Neumann-Goretti High School will be playing for two basketball state championships next week in Hershey.
Both the boys and girls teams punched their ticket in the state championship final after winning their semifinal matchups on Friday.
The boys team trailed, 10-0, early but defeated Dallas, 77-50, in the boys PIAA Class 4A semifinal at Freedom High School in Bethlehem. Sophomore Robert Wright scored a game high 30 points and delivered the first 30-point effort by a Saints’ player in a state playoff game since Zane Martin knocked down 33 in the 2016 state championship game.
Wright shot an incredible 7-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc to help the Saints (22-4 record) capture the win. Sultan Adewale and Khaafiq Myers each supplied 13 points and Bruce Smith added another 10. Neumann-Goretti will face undefeated Quaker Valley (27-0) in the State Championship at the GIANT Center in Hershey at 7:30 p.m. on March 24, which will be its first appearance since 2018. The Saints have won eight state titles with all of them coming since 2010. Neumann-Goretti carries an impressive 52-3 all time record in the state tournament. They carry a nine-game winning streak into the final, which includes a Philadelphia Catholic League championship win over Archbishop Ryan.
The Neumann-Goretti girls earned their spot in the PIAA Class 3 A championship by virtue of a dominant 46-28 victory over Imhotep Charter on Friday in the semifinal round at Archbishop Wood High School. Mihjae Hayes scored a game-high 16 points, while grabbing five rebounds and four steals to extend a five-point halftime lead and propel the Saints (16-9 record) into the title game. D’Ayzha Atkinson scored nine points and Amirah Hackney added eight for the Saints, who will face Freedom Area (22-5) in the PIAA Class 3A final at the GIANT Center in Hershey at noon on March 26. The Neumann-Goretti girls will also be looking for their first state championship since 2018 when they completed a run of four straight titles.
