BETHLEHEM – Brycen Martin scored a game-high 26 points, including 15 in the second half, Friday night to lead Scranton Prep into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 4A boys basketball semifinals for just the second time in school history with a 76-75 victory over Neumann-Goretti at Freedom High School.
Neumann-Goretti, a private school from Philadelphia, had won titles in nine of the last 13 completed state tournaments.
Martin stopped a 9-0 run and erased the last Neumann-Goretti lead when he hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with one minute left in the third quarter. He finished 9-for-17 from the floor, 3-for-8 on 3-pointers and 5-for-9 from the line.
The senior guard from Pittston had five defensive rebounds as part of a 38-29 rebounding advantage for the Cavaliers.
Scranton Prep is on a nine-game winning streak and has scored more than 70 points in four of its last five playoff games. The District 2 champion Cavaliers (19-9) play Monday against Archbishop Carroll (20-8), seeking the win they need to make it to the state championship game for the first time ever.
“Every team wants to play its best basketball coming down the stretch,” Martin said. “That’s exactly what we’ve been doing.”
Martin played his best basketball down the stretch of Friday’s game, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter. He drove for a basket to snap one tie to open the quarter and assisted on Daniel Santaniello’s basket to break the game’s final tie.
“We knew they were obviously a very good team, so we knew they were going to keep coming back,” Martin said. “We knew it was going to be a game of runs, so we just had to stay calm, stay composed and keep answering their buckets. We had to keep getting stops and getting out in transition to run.”
Each of the other four times Martin scored in the fourth quarter were with the Saints within one possession of tying or going ahead.
“We played a tough schedule, so I think that helped a lot,” Martin said of the Cavaliers, who are playing their first season with Larry Reagan as head coach after he previously served as an assistant. “Early on, we struggled a little bit, but that definitely helped in the long run.”
Scranton Prep reached the quarterfinals when it defeated Overbrook, another Philadelphia school, 71-61 Tuesday at the Easton Middle School.
Martin, who averages 13 points per game, scored 11 in that win.
CLASS 4A GIRLS
The Scranton Prep girls were playing in the state quarterfinals Saturday.
Maya Jenkins from Old Forge helped the Classics get there by scoring 17 points in Wednesday’s 58-39 victory over Villa Joseph Marie.
Jenkins had 13 points March 9 in a 55-22, home-court rout of North Schuylkill to open the state tournament.