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Philly Teams Make History At State Finals

By Joseph Santoliquito

PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — When it comes to basketball, no area in the state continues to be more dominant than the Philadelphia area.

During the PIAA state championship weekend of March 20-21, five of the eight state championship games were Philadelphia-area schools, with the boys pulling off a clean District 12 sweep, when Constitution won the Class A championship, followed by Conwell-Egan at Class AA, Neumann-Goretti at Class AAA and Roman Catholic at Class AAAA.

On the girls' side, Neumann-Goretti went coast-to-coast finishing as the Catholic League, District 12 and PIAA Class AA champions—then topping it off with a perfect 30-0 finish and being crowned the mythical national champions, thanks being universally recognized as the best girls' basketball team in the country by USA Today,ESPN.com and CBS MaxPreps.

"This has been a special year and this is a special team that will be remembered forever, because they made history by being the best in the country, and they're the best girls' basketball team that's ever come from this area," said Neumann-Goretti coach Andrea Peterson, who was also named Naismith national high school girls' basketball Coach of the Year.

It marked a busy weekend for District 12 chairman Robert Coleman, who said afterward, "I'm really proud of these kids and I think it says something about our area and the character of our players and coaches. I like to say we're one big family, and state championship proved it, with everyone pulling for everyone else."

Two of the eight championship games were between Philadelphia-area schools. Neumann-Goretti had to get by Catholic League rival Archbishop Carroll, 69-67, and the storied Roman Catholic team won its first state title in school history, beating Public League rival Martin Luther King, 62-45.

"I'm happy for these kids, the school, for everyone who has supported us through the years, this is for them," Roman coach Chris McNesby said. "It makes all of the hard work and commitment these kids made worth it. Roman has a great history. But this team will go down as the first to win a state title."

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