. Considered one of the premier high school basketball events in the nation, more than 40 teams from across the United States took part. The field included Virginia’s Oak Hill Academy, the defending national champs, and Maryland’s DeMatha Catholic.

The Review went along for the (bus) ride, including a tour of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and, of course, Sunday’s game against nationally ranked Montrose Christian. This week’s sports section provides highlights of the weekend, including Sunday’s 67-64 victory over Montrose Christian.

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Day 1, Jan. 13

2:40 p.m. – Team members, coaches and other invited guests make their way onto the bus complete with cozy, reclining seats and televisions. Talk about traveling in style.

3 p.m. – As the bus departs from 11th Street, senior Derrick "D.J." Rivera puts on his Michael Jordan "Come Fly With Me" DVD, providing entertainment for the five-hour trek north. It would be the first of three Jordan DVDs.

5:50 p.m. – Team Manager Shek Lun Lau, a native of Hong Kong, is put in charge of changing the movies.

6:30 p.m. – The Jordan movie marathon comes to an end. Since no one else brought movies, assistant coach John Mosco pulls out a DVD of the Jan. 8 game against Roman Catholic, which the Saints lost, 59-46. Players yell, "We don’t want to see this." Due to a technical glitch, the team gets its wish.

Meanwhile, head coach Carl Arrigale and Mosco discuss scouting reports on Montrose Christian.

7:25 p.m. – Passing through Connecticut, hunger sets in. The players try to get an estimated time of arrival from the driver, who answers, "I don’t know," as a result of the heavy fog.

8:43 p.m. – After nearly six hours on the road, the bus arrives at the Hilton Garden Inn on the Basketball Hall of Fame campus.

9 p.m. – A team dinner of pizza, pasta and salad is set up in a meeting room. The white pizza with chicken and broccoli gets favorable reviews.

Following dinner, the players head to their rooms.

10 p.m. – Those of drinking age head to the Pizzeria Uno connected to the hotel to watch the Sixers-Celtics game. Rooting for the Sixers in Boston territory is asking for trouble. Luckily, Celtics fans are nowhere in sight as the Sixers pull off a 125-124 double overtime victory.

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Day 2, Jan. 14

2:30 a.m. – David Burton (’05) arrives at the hotel, needing a place to sleep, and junior Rick Jackson and Antonio "Scoop" Jardine welcome their former teammate.

9 a.m. – Breakfast time arrives with some looking like they could use a couple more hours of sleep. Junior Mark Hatty is one of the first to arrive. He gets some eggs, bacon and potatoes and heads back upstairs.

Trying to figure out the smallest member of the Neumann-Goretti contingent, team scorekeeper Wade Esposito, known as "Pop-Pop," and senior Hiriam "H" Bowman stand back to back, with the 5-foot-8 H getting the slight advantage.

10:35 a.m. – The team boards the bus for practice at Springfield College.

11:05 a.m. – Arrigale organizes the practice. He tells his players, "the key to [Montrose Christian] is their point guard. He is hot and he is cold. We got to make sure we pressure him."

He also advises his team of a couple slight rule changes – two 16-minute halves versus four, eight-minute quarters, and a 30-second shot clock, which Catholic League teams don’t use.

11:15 a.m. – Earl Pettis, Rivera, Frank Biondo and Jardine hold a shoot around on one court, while Jackson goes through an individual workout with Mosco and freshman head coach Michael Casey.

11:25 a.m. – D.J. leads the team in some stretching drills. Even Burton, who is there for team support, joins in.

After the drills are complete, Burton and Arrigale have a friendly three-point shooting contest, but Burton lobs up a few air balls, which he blames on lack of sleep.

This doesn’t stop Burton from joining his former teammates in a game of 5-on-5.

"I can take on every last one of them," Burton said. "Earl, D.J. and Scoop give me trouble. Rick and Jamal [Wilson] are too slow."

Jackson, who has verbally committed to Syracuse University, responds, "I can score on Dave whenever I want."

12:20 p.m. – Arrigale signals for his team to meet at center court. With slightly more than 24 hours before game time, the coach praises their efforts.

"Good job and good energy today. Make sure you rest yourselves today."

On three, the team breaks huddle on "family."

1 p.m. – Neumann-Goretti returns to the hotel. Montrose Christian players and coaches arrive to check into their rooms. Neumann-Goretti’s faithful followers known as "The Goonies," also are waiting in the hotel lobby. They follow the team wherever they play, including last month’s holiday tournament in Texas.

3:30 p.m. – After a short break, players, coaches and other team supporters meet in the lobby for a trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Pettis said he is looking forward to the visit.

