City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The 2021-22 PIAA high school basketball season is almost here.

So, too, is CoBL’s first-ever regular-season event: the CoBL Tip-Off Showcase, which will take place this Friday, Dec. 10, at Archbishop Ryan High School.

Our inaugural in-season event will feature three teams from the Philadelphia Catholic League taking on a trio of public schools — two from the city and one from the ‘burbs. It’ll be a great evening of hoops, featuring a strong contingent of future collegiate players and teams that all have strong playoff aspirations, including a few state title contenders in the mix. 

The CoBL Tip-Off Showcase will be broadcast on The Sports Fanbase Network; click here to access the link with instructions for the livestream. Chris Markowitz will be doing play-by-play and Jack Kapp will be the analyst, with some CoBL writers making appearances throughout the evening.

Admission for this event will be $10. Concessions will be sold inside. 

Masks will be required and must be worn while indoors. Please do not come if you feel unwell.

Media — please email us at cityofbasketballove@gmail.com to be placed on our media list.

To access the SFBN stream ($10), go to SFBNPPV.com.

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Denzel Figueroa (above, in July) is the engine that drives the Engineers.
(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Father Judge vs. Engineering & Sciences (5:00 PM)

The event opens with this matchup of two under-the-radar squads ready to make some noise this year. Judge is under the direction of first-year head coach Chris Roantree, who comes in with a strong resume having been the top assistant to John Mosco at Archbishop Wood, as well as working with Team Final in the offseasons. Roantree’s got his work cut out for him at Judge, which had generally finished in the bottom half of the Catholic League in recent memory, but he’s got some interesting fresh faces to work with in Kyle Jones, who moved to Philadelphia from Georgia, and Paul King, one of four who came in from now-closed Bishop McDevitt; the two junior guards, plus senior Jalen Flowers, can hang with the other top backcourts in the PCL.

Engineering & Sciences, which plays in the Philadelphia Public League’s ‘B’ division, is led by head coach John Brown. The headliner for his squad this year is 6-5 wing Denzel Figueroa, who is coming off a season where he garnered PIAA 5A third team all-state honors; the powerful wing is back for his senior season and will be one of the top players in the Pub this winter. Figueroa has a nice blend of size, length, and athleticism that allows him to score at multiple levels and be a factor on the defensive end of the floor, and will team with 6-4 junior Nile Mosby to give them a versatile frontcourt. Also keep an eye on senior guard Taimar Stubbs, a 5-11 lefty and four-year varsity player for the Engineers.

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West Catholic guard Adam 'Budd' Clark and the Burrs are PCL contenders.
(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

West Catholic vs. Lincoln (6:30 PM)

This heavyweight matchup between two teams who play at ‘11’ should be a lot of fun. West Catholic, under the direction of Miguel Bocachica, plays an uptempo, in-your-face style that spreads teams and forces boatloads of turnovers, and the Burrs are undoubtedly one of the Catholic League favorites this year. Senior guards Kareem and Kaseem Watson, 6-7 twins bound for Cal-Bakersfield next year, are a centerpiece, as are a pair of junior guards, Adam ‘Budd’ Clark and newcomer Shemar Wilbanks-Aqui. Oh, and don’t forget 6-8 senior and East Stroudsburg commit Nasir Griffin, plus 6-4 junior Zion Griffin and his 6-5 classmate Marcus Branker Jr., two more scholarship-level players.

But that’s not likely to faze Lincoln, one of the favorites in the Philadelphia Public League. They’re big, strong, and experienced, and won’t be entering this matchup feeling like an underdog in the slightest. They’re led by 6-5 wing Matt Williams, a three-level scorer and high-level rebounder, but 6-3 guard Tamir Powell, 5-9 junior guard Rashan Locke-Hicks, 6-7 senior forward Aymere Thomas and 6-4 sophomore Naseem Wright are a lot of talent around him. Head coach Jamel Lindsey has a Railsplitters squad that’s going to try to compete with the likes of Imhotep Charter in the Pub, so seeing how they fare against West will be a great early test.

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Dylan Blair (above) is the one of a number of talented Downingtown West juniors. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Archbishop Ryan vs. Downingtown West (8:00 PM)

The nightcap should be a fantastic matchup between two teams that have state playoff runs in mind down the line, with plenty to get down between now and then, as well as a great individual matchup in the post. The hosts, under the direction of Joe Zeglinski, have regularly been one of the top teams in the Catholic League, and are fresh off a run to the PIAA 5A Championship game, where they fell one win short of the program’s first state title. But Zeglinski has plenty left in the tank, including seniors Jalen Snead, David Wise and Luke Boyd. The Raiders’ sophomore class, including 6-9 forward Thomas Sorber and wings Darren Williams and Jaden Murray, is terrific, and will be a group that can do big things moving forward.

The Whippets, meanwhile, are built around a strong junior core, including their own talented post of their own in 6-10 junior Jake Warren. The younger brother of former D-West standout Josh Warren (Cornell), Jake Warren already holds a St. Joe’s offer, while his classmate Dylan Blair, a 5-11 lead guard, has all sorts of scholarship schools keeping track. The rest of their core includes seniors Cooper Hardin and Matt Zincone, juniors Joey Suarez and Dean Polluch, and 6-4 freshman Donovan Fromhartz, who just might be in the starting lineup Friday night. Head coach Stuart Ross has kept his Whippets busy against top competition this summer in preparation for a long season ahead.