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Savage enjoys career night and helps Neumann boys’ defeat Muncy

By Chris Masse 6 min read

MUNCY–Joe Savage scored early and often. He did so off post moves, mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers. More important, the St. John Neumann forward continued showing what a difference-maker he can be.

After displaying flashes of that big-time ability the past two seasons, Savage is now putting everything together. And Savage doing that is helping Neumann collectively put it all together. Oh, how that showed Friday night at Muncy.

Savage scored a career-high 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dealt three assists as Neumann routed its fellow District 4 Class AA title contender, 85-56 while completing a season sweep. The Knights (12-4) also stayed undefeated in Mid-Penn play, two games ahead of South Williamsport. Davion Hill did Davion Hill things and scored a game-high 38 points, but Savage was the one who sparked Neumann’s strong start and neither he, nor the Knights ever slowed down.

“I’ve been working on everything with my game,” Savage said. “Now I’m getting a chance to really show everything.”

What a show he is producing.

A 6-foot-4 junior who can bang in the post or run the court like a guard, Savage is becoming quite a matchup problem. He also is an excellent shooter who features a lethal mid-range game while being able to step behind the arc. He did it all against Muncy, going a staggering 9 for 11 from the field.

Savage hit a pull-up 3-pointer before scoring off a drive and putting Neumann up 12-4 early. That was the start of a blistering 15-2 run as Neumann imposed its will and led by 13 after the first quarter. At halftime the lead was 26 and Neumann never led by fewer than 23 the rest of the way.

This was a performance as complete as it was impressive. Neumann made 11 3-pointers, Messiah Baldwin dealt six assists and Corey Agnew had six points and seven rebounds off the bench. Still, it was Savage’s continued progress which has things really looking up for Neumann.

Hill is averaging 35 points per game and dazzled again Friday. Neumann and its opponents know he often is going to make a huge impact, but having Savage become a weapon is now making the Knights look really formidable. He has displayed that the last three games, averaging 18.7 points per game, twice reaching career-highs and providing strong rebounding as well.

“I knew I had it in me. It was just sometimes I did it and sometimes I didn’t,” Savage said. “There were games where I felt like it was starting to click. In high school, this is the best three games I’ve put together.”

“When Joe comes alive, everything works,” Neumann coach Louis Roskowski said. “It’s like that piece of the puzzle. If he does it, which he has been, it makes it easier on everybody else. It opens more things up for other guys.”

The problem for opponents is they can try gearing up for one aspect of Savage’s game, but the junior can counter with another. He was effective handling the ball against Muncy, scoring in transition and saw the court well. He took his game inside early, outside later and then in the middle, going 4 for 4 with his mid-range shots.

“He always had the confidence, but he would overthink things. We’ve been on him all year about the same stuff saying, ‘You’re a great shooter. We want you to shoot the ball,'” Roskowski said. “He can play the guard position. I don’t want him in the post the whole game because it’s harder to guard him when he’s inside-out.”

It is perfect timing, too. The playoffs start less than a month from now and Neumann has ascended to the top of the district rankings. If Savage continues developing and creating opportunities for others, the Knights, winners of six straight games, could continue causing problems.

They certainly did against Muncy. The Knights played one of their best games in a December victory against Muncy and may have been even better Friday. The Indians (13-5) played much better than they did during that first game, but Neumann could seemingly do no wrong.

Neumann drained five straight 3-pointers in the second quarter and made seven of its first 11 while building a 47-20 lead five minutes into the second quarter. Hill scored in every which way and fueled the 3-point barrage with four, including three in the first half. Baldwin added two more in the second quarter, including one which seemed like it was shot from Hughesville. Savage and Agnew also connected on first-half 3-pointers before Kane Wright kept it going early in the third quarter.

Maybe it was fitting then that Neumann imposed the mercy rule midway through the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer, this one as Hill found Daiton Thompson on the wing. Neumann also moved the ball well with Hill dealing five assists and the team 15.

“The guys are shooting the ball well and it’s really making everything easier for us,” Roskowski said. “I said to them, ‘Let’s get to the rack early,’ but they were hitting shots, so why stop? If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.”

“We tried man; we tried zone, but it didn’t matter what we did because they didn’t miss,” Muncy coach Jason Gresh said. “They made everything.”

This was all about what Neumann did right rather than what Muncy did wrong. The Indians truly did not play a bad game. Three players scored in double figures, the rebounding stats were close and Muncy made seven 3-pointers while shooting a respectable 43.4 %.

The problem was Neumann made at least 50 percent of its shots in each of the first three quarters and finished at 54 percent. The Knights also scored at least 18 points in each of those quarters. Muncy played an outstanding third quarter but even then, Neumann equaled its 18 points before catching fire again early in the fourth and invoking the mercy rule.

Branson Eyer continued his attack on 1,000 career points, scoring 20 while adding eight rebounds and three assists. Mike Fry had 16 points and seven rebounds and Ross Eyer added 11 points with six boards. Eli Weikle dealt five assists as well.

“That’s a pretty good night. On most nights that’s usually enough to win the game but give them credit for shooting the heck out of the ball,” Gresh said. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years and been head coach for 13 and I know when we play poorly, and you get that pit in the stomach because you know you didn’t play well. But I don’t think we played poorly. They just shot the heck out of the ball.”

NEUMANN (85)

Davion Hill 17 0-2 38, Messiah Baldwin 3 0-0 8, Joe Savage 9 2-2 21, Tyrick Moy 3 0-0 6, Kane Wright 1 0-0 3, Corey Agnew 2 0-0 6, Daiton Thompson 1 0-0 3. Totals 36 2-4 85.

MUNCY (56)

Ross Eyer 4 1-1 11, Branson Eyer 10 0-0 20, Mike Fry 5 0-0 16, Noah Confer 2 0-0 4, Eli Weikle 1 2-2 5, Brady Ryder 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 3-3 56.

Neumann 22 29 18 16-85

Muncy 9 16 18 13-56

3-pointers: Neumann 11 (Hill 4, Baldwin 2, Agnew 2, Savage, Wright, Thompson); Muncy 7 (Fry 4, R. Eyer 2, Weikle).

Records: Neumann 12-4. Muncy 13-5.

Starting at /week.