Manigo’s milestone helps Bishop McDevitt hand Neumann-Goretti first PCL loss
CHELTENHAM >> Jamil Manigo wanted the ball in his hands.
With Bishop McDevitt down by a point against unbeaten PCL leader Neumann-Goretti and less than 40 seconds on the clock Sunday afternoon, the senior wanted to be the guy taking that shot. Manigo had given his team all he had already, but he had one more play to go make.
Manigo got the ball and got the bucket, scoring his 1,000th point in the process.
The Royal Lancers needed two more stops and got them to top the Saints 60-57 for their ninth straight Philadelphia Catholic League win.
“I told myself if we lose this game, it’d be a really tough loss and I don’t want to let my fans or the crowd down,” Manigo said. “It’s our home gym, we can’t let anybody come into our home gym and beat us. We really needed that win.”
McDevitt (13-6, 10-2 PCL) and Neumann-Goretti (16-3, 10-1 PCL) are no strangers to these type of close games. The teams met three times last year, with the Lancers winning in the regular season and PIAA 3A quarterfinals but McDevitt guard Robert Smith said it wasn’t something they really considered leading up to the game.
After starting 1-2 in the PCL, with the two losses coming by a combined six points, the Lancers went on a roll heading into a challenging final slate. They beat Archbishop Carroll at home Wednesday before outlasting the Saints on Sunday, leaving them tied for third in the league with Bonner-Prendie, a team they will face on the road this coming Friday.
The PCL slate ends for McDevitt with a road game at Roman Catholic next Sunday.
“I really don’t care who it is in front of us, it’s a dog-eat-dog league,” Smith said. “Whoever is in front of me, if they let me get an open shot, I’m going to take it and I’m going to defend at the other end.”
The Saints were without standout senior guard Hakim Byrd, who sat with a minor injury, but still have a ton of talent on their roster. The McDevitt players respected that talent but also knew they belonged on the same floor and wanted to go out and prove it.
After Neumann-Goretti went up 5-0, the Lancers got the ball moving on offense and led by eight points from Manigo, took a 15-13 lead after eight minutes. Manigo, one of six McDevitt seniors honored pregame in their final regular season home game, believed it was a day to send a message.
“I know I’m going against a lot of D-I players on that team and all these people are talking about how I’m not that athletic and all that other stuff, I had to prove today I can play with those guys,” Manigo said. “I had the mentality that it’s kill or be killed.”
Manigo was almost unstoppable, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 and had the play of the first half with a monster dunk in front of the McDevitt student section for a 26-25 lead. He also posted 13 rebounds.
Neumann-Goretti’s success came mainly via the 3-point line and the foul line. The Saints hit eight threes and went 19-of-26 at the foul line and used the long ball at key junctures several times late in the contest.
A back-and-forth first half ended with senior Kevin Young getting a putback hoop for a 31-29 lead. McDevitt came out strong to start the second half, going on a 7-2 run for a 38-31 edge before their offense went cold.
The Lancers went on a drought of eight straight missed shots through the middle portion of the quarter before senior Ahmir Harris hit a three to put his side up 41-33. Harris, who played every second, only hit the one shot but his defense was vital as foul trouble would limit Robert Smith and Glenn Smith in the third and fourth quarters.
“Ahmir always plays big in big games, if you ever watch us play in a big game, he always plays well,” Lancers coach Will Chavis said. “He’s a throwback point guard, runs the team, plays defense and without him, we wouldn’t be where we are.”
Manigo had nine of the Lancers’ 14 in the third and they held a 45-42 lead despite a monster dunk by Neumann-Goretti’s Cameron Young to end the frame. The lead didn’t last long as Jordan Hall hit a three to tie the game and Chris Evans gave N-G a 48-45 lead 90 seconds into the final quarter.
McDevitt trailed 53-50 with 2:12 left when Robert Smith got fouled, went to the line and sank both. The Saints came down and got an open three in the corner that went long. Smith got the board and fired a long outlet to Glenn Smith, who went right to the rim and dropped in the go-ahead layup.
Robert Smith hit two at the line with 1:09 left for a three-point lead, but a foul led to Jordan Hall splitting a pair, with Young rebounding the miss off the second and Evan hitting a trey to put Goretti back in front.
“We’ve been through adversity, we played a hard schedule just because of that, so we could have the ups and downs and face some adversity,” Chavis said. “It builds character and we just keep fighting and keep working and whatever happens, happens.”
Down a point, the Lancers called a timeout and set up a play for their big man to do his thing.
“I’m in a mode where nobody can guard me,” Manigo said. “I felt like if I could push him out the paint, focus on hitting the backboard and making that layup, it would be game.”
The senior got low on the block, got the shot up and drew a foul to give him exactly 1,000 points. He didn’t convert the free throw, but the scoreboard read McDevitt 58-57.
It wasn’t quite game yet, but the Lancers were in a spot where they could turn to their strong suit. Manigo said they work on defense every day for about an hour and a half and the defense forced Hall into a tough shot with Robert Smith grabbing the rebound and getting fouled with 3.2 to go.
“We’ve been through a lot the past three years, we know what it takes,” Smith, who netted 19 points, said. “In our minds, we should be undefeated but that’s in the past. We come to practice ready to work every day and we come out with a dog mentality.”
Smith, who scored his 1,000th point earlier this season, Manigo and the four other seniors have helped put McDevitt back in the conversation not only in the PCL but beyond. A state semifinalist last year, as well as a PCL semifinalist, this class hasn’t been bothered being a team with a target on its name.
“Everything got harder, you had to earn everything, earn your spot, earn your playing time,” Manigo said. “Every senior on that court played with heart and it comes from practice. We push each other so hard in practice the games come easy to us.”
BISHOP McDEVITT 60, NEUMANN-GORETTI 57
BISHOP McDEVITT 15 16 14 15 – 60
NEUMANN-GORETTI 13 16 13 15 – 57
Bishop McDevitt: Glenn Smith 2 0-0 4, Ahmir Harris 1 0-0 3, Robert Smith 4 9-10 19, Shamir Mosely 2 1-3 6, Jamil Manigo 10 6-9 26, Kevin Young 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 16-21 60.
Neumann-Goretti: Hysier Miller 2 10-13 14, Chris Evans 4 1-2 13, Cameron Young 3 3-4 11, Jordan Hall 5 3-5 15, Masud Stewart 1 2-2 4. Totals: 15 19-26 57.
3-pointers: BM – R Smith 2, Harris, Mosely; NG – Evans 4, Young 2, Hall 2.
