St. John Neumann welcomed Montgomery and gave them a close game on Friday at the Catholic Community Center. St. John Neumann held onto its lead and finished strong en route to a 56-49 victory, improving the Knights’ record to 2-3.

The game was neck-and-neck from the start and stayed that way throughout. Williamsport’s Daiton Thompson started his leading score with layups that set the tempo of the game, meeting resistance from Montgomery’s Damaj Stewart-Williams.

“He was a great defender like nothing,” St. John Neumann coach Louis Roskowski said. “He used his chest well and stuck to Daiton the whole game, and we had to take Daiton out of the one and put him at the two just to free him up a little bit and get him open.”

The second quarter started with Neumann leading 16-13 and kept up with the same head-to-head scoring. Neumann pulled ahead with tight fighting under the hoop, breaking through a strong defense, but allowed Montgomery to display their offense.

Roskowski reflected on why he thought the first half did not bend more in Neumann’s favor.

“We weren’t running our offense the way that we should’ve, and then defensively we weren’t rotating a lot of times,” Roskowski said. “I was telling the guys ‘we have to set screens, we have to get open, we have to move to get the ball.”

Thompson was huge for Neumann as he scored 27 points and was one of two double-digit scorers for the Golden Knights, joined by Jakhi Brister’s 18.

As halftime ended, Neumann and Montgomery were tied 25-25. The two hit the court again reinvigorated, though Neumann pulled forward quickly

“Sometimes,” coach Roskowski said, “we have to find that second, third, fourth gear. And once we found it, we went on that 11-point run. I said ‘guys, let’s clean it up. We weren’t executing the way that we should have.’ Once we started to move for the ball, we did better.”

Montgomery was led by Parker Bennett’s 23 points and Stewart-Williams’ 14.

By 3:15 left in the third quarter, the gap had grown to 11 points, the largest gap for the game, before slinking to 41-32 as the fourth quarter started. The gap continued to narrow, slowed by Neumann’s defense and Zaidyn Diehl-Romano.

“What really sets us apart,” Roskowski said, “is our defense, when we’re playing man-to-man, switching up, talking, fighting through screens. This shows we’re more than capable of doing it.”

As Neumann set up four corners and locked down the hoop, Montgomery’s offense could not break through and turn the gap around. With a few key steals, Neumann maintained their lead and ended the game with a deep sigh, 54-49.

Roskowski noted the team’s involvement.

“Daiton, Jakhi, the whole team chipped in. We had Avery (Taddeo) come off the bench, Connor (Haswell) gave some good minutes, and (Zaidyn Diehl-Romano) was boxing out well tonight,” Roskowski noted. “Kane (Miexel) also gave us good minutes because he’s 100% heart, super strong.”

The game was followed by a homecoming presentation for Neumann alumni, and this extended towards the teams as Montgomery coach Rivers Parrish previously attended St. John Neumann. This year marks coach Roskowski’s fourth year at St. John Neumann and 19 year involved with basketball.

Montgomery’s next game will be against Benton on Monday and Neumann’s next game will be at Loyalsock on Monday.

Roskowski plans for the upcoming season with another win under their belt.

“I think we have to find our identity. Are we going to be a straight defensive team or a run-and-gun team?” Roskowski said. “We have a chance to go on a good run here if we string the game together.”

Montgomery 49, Neumann 56

MONTGOMERY (49)

G. Drake 1 0-0 2, C. Wilver 0 0-0 0, D. Stewart-Williams 6 2-5 14, P. Bennett 7 0-0 23, D. Johnson 1 0-0 2, J. Hanford 4 0-0 8. Totals 19 2-5 49.

NEUMANN (56)

D. Thompson 8 2-2 27, C. Haswell 0 0-0 3, L. Dillard 3 1-6 7, Z. Diehl-Romano 0 1-2 1, J. Brister 7 4-7 18. Totals 18 8-17 56.

Montgomery 13 12 7 17-49

Neumann 21 6 38 21-81

3-point goals: Montgomery 3 (Bennett 3), Neumann 4 (Thompson 3, Haswell 1)