South Williamsport surging and its crowd roaring, St. John Neumann forward Joe Savage knew something must be done. Davion Hill was saddled with four fouls, so Savage decided his time was now.

After South hard roared back from a 20-point halftime deficit and cut Neumann’s lead to five, Savage attacked the basket, made a runner while being fouled and converted a 3-point play. Savage’s clutch play with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining restored order, helped ignite a game-clinching run and pointed the way to a fifth straight district championship appearance.

Daiton Thompson followed Savage’s play with a steal and layup and Neumann scored 12 of the final 15 points as it defeated South, 56-42 in a riveting District 4 Class AA semifinal in front of an overflowing crowd at Montoursville. Hill scored 28 points and the Knights (21-4) reached their first Class AA final after playing in the past four Class A title games.

Neumann will face rival Muncy in an all-Lycoming County championship later in the week at a time and place to be determined.

“Davion had four fouls, so I know if he has to be more passive, I have to go get a bucket and be more aggressive. I took it to the hoop and made it and it worked out for us,” Savage said. “That kind of gave us the momentum we needed, and we got the stops we needed to finish it off.”

South (15-9) looked like it might come all the way back after dominating the third quarter and twice closing within five in the fourth quarter. Those comeback hopes received a huge lift when Hill picked up his fourth foul with 5:40 to go and Neumann clinging to a 41-35 lead.

At that point it felt like the Knights were breaking apart. And while Hill still played an outstanding game and helped cap the game-sealing run, it was his teammates who provided the glue after that fourth foul. Thompson finished with 12 points, Savage 10 and Tyrick Moy hit two clutch free throws following the two game-altering plays that duo provided.

Aaron Akers (10 points) scored inside to make it 49-44 and Savage grabbed a rebound moments later after South nearly pulled closer. Following a timeout, the versatile forward drew his defender out on the left wing, made a quick step to his left and burst toward the basket, finishing the play and drawing the foul. It was just the boost Neumann needed at a critical time.

“That’s what we needed Joe to do. He had a good all-around game,” Neumann coach Louis Roskowski said. “That’s all we need him to do; hit shots like that and step up, and he did.”

So did Thompson.

The freshman guard continues to impress and has blossomed during the postseason. Thompson shined in the Mid-Penn championship eight nights ago and was even better against South, making three key foul shots down the stretch, running the court well, making three steals and adding four rebounds.

Following Savage’s 3-point play, Thompson made the biggest play of his young high school career. He jumped into the passing lane like a defensive back, stole the ball at midcourt, avoided a defender en route to the basket and made a reverse layup which put Neumann ahead, 49-39.

“Daiton is a really good player. He can put it on the floor and shoot it and defend,” Savage said. “Him stepping up and taking Messiah’s (Messiah Baldwin) spot is big for us.”

“Daiton played great,” Roskowski said. “For a freshman he’s playing good basketball.”

South desperately wanted this game, but still has a whole lot for which to play. The Mounties have not reached the state tournament since 2003 and that goal remains there. South will play Northwest for third place with the winner taking District 4’s final state playoff berth.

Play the way it did the second half against Neumann and South can give itself an opportunity to end that 20-year drought.

“I’m very proud of the guys and very happy with the way they responded in the second half and came back and fought,” South coach Joe Simon said. “Other than the couple teams that beat Neumann, we’ve played them the hardest. We’re going to let this one settle in tonight, but let it go in the morning. We’re shifting focus and now going for third and a state berth.”

By halftime Saturday, it felt like South already could be making plans for that consolation game. The Mounties missed a lot of inside shots, some because of tough Neumann defense and some because they just did not finish well. The Knights outscored South by 14 in the second quarter and led 30-10 at halftime.

After losing two close games against Neumann during the regular season, though, South was not going down without a fight. The Mounties outscored Neumann, 19-7 in the third quarter and continued surging early in the fourth. Suddenly, a spot in the championship was starting to not just feel possible, but even likely.

Then the game shifted again, and it was Neumann’s turn to reveal its character. The Knights, winners of 15 straight games, allowed just seven points over the game’s final six minutes and finally landed the knockout blow against a worthy, valiant challenger.

“We just had to play defense. We just have to get stops. We know we have players who can score, so we just have to get stops,” said Savage, who also had six rebounds, two steals and a block. “It all comes down to defense. We stopped playing D, we took some bad shots, and we got a little crazy there for a bit, but we turned it around.”

South contained Neumann early and led 4-3 nearly midway through the first quarter but Neumann went ahead 12-6 entering the second. Then South entered dire straits in that second quarter, making just 2 of 16 shots. Hill made four first-half steals, scored 16 points and Neumann went up 20 by halftime.

Facing a fight or flight situation, South chose to fight and started thundering back in the third quarter.

Marquan Harris was a force inside and produced a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Lee Habalar played an excellent second half as well, scoring 10 of his 12 points then, while adding eight rebounds and three assists.

“We got into them pretty hard at halftime and they responded well,” Simon said. “Some teams would not come back from that, and they stepped up and responded well and we got it down to five. A couple shots or loose balls here or there and it’s tied up.”

A Habalar 3-pointer pulled South within 49-42, but Moy’s free throws were the start of a game-ending 7-0 run. Hill scored three straight points to push it to 54-42 and Thompson’s free throws capped the strong Neumann finish.

Hill did his thing as did all his teammates. Kane Wright grabbed seven rebounds and Corey Agnew was strong off the bench after returning from injury. He provided stellar defense when Moy was in early foul trouble and added five rebounds.

“It’s awesome seeing the young guys step up,” Roskowski said. “Everyone is doing their part and it’s fun to see.”

SOUTH (42)

Lee Habalar 5 1-1 12, Marquan Harris 8 0-1 16, Aaron Akers 5 0-0 10, Ben Manning 1 0-0 2, Alex Neidig 1 0-0 2, Caden Harris 0 0-0 0, Radley Knapp 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 1-2 42.

NEUMANN (56)

Davion Hill 12 3-5 28, Joe Savage 3 4-5 10, Tyrick Moy1 2-3 4, Kane Wright 1 0-1 2, Daiton Thompson 3 6-8 12, Corey Agnew 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-22 56.

South 6 4 19 13–42

Neumann 12 18 7 19–56

3-pointers: South 1 (Habalar); Neumann 1 (Hill).

Records: Neumann 21-4. South 15-9.