City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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In strict box-score terms, it was a five-point swing of a sequence: a block on one end that led to a layup plus a foul shot on the other.

But to Roman Catholic, it felt like much more than five points.

It started on the defensive end, when Roman sophomore Seth Lundy erased an Archbishop Ryan layup with a ferocious block off the glass. That sent the Cahillites flying the other way, with junior Allen Betrand grabbing the carom and leading the break. As he drove down the right wing, he spotted senior Dak’Quan Davis cutting towards the hoop, finding his teammate for a strong layup and the foul.

“Our coach kept saying ‘keep getting stops, keep getting stops,’” Davis said of Roman skipper Matt Griffin, “so that’s what we wanted to do. And that was a big play by Seth and then a good pass from Allen.”

Davis’ 3-point play late in the third quarter ended up being the final lead change of the game, as Roman took all that momentum and held on for a 59-52 win over Archbishop Ryan.

Davis, a 6-foot-2 senior finished with 20 points. Betrand, a 6-4 junior in his first year at Roman, added 19; freshman Lynn Greer III (11 points) was the other member of the double in double figures.

It was one of the best games of the season for Davis, who spent the last two years as Roman’s sixth man and 3-point specialist off the bench. But after enjoying a breakout sophomore season, he never quite seemed to find his rhythm as a junior on a team dominated by current Penn State freshmen Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Nazeer Bostick.

Now that he’s a full-time starter, Davis is playing with a lot more confidence, knocking down nine of his 13 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts; he also hit several tough pull-up jumpers and also dished out three assists (as did Betrand).

“Knowing that I’m going to have those minutes, that I’m going to start, that there’s going to be times where I have to have the ball in my hands, it makes me more confident to know that that’s what I have to do and I have to accept that role and embrace it,” he said.

Lundy, a 6-5 sophomore, only scored four points, but he was crucial inside with seven rebounds and four blocks.

“He makes big plays at critical times for us,” Griffin said. “He did it the other night against Bonner by hitting the big 3 when we were down four…[Tonight he] comes up with a monumental block, fuels our fast break and we’re able to take the lead and it kind of gave us that confidence and that momentum we were searching for all game long. He’s just a kid that whatever it takes, he helps us win.”

Ryan (13-3, 4-3 PCL) held the lead at the end of the first and second quarters, each thanks to buzzer-beating 3-pointers by a Raider senior -- Matiss Kulackovskis first, Izaiah Brockington second. But Davis’ 3-point play, followed by his pull-up jumper in the final three seconds of the third, gave the Cahillies a 41-36 lead going into the fourth.

Betrand provided more fireworks midway through final quarter, slamming home a missed shot with one hand, putting the lead into double-digits for the first time at 49-38 with 5:20 to play.

“I didn’t see that coming at all,” Davis said. “I was at the 3-point line, somebody shot a mid-range jump shot and next thing you know I see (Betrand) flying out of nowhere.”

Roman (14-2, 6-1), currently No. 3 in Mike Bullock’s latest PIAA rankings, moves into sole possession of second place in the Catholic League, a half-game ahead of Archbishop Wood; the Cahillies’ only loss of the conference season is to league front-runner Neumann-Goretti.

Wood and Roman will meet at Wood on Fri., Feb. 10 at 3:30 pm. First, Roman will have to get through Archbishop Carroll next Friday (also at Philly U) and a trip to La Salle College HS two days later.

“These games are one-possession games most of the time,” Griffin said. “They’re tight, they’re intense and different guys have stepped up for us every game...that’s just of kind of what makes us dangerous, is that we have five guys who can score, and it can be their night any night.

“As the games go on, I think just we’re getting better. You have to go through these experiences, they have to learn each game and guys are having the opportunities to step up and they’re taking advantage of it.”

Three Ryan seniors -- Kulackovskis (19 points), Brockington (18) and Fred Taylor (10) accounted for all but five of the Raiders’ points.

Brockington had 11 of his in the fourth quarter, as the 6-4 NJIT commit tried to single-handedly bring his team back from the brink; his 3-pointer with 51 seconds left cut it to 54-52, and he stole the ensuing inbounds pass before a questionable travel call gave the ball back to Roman.

The Cahillies went 5-for-6 from the foul line to seal out the win.
“We just wanted to come out and prove a point,” Davis said. “At the beginning of the year they were ranked higher than us in the Catholic League, and we just want to prove ourselves and get better every day.”