City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The Philadelphia Catholic League’s regular season is over. Of the league’s 25 teams — 14 on the boys’ side, 11 on the girls — 18 are in the running for their respective championships, hoping to be on the court at the Palestra on Feb. 28 for the biggest high school games in the city each year.

Below are the schedules for both the boys and girls PCL titles, and a brief look at each field:

Boys

First Round — Feb. 16, higher seed

7) Devon Prep vs. 10) Archbishop Carroll (7 PM)
8) Cardinal O’Hara vs. 9) Bonner-Prendergast (7 PM)

Quarterfinals — Feb. 18, higher seed

1) Roman Catholic vs. lowest remaining
2) West Catholic vs. highest remaining
3) Archbishop Wood vs. 6) Archbishop Ryan
4) Neumann-Goretti vs. 5) La Salle College HS

Semifinals — Feb. 23, Palestra (6:15 PM/7:45 PM)

Championship — Feb. 28, Palestra (8:00 PM)

This should be one of the more intense playoffs in any league in the country, with 10 teams who all legitimately believe they’re good enough to play in the Palestra come the semifinals, though perhaps a few of those beliefs are a little bit out there. Still, the first-round games should be a lot of fun, and that’ll set up a quarterfinal round with a ton of talent; while Roman and West are going to be overwhelming favorites no matter who they play, the Wood/Ryan and Neumann/La Salle games should both be ultra-competitive. 

The regular-season champs, Roman Catholic, were the runners-up last year, and Chris McNesby certainly knows how to win a PCL title; Cincinnati commit Daniel Skillings has been on a tear this season, and he’s got a terrific supporting cast in Khalil Farmer (Hofstra), junior guard Xzayvier Brown and freshman forward Shareef Jackson, among others. But the Cahillites didn’t go unbeaten in the league, with defending champ Archbishop Wood — albeit with a new rotation after graduating its whole starting lineup — dealing them a 64-61 defeat back in January. Senior point guard Justin Moore (Drexel), who came in from now-closed Bishop McDevitt, has been an instant fit alongside classmates Tyson Allen and Mike Knouse, while sophomore Jalil Bethea and juniors Bahsil Laster and Carson Howard have all had strong first varsity seasons in the PCL.

The biggest story in the PCL all year long, though, has been the arrival of West Catholic as a bona fide PCL powerhouse, living up to the high expectations hoisted upon them in the offseason. The Burrs’ versatile attack is led by junior guard Adam ‘Budd’ Clark and wing Zion Stanford and senior twin CSU-Bakersfield commits, Kareem and Kaseem Watson, with substantial contributions from Nasir Griffin (East Stroudsburg), Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui and Marcus Branker. Miguel Bocachica’s squad is long, aggressive, and talented, and are searching for their first PCL title since 1959. 

While those three are the favorites, you can’t ever count out a Carl Arrigale-coached Neumann-Goretti squad, though the Saints lost all three of their games against the above trio. It’s a young group, albeit one with a lot of talent, led by seniors Masud Stewart and Aamir Hurst, though it’s the sophomore class — Robert Wright III, Khaafiq Myers, Amir Williams and Luke Bevilacqua — that looks primed to make a lot of noise in this league the next couple years. La Salle and Archbishop Ryan could very well pull the upsets as well, with the Explorers featuring Army commit Nix Varano, Rutgers football commit Sam Brown and junior wing Horace Simmons while Ryan has its own awesome group of sophomores, including Thomas Sorber, Darren Williams and Jaden Murray plus experienced seniors Luke Boyd and Jalen Snead.

Strap in, it’s going to be a wild two weeks.

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Semifinalist picks: Roman Catholic, West Catholic, Archbishop Wood, La Salle College High School

Champions: West Catholic

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Girls

Quarterfinals — Feb. 17, higher seed
1) Archbishop Carroll vs. 8) West Catholic (5 PM)
2) Cardinal O’Hara vs. 7) St. Hubert’s (7 PM)
3) Archbishop Wood vs. 6) Conwell-Egan (7 PM)
4) Lansdale Catholic vs. 5) Neumann-Goretti (6 PM)

Semifinals — Feb. 22, Conwell-Egan (5:30 PM/7:00 PM)

Championship — Feb. 28, Palestra (6:15 PM)

The girls’ field doesn’t have quite the depth of the boys, but there’s at least three teams with a valid shot at the title, and another couple that could certainly be dark horses when all is said and done. A big upset in the first round seems highly unlikely, which should set up a fantastic set of quarterfinals at Egan before the title game at the Palestra, where Archbishop Wood will aim to defend its 2021 crown before beginning its PIAA Class 4A title defense. 

The Vikings are the No. 3 seed this year, their two losses coming to the two teams above them, but Mike McDonald’s squad still packs a whole lot of punch. Vanderbilt commit Ryanne Allen and Delaware commit Bri Bowen led a group that also features senior guard Shannon Morgan, junior forward Deja Evans and sophomore Delaney Finnegan, with some intriguing underclassmen coming off the bench. Allen, an athletic wing guard who can score from all three levels, has been on a tear the second half of the season; slowing her down is the top priority for defenses.

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Semifinalist picks: Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal O'Hara, Archbishop Wood, Neumann-Goretti

Champions: Archbishop Carroll

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Finishing unbeaten atop the league with a 10-0 record is Archbishop Carroll, as Renie Shields goes for her second PCL title after winning it all in 2019. Carroll, which has won eight PCL titles as a program since 2000, has a pair of Division I committed seniors of its own in forward Maggie Grant (Villanova) and point guard Grace O’Neill (Drexel), the engine that really drives Carroll’s train. Junior forward Taylor Wilson and her sister, sophomore Brooke Wilson, are two more Division I prospects in the starting lineup, and junior guard Courtland Schumaker is a terrific role player who adds to their tough defensive mindset and unselfish offensive play.

The defending PIAA Class 5A champs, Cardinal O’Hara had another strong run through the PCL, its only loss coming to Carroll in a 49-39 defeat on Carroll’s court a few weeks back. The Lady Lions have (sensing a theme here?) two Division I committed seniors in versatile 6-2 stretch-forward Maggie Doogan (Richmond) and 5-8 lead guard Sydni Scott (Marshall), who’d be enough to worry about before you add in senior wing Anne Welde and one of the best freshmen around, Molly Rullo. O’Hara isn’t deep, but its top five is up there with anybody else’s for best around, and Chrissie Doogan has what it takes to win her first PCL title, which would be O’Hara’s fifth since 2013. 

Lansdale Catholic, led by standout junior Gabby Casey, and Neumann-Goretti, led by senior guard Mihjae Hayes, both have the talent and confidence to pull off an upset in the semifinals, but only one of them will get there. Each are certainly underdogs to win the league title, but this city’s seen crazier things happen on the hardwood. 

It only takes three wins.