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St. John Neumann wins Mid Penn boys basketball championship, 66-47 over Northwest

By Evan Wheaton 5 min read

MONTGOMERY -- When asked if St. John Neumann is the team to beat in the district, Davion Hill didn't hesitate with his response.

"I feel we have a target on our backs, being one of the tougher teams every year," Hill said. "I feel we've had a good squad for a lot of years coming up, so I definitely feel we have a target on our backs going forward and I think we've had one all year."

In the Mid-Penn boys basketball championship, it was another day at the office for the Knights. Neumann defeated Northwest, 66-47 in Montgomery Thursday.

Hill -- a two-star recruit who holds offers from Kent State, Towson, Missouri State and Maryland -- is averaging 26.1 PPG and 4.7 RBG. But against the Rangers, the 6-foot-1 combo guard elevated his offense in a complementary role with just seven points for himself in the first half.

Hanief Clay scored a game-high 20 points, coupled with 18 from Nasser Dymeck. Hill fed the two with no-look passes, got them the ball in transition, grabbed boards and forced turnovers as the Knights (19-2) flew out to a 20-0 run to start the game.

Clay made six rebounds and five assists while Dymeck had three rebounds and two assists. Hill grabbed seven boards and tallied nine assists.

"It was a total team effort. Obviously Davion and Hanief, they get all the headlines and everything, but a lot of our guys really stepped up," Neumann coach Jamie Spencer said. "Naz Dymeck is playing well, shooting the lights out and playing well on the defensive end."

The Knights were without regular starting forward Jozef Savage, who was out with a sickness. The entire bench came to play, and everybody ate.

Josiah Coleman and Kane Wright scored five points each, with a 3-point shot apiece. Jerval Weeks-Shuler was all over the boards and added two points in the effort.

Senior Nazier Smith filled the starting role for Savage and scored nine points, seven of which came in the first-half onslaught from the Knights.

"Naz Smith played big for us tonight. Usually, he's kind of the guy who comes off the bench, but tonight we needed him to start," Spencer said. "He got a lot of minutes and he was right there."

With its two-time all-state Swiss Army knife in Hill feeding the pieces around him, Neumann stretched the floor by putting different players around the key, allowing the Knights to have a field day. Hill was isolated in the low block and his teammates were all hitting the seams.

It also showed just how deep the Knights are. Neumann has the depth and confidence to try and make another run in states.

"We know there's no one person on this team that if he's taken out of the game, we're fine," Hill said.

Ryan Miner ended the initial 20-point run for the Knights with a 3-point shot late in the first quarter. Miner scored a team-high 13 points for Northwest (16-7). Gary McLendon added 11 points. Nine different players scored for the Quakers.

Hill wasted no time getting on the board with a steal and rebound for back-to-back layups. Having seen the nation's top competition over his high school years, the junior brings back plenty of worldly experience to North Central Pennsylvania.

"It's definitely nice being able to play on one of the top teams like Nike, EYBL, playing with people like Bronny (James), Mikey Williams and DJ Wagner, the No. 1 player in the world in my class," Hill said. "It definitely helps playing at that level of basketball then coming here, just being able to play the same way basically."

Northwest took a pair of timeouts early, the second coming after Neumann's 19th unanswered point. The Knights scored in transition, hit ball-fakes and plowed through any defensive look that came their way through the opening eight minutes.

"It was scary how good a start we got off," Spencer said. "We're a pretty dangerous team when we're sharing the basketball and get up in transition."

Now riding a 15-game win streak, Neumann isn't worried about anything on the offensive end. After previous last-second losses in the state tournament, the Knights are playing solid defense and hope to take another stab at an elusive title.

"Our key to success is not what we do on the offensive end, because we're going to score points no problem. But how far we go in the postseason all depends on how we're playing defense," Spencer said. "I thought our intensity was terrific in the early get-go tonight."

ST. JOHN NEUMANN (66)

Hanief Clay 9 0-2 20, 3 1-2 7, Davion Hill 3 1-2 7, Nasser Dymeck 7 0-0 18, Jerval Weeks-Shuler 1 0-0 2, Nazier Smith 3 3-4 9, Josiah Coleman 2 0-0 5, Kane Wright 2 0-0 5. Totals: 27 4-7 66.

NORTHWEST (47)

Gary McLendon 5 1-2 11, Josh Miner 1 0-0 3, Chase Biller 1 0-0 3, John Savakinus 2 0-0 4, Jacob Piestrak 1 0-0 3, Alex Kopco 1 3-6 6, Ryan Miner 5 0-0 13, Zachary O'Day 1 0-0 2, Rhiley Bridal 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 4-8 47.

St. John Neumann 22 18 19 7 -- 66

Northwest 6 7 16 18 -- 47

3-pointers: St. John Neumann 8 (Nasser Dymeck 4, Hanief Clay 2, Josiah Coleman 1, Kane Wright 1), Northwest 7 (Ryan Miner 3, Josh Miner 1, Chase Biller 1, Jacob Piestrak 1Alex Kopco 1.

Records: St. John Neumann 19-2, Northwest 16-7.

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