By Matthew DeGeorge
Nine times in the last two decades, Neumann-Goretti’s boys basketball powerhouse has been crowned champion of Pennsylvania. A fair few of the wins on the way to those titles were sealed before a bus ever arrived at a gym, the Saints’ mystique beating teams before they tipped off.
To beat Neumann-Goretti, to pull what is no matter the seeds an upset, a team first has to believe it can – not in the rah-rah, let’s-give-it-a-go, huddle-breaking way. Really, truly believe.
The believing – more than the missed free throws or squandered lead – made it difficult Friday night when all was done for Penncrest. First, though, it had made life hard on Neumann-Goretti, for 31½ minutes. And then, in the locker room at Norristown High, that weight came down on the Lions.
“From the start of the week, we knew we could win,” center Mikey Mita said after a 76-69 overtime loss to the Saints in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals. “We knew we should have won. And we knew from the whole week since Tuesday night, after we beat Holy Ghost Prep, the mentality was, ‘We’re going to win and we’re playing next Friday.’”
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