For the second straight season -- and to the same opponent -- Archbishop Carroll lost the Catholic League championship game.

Monday's 59-55 loss to Neumann-Goretti meant the Saints were able to take home their 15th league crown while concluding their third consecutive unbeaten slate in league play.

All the while, Carroll was unable to win its second such crown.

The Patriots relied too heavily upon All-Delco Juan'ya Green, who poured in a game-best 30 points. He shot 9-for-25 from the floor; his team combined to shoot 10-for-24, which doesn't sound all that bad ... but it was.

The Patriots' second-leading scorer this season, Yosef Yacob, who had 18 points in the league semifinal, finished with six. Alec Stavetski, another usually reliable offensive cog, was left scoreless. Jay Donovan, a long-range sniper, had only one trey and seven total points.

"We didn't do enough," Donovan said.

"Sometimes we stand too much. It happened tonight," he added. "We stand around and watch Juan'ya too much. We should set picks and get each other open better. We need to play better as a team. We can't rely on Juan'ya like that. One versus five won't work. He's a great player, but we need to help him out."

Tracy Peal was Carroll's only other double-figure scorer, tallying 12 points with eight rebounds.

For more on the game, including a column by Jack McCaffery and sidebar special to the Times by Tom Kerrane, pick up Tuesday's edition of the Daily Times.

There's no easy way to put this, so here goes: Neumann-Goretti has Archbishop Carroll's number.

OK, now that that's out of the way.

The Patriots' 74-68 loss to the visiting Saints Sunday typifies a rivalry that has been competitive of late, but more one-sided than outsiders might think.

Neumann-Goretti has won 23 of the team's last 24 meetings in the last 10 years. (The only contest that Carroll stole from N-G? A 70-65 decision in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals in 2008-09. Two wins later, and the Patriots were state champions.)

In their most recent meeting, the Patriots (10-3) held a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter. They were up by 13 heading into the final period, at 51-38.

So what happened? The Saints, the reigning Class AAA state champs, went to the line and knocked down shots so regularly that the Patriots could not keep pace.

Tracy Peal (pictured) had 15 points and 10 rebounds, All-Delco Juan'ya Green had 22 points, nine assists and five boards and Shane Randall coupled eight points with 11 rebounds.

What it boils down to is Carroll has to beat Neumann-Goretti. Plain and simple. The only time the Patriots beat the Saints in the last decade, they made it count by winning the state crown. If they intend on making another lengthy run, they'll have to go through Neumann-Goretti.