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PIAA 6A: Betrand, Hart help Roman power past CB West

03/17/2018, 9:00pm EDT
By Steve Sherman

Roman Catholic and coach Matt Griffin (above) advanced to the PIAA Class 6A final with a win against CB West on Saturday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Steve Sherman (@stevesherman222)
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BENSALEM – In order to have any chance to hang with Roman Catholic in its PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at Bensalem, Suburban One Continental champion Central Bucks West knew it either had to take an early lead or hang close to the Cahillites.

Standing on the other side of the court was Roman, this year’s Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) champs, who had fallen behind early and often in their state second-round matchup with Suburban One American League champ Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

Essentially, the District 12 runner-up Cahillites (22-6) needed a turnover and a 3-point play by sophomore Lynn Greer III to overcome a deficit that had grown to as many as eight points with less than six minutes to go in regulation to eliminate the Colonials on Wednesday night and advance to the PIAA Elite Eight.

“We wanted to continue our momentum from the second half of P-W into the first half of CB West,” explained Roman head coach Matt Griffin. “It’s a mentality of having a sense of urgency and almost convincing yourself that you’re down 10 (points) to start the game.”

“We have a habit of getting down and then coming back,” said Roman senior Allen Betrand. “This game, we wanted to start like we play in the second half – play with more energy and get up and down more so that’s what we did.”

Against the Bucks, the Cahillites scored the first seven points in the contest and were up 17-8 after a first quarter that saw the PCL champs hit for seven field goals including a 3-pointer by junior Hakim Hart. By contrast, CB West canned just a pair of shots from the floor in the initial frame including a 3-pointer by senior Shane McCusker.

In the second period, Hart hit two more treys, sixth man Louie Wild canned an early 3-pointer and Betrand added a one-handed shot off the glass and a pair of free throws to six first-quarter points to help put Roman up 34-20 by the break.

Up 52-34 after three periods, the Cahillites marched on to a convincing 75-56 triumph over CB West (23-8), which was making its first appearance in school history in a PIAA quarterfinal. With the win, Roman advances to the state semifinals against District 7 runner-up Pine Richland, a 52-50 winner over Allderdice.

The Cahillites – who captured PIAA titles in 2015 and 2016 but lost to Perkiomen Valley in the first round of states last year – had both their low post game and their perimeter shooting working against the Bucks.

“That’s basketball,” said Hart. “We had it going inside and outside; that’s how you do it.”

CB West sophomore Jack Neri hit for five in the second quarter as did senior Jake Reichwein, though it did nothing to slow the Cahillites in this one.

“For us to beat a team of their caliber, we’ve got to front-run or be right there the whole game,” said Bucks head coach Adam Sherman. “It’s hard. Emotionally, you want to put your foot on the gas pedal.

“The only way we were going to get back was to chip our way back. We don’t have the athletes to speed them up and make it happen fast.”

That’s exactly what CB West did, taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. Five consecutive free throws by Reichwein and McCusker combined cut Roman’s lead to 11 points – 38-27 – halfway through the third quarter but that’s as close as the Bucks would get through the remainder of the contest.

Wild then hit his second 3-pointer in the game and Betrand added a fast-break basket off a missed shot by McCusker and that put the Cahillites back up by 18 points with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Roman went into the final frame up, 52-34.

In the fourth quarter, Hart and sophomore Lynn Greer III (10 points) sandwiched dunks around a 3-point play by CB West senior Collin MacAdams (20 points) but all that did was leave Roman up by 19.

A 3-pointer by Bucks junior point guard Jack Mulhearn together with a driving layup by MacAdams took back some of those points but the Cahillites went back up by 18 on a layup by sophomore reserve guard Nasir Lett and 5-of-6 free throws made by Roman.

With 3:02 remaining in regulation, Reichwein fouled out of the contest. With his team down by over 20 points, Sherman put in three senior reserves, Griffin returned the favor and the game was all but over.

Putting a ding in CB West’s cause was a 3-for-22 shooting performance from behind the 3-point arc. The Bucks also shot 2-for-13 from 3-point land in the first half when the Cahillites got out to a big lead.

“I think we just bothered them with our length,” explained Griffin. “We had guys we committed to the defensive end.

“They run a really good offense but we just tried to contest all of their shots from the perimeter as best we could.”

Conversely, Roman shot nearly 60 percent from the floor through the first three quarters and over 70 percent in a wild final frame that saw the teams combine on 45 points.

CB West managed a 36 percent success rate from the floor through three quarters and shot 8-for-17 in the fourth quarter.

An injury to Cahillites forward Seth Lundy left the 6-6 junior sprawled out on the floor at the end of the first period and he had to be carried off the floor with an apparent injury to his left ankle.

“Seth is an important piece to this team,” said Betrand. “When he went down, we panicked a little but we always stay together.”

The remainder of the Roman roster stepped up in Lundy’s place. Hart, a 6-5 junior who transferred from the Kingsway School District near Swedesboro in September, led the way with 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and a block. Betrand, a 6-4 senior who is committed to Towson, chipped in with 23 points, four rebounds and two assists.

“Next man up is our mentality,” said Betrand. “We all can score the ball so whoever is having their best day, we give him the ball. Today, it was me and Hakim.”

Wild (6 points) led a reserve corps for the Cahillites that notched 14 points off the bench. By contrast, CB West received just seven points off its bench.


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