IN PRETTY MUCH every game, someone on Ss. Neumann-Goretti High's basketball team is likely to surpass 20 points.
Several someones, sometimes.
On the occasions when John Davis, a 6-4, 190-pound forward, isn't among them, you won't see frowns or hear him muttering.
"Even when I'm not scoring, I'm still going to be helping my team," he said. "I'll be getting those rebounds or giving off those assists or making those hustle plays.
"We know how things work. We're going to keep feeding the hot guy, whichever one it is. That's just how we do it. It's kind of a non-conscious thing. It's not like coach [Carl Arrigale] really tells us to do that in the huddles. It's just that we know: The torch gets passed."
Yesterday at Philadelphia University, N-G almost got scorched. Its opponent in a Catholic League game was Roman Catholic and, oh, baby, regulation wasn't enough to declare a winner.
With 5.8 seconds showing, Roman soph guard Shep Garner capped a coast-to-coast adventure with a layup and that made the score 55-55. Though the Saints couldn't get off a last shot, Davis was excited as he prepared for OT.
"I knew we were going to win," the athletic lefty said. "All we had to do was play defense because they weren't going to stop us. Everything just felt right. I mean, late in regulation, I had my fingers crossed. But once we got to OT, that game was ours."
Indeed. The final was 63-57 and the win was No. 61 in a row for N-G in CL competition, counting the regular season and playoffs.
The average score in this run of dominance has been 78-54. Only eight times have the Saints won by 10-or-fewer points.
Davis, who has roughly a dozen scholarship offers (with Saint Joseph's, La Salle and Temple heavily involved), finished with 23 points, shooting 8-for-16 and 7-for-9. He added five rebounds and two assists and posted three points, all on free throws, in the extra session.
N-G's other big scorer was soph guard Ja'Quan Newton (20 points). Meanwhile, wing sniper Billy Shank never did cause an X, 3 or filled-in circle to be placed in the scorebook and forward/center Derrick Stewart (Rider) managed just five points. Stewart's first three didn't come until 6:33 remained in the fourth quarter, but they were mighty important as they supplied N-G its first lead of the game, at 42-41.
"If you see how our games go, Billy's usually pretty hot," Davis said. "And when he is, we go to him. That wasn't the case today and I had to step up.
"I was getting the ball on the wings. Posting up a lot. Getting a couple baskets off rebounds. Whatever way I could score, really."
Also for N-G, Stewart bagged 15 rebounds and four assists while La'Quan Coaxum made six steals. Garner (19) and Shafeek Taylor (14, five rebounds, seven steals) topped Roman.
Davis lives on 4th near Washington, in South Philly, and that area might ring a bell for big fans of city hoops. It produced Southern ('86)/La Salle all-timer Lionel Simmons, who played in the NBA.
"He was actually at the game," Davis said. "He has become like an uncle to me, helping me out with a lot of things."
