City of Basketball Love

By Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)

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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here)

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After years of treading water, West Catholic put the Philadelphia Catholic League on notice last season. 

During the 2021-2022 season, the Burrs went 12-1 in the PCL (tying Roman Catholic for the most wins in the league). And after a historic regular season, West Catholic continued its success in the playoffs and reached the Palestra for the first time in recent memory — last making the league semifinals in 1999, before they were hosted at the Cathedral of College Hoops

But the Burrs were bounced in the semifinals by Archbishop Ryan, spoiling the chance to win the school’s first title since 1959. And last year’s loss has sparked this year’s focus. 

“I think last year was a taste. We manifested things and brought it into existence. We always talked about going to the Palestra,” head coach Miguel Bocachica said. “But we never talked about actually getting there and winning two. So, we’re hungry and want to go back. We want to talk about getting there and winning two games.”

The Burrs certainly have the firepower to do just that, even after graduating Nasir Griffin (East Stroudsburg) and Kaseem and Kareem Watson (CSU-Bakersfield). 

Seniors Zion Stanford (Temple commit),  Adam 'Budd' Clark, Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui and MJ Branker will lead this year’s team. This is a special group for Bocachica because this class of students represents some of the first players that he has coached from their freshman year until graduation. 

Times sure have changed since Bocachica’s first season with the program, when the Burrs went 3-11 in league play during the 2018-19 season.

This group of seniors went 5-9 in the PCL as freshmen and 6-4 in the league as sophomores before ascending to the top of the league standings last season.

“My guys really don’t miss days, they work extremely hard,” Bocachica said about the program’s recent success. “If I told myself in four years we’d be here, I’d think I was lying.”

Thanks to the ascension of first-team All-Catholic League players Clark and Stanford, the Burrs should still be in the mix among the top teams in the league. With the new status amongst the PCL’s elite, a new standard and additional preparations are needed for the postseason. 

“We just wanna take a step forward,” Bocachica said. “If we were just okay at being a talking team, we wanna be a great talking team. If we were just an okay shooting team, we wanna become good and then great. … Everyone is individually taking a step forward in their game and their development and maturity.” 

The PCL’s reigning Coach of the Year is starting to see this type of self-awareness from his players now that they know what to expect from the Palestra’s atmosphere.

“When we get to the Palestra, we gotta talk. We’re not gonna be able to hear coach all the time. It’s gonna be super loud in there,” Clark said. “I definitely learned that in the Palestra because we couldn’t hear coach at all.”

“Now, we’ve gone there, we’ve felt it, we lost, and now we have our own experience,” Bocachica said. "When I speak [ of championship aspirations], they feel it. It’s easier to think of, it’s easier to motivate yourself."

“Before, the only experience I had in getting to a championship was through Imhotep as a coach. …The only experience I could speak of was that experience, and I’m sure to the kids, that got old.”

On top of carrying the production load, Clark, Stanford and the other upperclassmen will be looked upon as leaders for a group that also has some talented underclassmen, like Micah Waters (‘25), Jaden Banner (‘25), Isaac Cole (‘25) and Kingston Wheatley (‘26).

All of those players (except Wheatley, a forward/center) add to the terrific wing depth on the Burrs’ roster. But Bocachica thinks the 'Budd' and 'Whop' (Wilbanks-Acqui) backcourt will be considered one of the best in the league. Last year the duo combined for 13.5 points and 9.4 assists per game.

This year, the backcourt will also be bolstered by lesser-known senior, Amyr Walker, who his coach considers a “dark horse.” He’ll add perimeter defense and another ball handler in a league where guard play is critical.  

“He’s a 6-2 guard, he’s strong and has really committed to getting his body together, and he leads great,” Bocachica said about Walker. “He seems like he never has a bad day. If he’s not scoring, he’s rebounding, if he’s not rebounding, he’s scoring. If you give him three minutes, he’s gonna guard the best player on the team as hard as he can.”

In addition to Walker, Bocachica expects to see another jump from Cole. The 6-6 wing, who appeared in 18 games for the Burrs as a freshman, picked up an offer from Hampton this summer after showcasing an improved offensive bag to pair with his defensive instincts. 

Cole will be paired with Stanford on the wing. The 6-5 Temple commit can fill up a stat sheet evidenced by his 14.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg and 1.8 bpg stat line from last year.

“We got dogs in here,” Clark said about this year’s roster, “Honestly, I think we’re gonna be better than last year. We have good chemistry, and everyone’s gonna play hard.” 

With their returners’ skillsets and experience combined with the growth of their underclassmen, the Burrs are again in a position to end the 64-year PCL title drought.

“The last four years we’ve been able to accomplish things that haven’t been accomplished in a long time, so we don’t take any of those things lightly,” Bocachica said. “Last year, we were a good team, but it takes a great team to win [a championship], so it’s just about taking the next step. We gotta go to the Palestra and win back-to-back games.”