City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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BENSALEM, Pa. -- Being the defending PIAA Class AAAA champion, Roman Catholic is expected to dominate any opponent who stands in its way but sometimes a formidable foe presents themselves.

That foe came in the form of Central Bucks West.

In their second round matchup against the Bucks at Bensalem High School, the Cahillites received all they could handle. From the get-go, the Bucks attacked Roman and forced the Cahillites to play their game.

With the game starting 15 minutes late due to issues with the game clock, the Bucks utilized their dribble-drive and hand-off offense, forcing their opponent to guard them outside the three-point line while leaving the lane open.

Behind their four-guard offense, the Bucks led by as many as five and forced a tie at halftime. But Roman, with their plethora of Division 1 prospects -- including a trio of PSU commits in Tony Carr, Nazeer Bostick and Lamar Stevens -- held tough as it rallied to claim a 60-41 victory.

Roman head coach Chris McNesby felt his team’s initial struggles were attributed to an opponent who had played against several high-caliber programs such as District 1 Class AAAA champion Plymouth Whitemarsh, among others.

“It wasn’t anything we didn’t do. They’re good at what they do,” McNesby said. “It took us a little bit of time to get adjusted, but I have a lot of respect for [the Bucks.]”

After the break, Roman (24-4) began imposing its will on the inside. Bostick, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Stevens, who scored 11 of his game-high 21 after the intermission, led the way for the Cahillites who outscored the Bucks 17-8 in the third quarter.

Carr, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his Roman career in the first half, finished with 13 points and five assists, He recorded two fouls in the first half and became more of a facilitator as the game wore on while his fellow Penn State commits controlled the paint.

McNesby said Central Bucks West (24-7) did a great job defending but was happy with the way his team responded late in the game.

“Eventually, we just started wearing them down,” McNesby said. “We gave the ball inside to Lamar. I think we settled down a little bit. We got in our comfort zone. We’ve been a pretty good second half team so hopefully that continues.”

After hitting 11 three-pointers in their first round win over Central York, the Bucks’ only two triples against Roman came off of the fingertips of senior Cal Reichwein, who finished with a team-high 10 points.

The Cahillites length and size began to take their toll on the Bucks as they “ran out of gas a little bit” in the second half, according to Sherman. Bucks’ guard Luke Irons, who scored nine points, said his team had the right plan in place but could not sustain it for the length of the game.

“Our mindset going in, since we knew they were bigger than us, was they wouldn’t be able to hang with us if we spread them out,” Irons said. “Unfortunately in the second half, they got a couple turnovers to help them there. They’re probably the best team in the state in transition. Once we got behind, we had to play a little differently so they got away from us a little bit.”

Central Bucks West, which won a school-record 24 games and the Surburban One League tournament title, had its season come to an end but not before Buck’s head coach Adam Sherman had a chance to reflect on what his team had accomplished.

“This is a truly great story about guys who put the time in and worked real hard,” Sherman said. “This is why you coach. This was a great experience for me and probably one of the most memorable I’ve had as a coach.”

Roman, on the other hand, advances to play Parkland, who defeated Ridley 54-50, in the quarterfinals, and McNesby knows his team is focused on their next opponent.

“This group, especially the seniors, knows the deal. I think it’s just everyday fine-tuning what we do,” McNesby said. “They know what to do. These guys are battle-tested. They’ve played [Philadelphia] Catholic League and state championships. I think come game time they’re ready to go.”

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Wednesday's Results

Class AA -- Second Round
Conwell-Egan 54, Minersville 51
Camp Hill 45, Wilkes-Barre Meyers 40
Mastery Charter North 85, Danville 52
Trinity 67, Parkway Center City 48
Aliquippa 56, Bishop Canevin 38
West Middlesex 55, Penns Valley 52
Lincoln Park 76, Washington 73
Quaker Valley 57, Greensburg Central Catholic 47

Class AAAA -- Second Round
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 58, Bangor 44
Simon Gratz 64, J.P. McCaskey 56
Parkland 54, Ridley 50
Roman Catholic 60, Central Bucks West 41
Reading 71, Emmaus 54
Chester 74, Spring-Ford 49
Carlisle 74, North Hills 69
Taylor Allderdice 75, Pine-Richland 60