"It’s going to be special," he said. "I always wanted to go there, but I never got a chance."

5:45 p.m. – The team walks back to the hotel for dinner, which is Hooters wings and fries. Rivera and Burton each grab their own container of wings.

A meal on the road with the Saints wouldn’t be complete without the seniors harassing their freshmen pledges. Henry Smith, a 6-foot-5 forward, had his talking privileges revoked in the dining area by Pettis and Rivera, while Andre "Scooter" Gillette, a 6-foot-7 freshman forward, is placed in charge of throwing out the cups.

"May I take your cups, gentlemen?" Gillette asks. "I don’t want to get into trouble."

6 p.m. – On the third floor, where the majority of the Neumann-Goretti contingent is staying, players try to decide whether on not to see a movie.

The group decides to see "Glory Road."

6:45 p.m. – With the players at the movies, the adults head to Pizzeria Uno for dinner and a chance to watch the NFL playoffs. Arrigale, along with his father, Carl Sr., Esposito, Mosco and team trainer Phil Gaspari, get a booth. All are hungry because the players ate all the wings.

8 p.m. – Arrigale and Mosco make final preparations for Sunday’s game.

11 p.m. – A call home reveals it’s snowing. Snow in the Delaware Valley, but not in New England. Go figure.

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Day 3, Jan. 15

7:44 a.m. – Spoke to soon. Looking out the hotel window, snow blows all over the place. It wasn’t going to be a pretty day in Springfield. Weather reports were calling for 3 to 6 inches with 20 to 40 mile per hour wind gusts. The temps will drop to a frigid 8 degrees.

9 a.m. – Breakfast is served and Smith is hungry. He takes several spoonfuls of eggs, potatoes and bacon. He tops the eggs and potatoes off with a lot of ketchup – a lot of ketchup. The only thing he left was some bacon.

11 a.m. – With everybody checked out of the hotel, the luggage is put on the bus. Some are in need of a late-morning snack. Smith, who said he is still hungry, buys some chocolate chip cookies.

11:25 a.m. – The team arrives at the campus with a little more than an hour before tip off. Most of the players walk into the locker room wearing headphones, with music blasting. But it’s time to get serious.

"The fun is over. It’s game time. It’s time to focus," Coach Casey said.

As the players change, Arrigale writes his notes on the chalkboard. The top reads, "TOGETHER WE WILL – ALONE WE WON’T."

11:40 a.m. – The team exits the locker room for a shoot around. Scoop is at center court, stretching.

12:15 p.m. – As the Saints exit the practice gym, autograph-seekers stand in the hallway looking for the John Hancock of the potential future stars.

12:25 p.m. – The Saints return to the locker room for the pregame speech and final preparations. Arrigale tell his players there is no reason why they can’t beat Montrose Christian, which was ranked No. 7 nationally in last week’s USA Today top-25 poll.

"We are not here to have a good time. We are here to win. We are as good or better than these guys."

12:45 p.m. – One young fan, sitting by the players’ gym entrance, takes a quick glance at the Saints and thinks the game will be a breeze for Montrose Christian. Neumann-Goretti does not have a superstar like 6-foot-10 senior forward Kevin Durant, who is considered a top-five prospect in the Class of 2006.

"[Neumann-Goretti] has no big man. Montrose Christian will smoke them by 80," the fan said.

He would soon find out he greatly underestimated Neumann-Goretti’s talent.

2:30 p.m. – With his players sitting on the locker room bench, Arrigale commends the team effort for the 67-64 win, which came down to the final shot.

"It was a great, great weekend," Arrigale said. "We came to the Hall of Fame and beat a team that was number one in the country at one point this season. We were the better team. I am really proud of you guys"

3:45 p.m. – It’s back on the bus for the ride home to South Philadelphia. Everyone is in an upbeat mood. Pettis’ left leg is stretched across the entire row to rest his injured ankle, which was sprained in Sunday’s game.

"It’s good to get the win," Rivera said as the bus headed south on 91. "We are all going to sleep better knowing that we just won a big game."

As a reward, Rivera reinstated Smith’s talking privileges, which made the rookie smile.

The majority of those on the bus are asleep an hour into the trip. Luckily, the driver is wide awake.

8:47 p.m. – The bus pulls up in front of the school’s 11th Street entrance. Everybody is so excited to be home they’re standing before the bus comes to a complete stop. (That rule only applies on airplanes.)

As he gets in line to pick up his bag, Jardine said it feels good to be home.

"It was a great bus trip because we won," he said.

P.S. – Thank you to the person who cleared the snow off this reporter’s car while on assignment in Massachusetts.