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Neumann girls soaring higher as Knights defeat Bucktail in playoffs

By Chris Masse 6 min read

Two years ago, St. John Neumann won one basketball game and was fortunate if it drew 100 fans each time it played.

Many of those players were still there Wednesday at the Catholic Community Center. There, Neumann played in front of a raucous crowd which filled nearly every bleacher opening. And there the Knights showed them how far they have come while leaving a mark on program history. The climb is not over and Neumann wants to go higher, but the heights it has achieved in two years sure are impressive.

Sheiana Tutler scored a career-high 29 points, Lily Reid hit some game-changing baskets and Gigi Parlante and Lizzie Weller dominated the glass Wednesday as Neumann defeated Bucktail, 65-50 in the District 4 Class A quarterfinals. The Knights (11-10) won the program’s first playoff game since 2014, earned a spot in Saturday’s semifinals at Milton against Northumberland Christian and played one of their most complete games this season against a determined opponent.

“We’ve been working so hard since our freshmen years. We wanted to be different ever since, and we’re finally doing it,” Reid said. “We all work together so well. We know each other so well. We’re all family and it’s just so great.”

“It’s a good feeling. It’s great for the history of the school,” Neumann coach Helena Floyd said. “The girls a lot of times are under the radar and it feels good to show the girls can play basketball here, too.”

They sure can. Neumann is not just a boys’ basketball school. It is a basketball school, period.

The Knights (11-10) won their fifth straight game Wednesday and are playing their best basketball at the perfect time. Neumann made 22 of 38 shots over the final quarters, broke open a close game in the second half and reached a season high in points. They also joined the 2014 team as the only other in program history to reach the district semifinals.

“It feels way better. I’ve been saying we should have been good from the beginning but I’m glad that we’re doing it now,” said Tutler, who along with Reid started as freshmen in 2020. “We’re showing people who we really are.”

Neumann made a three-win improvement last season, returning to the playoffs. The Knights have taken another big step forward this season, winning seven more games and surging down the stretch. How they have done so was evident against Bucktail with four players scoring at least eight points and three grabbing at least six rebounds. Every player Floyd used did something good to help the team win.

This is a young squad which starts all underclassmen. These days, the present is looking as bright as the future.

“Everyone did a little bit of everything and it all turned out well. It was just a great team effort,” Floyd said. “We knew they would come in tough. We knew what to expect and once we caught on fire we were tough to stop.”

Both teams were tough to stop throughout a wildly entertaining first half which featured six second-quarter lead changes. Parlante found Tutler at the halftime buzzer, giving Neumann a 28-24 lead. Reid had helped ignite that run which put Neumann ahead to stay, hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer.

The junior guard remained hot to open the third quarter and fanned the flames which soon became an inferno and engulfed a valiant Bucktail squad. Reid drained consecutive 3-pointers early in the third quarter and her second put Neumann ahead, 38-29. She scored 11 points in a six-minute span during, making 4 of 5 shots, during which time Neumann went from trailing by two to leading by nine.

“I was like, ‘I’ve done this before and was thinking I just have to do this and can’t be nervous. I just had to follow through and do my best to make them,” Reid said. “It feels so good having such a big crowd here. When you get one in it just makes you want to go and do it again.”

Tutler kept the momentum rising and looked unstoppable at times during the second half. Like Reid, Tutler has played a huge role in turning the program around. She played one of her best games yet Wednesday and scored 18 second-half points. Tutler scored outside, inside and off the dribble, one time blowing past three defenders on the way to the basket.

So effective was Tutler that she made her last nine shots from the field. She also helped Neumann lead by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter before exiting with three minutes remaining.

“Usually my shots are 50-50, but today it felt like they were all going in,” Tutler said. “It was exciting to see everyone here. I’m glad everybody stepped up and played the kind of game they usually do.”

It was different players at different times hitting key shots and/or making big plays. Parlante produced another double-double, finishing with 11 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and three assists. Lizzie Weller helped keep Bucktail from extending a first-quarter lead with strong play inside, finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Shanniyah Tutler ran the offense well and dealt five assists, while Michelle Pierce provided a spark off the bench, producing four points and six rebounds.

Neumann need that kind of well-rounded effort against a Bucktail team which put together its best season since 2015. The Bucks (9-12) drained 4 of 6 first-half 3-pointers and Makenzie Wagner scored 11 points in 90 seconds midway through the second quarter to turn a five-point deficit into a two-point lead. Wagner finished with 20 points and three assists. Julie Green excelled in her final game, scoring 12 points, pulling down seven rebounds and adding three steals. Lily Francis added six rebounds off the bench.

Bucktail never stopped playing hard, but Neumann upped its game over the final three quarters. The Knights moved the ball well, relentlessly competed and scored at least 15 points in each of the last quarters. They also made at least 60 percent of their shots each time.

“Sheiana made that buzzer-beater and we went into the locker room (at halftime) saying this is too close for comfort. We have to get up there,” Reid said. “We beat them before and we had to get that mental game ready. We came out in that third quarter and we won it.”

BUCKTAIL (50)

Makenzie Wagner 7 3-7 20, Julie Green 5 2-4 12, Kayla Probert 2 1-4 6, Emma Poorman 0 0-2 0, Raleigh Isacs 1 0-0 3, Lily Francis 1 2-2 4, Mattyison Mason 1 0-2 2, Jenn Green 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 8-21 50.

NEUMANN (65)

Sheiana Tutler 13 2-3 29, Gigi Parlante 3 5-10 11, Lizzie Weller 3 2-2 8, Shanniyah Tutler 1 0-0 2, Lily Reid 4 0-0 11, Michelle Pierce 2 0-0 4, Ella Ballard 0 0-0 0, Jaden Nixon 0 0-0 0, Emma Henderson 0 0-0 0, Brianna Lisi 0 0-0 0, Kylie Cendoma 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 9-17 65.

Bucktail 10 14 13 13ä50

Neumann 10 18 22 15ä65

3-pointers: Bucktail 5 (Wagner 3, Probert, Isaacs); Neumann 4 (Reid 3, She. Tutler).

Records: Neumann 11-10. Bucktail 9-12.

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