skip navigation

Play-By-Play Classic @ Cristo Rey Preview (Dec. 27, 2022)

12/26/2022, 10:45am EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

The Pete & Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classic was supposed to be a three-day affair this year, on Dec. 27, 28, and 30, but the first day of it has splintered off into a separate event run by Cristo Rey, consisting of five games taking place from noon through 7 PM. 

The quintuple-header features 10 teams from Southeastern Pennsylvania, representing a mix of public and private schools from inside and out of the city, with schools representing the Philadelphia Public League, Inter-Ac, Friends’ League, Penn-Jersey, Ches-Mont, Bicentennial, Catholic League and Suburban One all in the mix.

That’s just one event going on on Tuesday, as a busy week of holiday tournaments and events concludes 2022 before league play dominates the next five weeks. Here’s a look at all five games at Cristo Rey, as well as a list of the other double-headers (and one quadruple-header) going on in the area on Tuesday:


Freshman wing Lateef Lorenzo-White (above) leads a young Bartram squad. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Episcopal Academy vs. Bartram (12 PM)
The day starts off with this Public League vs. Inter-Ac matchup, which has the potential to be high scoring, as both like to push the tempo. Bartram (2-5), under the direction of Andre Brown, is young, with three starters in its top eight; its best player is freshman wing Lateef-Lorenzo-White, a 6-4 left-hander who can score from all three levels and can get his own shot; senior guard Jahmair Atwell-Fisher is a good rebounder and sophomore Joseph McCuthen, a 6-2 guard, will also shoot often, senior Romar Berry, junior Mahjir Pelzer and sophomore Dujuan Peak give them depth off the bench. Episcopal (5-5), under first-year head coach Taylor Wright, features junior guard Kevin McCarthy, an all-Inter Ac pick a year ago with Division I interest. McCarthy leads a Churchmen group filled with juniors and seniors, including forwards T.J. Lamb and Eddie Jones, both seniors and D-I lacrosse commits, while juniors Calvin Szoradi and Tyler Beaulieu are both back after missing last year with injuries.

Cristo Rey vs. Friends’ Central (1:45 PM)
The hosts get the second game against a good Friends’ Central squad out of the Friends’ Schools League. First-year Cristo Rey head coach Kyle Sample, who also is the school’s athletics diretor and works with the K-Low Elite grassroots program, has the program’s first Division I signee in Joshua Wyche (Lafayette), a 6-7 senior wing whose versatility gives most teams trouble. Juniors Amari Dow (6-3), Josh Patterson (6-1) and Lamar Lovett (6-0) are returning starters, but look out for sophomore guard Devin Booker, an athletic 6-5 lefty wing with a high ceiling. Friends’ Central doesn’t have a current committed Division I player but has some future college talent for sure in 6-3 senior wing Collin Bowman, 6-2 junior guard Fazl Oshodi, 6-4 junior guard Muhsin Muhammad, 5-11 junior guard Reid Belcher and more, the above quartet handling most of the offensive duty for second-year head coach Mike Cook’s Phoenix.


Charlie Kammeier (above) and a sharpshooting Unionville squad take on Collegium Charter. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Unionville vs. Collegium Charter (3:30 PM)
This should be an interesting contrast in styles — not that both Unionville and Collegium don’t like to play uptempo, as they do, but Unionville (7-1) loves to bomb away from 3 while Collegium (3-4) attacks the basket. The Longhorns, whose only loss has come to Garnet Valley, has taken upwards of 30 3-pointers in a single game and has a rotation full of players who won’t hesitate to take the first good look, whether that’s seniors Robbie Logan and George Napolitano or juniors James Anderson, Ryan Brown, Charlie Kammeier and Nick Diehl, while 6-5 freshman James Brenner has a bright upside and gives them a little inside-out presence. Collegium features senior wing Duce Jackson (6-6), a mid-range specialist who can also score at all three levels, and 6-8 bruiser Trevon Mack, though the rest of the starting lineup — Kolby Roman, Alyjah Warren and Aaron Pitt Jr. — are all seniors as well. Collegium, a Bicentennial program which is the defending District 1 Class 4A champs, is punching up a couple classes here against a 6A Ches-Mont squad, but the Cougars do have that size advantage inside if they can utilize it. If they can’t defend the perimeter, however, it likely won’t matter.

Father Judge vs. West Chester Henderson (5:15 PM)
Judge (3-1) has produced one of the best wins of this season thus far, a come-from-behind buzzer-beater over Central York on Dec. 17, and followed that up with a 29-point win over Wings Academy on Friday. The Crusaders, under second-year coach Chris Roantree, have a deep and versatile group led by senior guard Kyle Jones, a high-scoring 6-3 guard, though he gets plenty of help from classmate Ernest Shelton, a lanky 6-2 3-point specialist, plus muscular 6-3 junior LaQuan Byrd and 6-0 sophomore point guard Kevair Kennedy; freshman Derrick ‘D.J.’ Morton-Rivera, son of the former Carroll standout, and 6-7 junior Anthony Lilly are two more names to know, though Roantree will go 10+ deep. Henderson (6-2), which is off to a good start under first-year head coach and former Downingtown West boss Jason Ritter, features a top three of senior guard Kmari Smith (6-3) and juniors Nyle Ralph-Beyer (6-4) and Connor Fleet (5-11), who do a lot of heavy lifting for the Warriors, with juniors Danny Surowiec and Evan McFadden, both D-I commits in other sports, bringing some size and athleticism to the starting lineup.

Abington vs. Academy New Church (7:00 PM)
Academy New Church (6-1) has been rolling lately, winning its last three games by 73-30, 68-34 and 78-49, against quality opponents in Pennington School (N.J.), Perkiomen School and Howard (Del.). Now it’s Abington’s turn to try and slow down Kevin Givens’ Lions, who’ve been getting excellent play from senior guard Deywilk Tavarez and junior guard Basil Laster, while freshman guard Dior Carter and senior Jarell Keel have put up some strong stat lines as well; on the whole, it’s a talented, deep and athletic group of wings that really present problems for opposing defenses. Abington (3-4), perennially strong under Charles Grasty though not quite his strongest group ever, is led by junior wing Jeremiah Lee and senior forwards Josh Young and Kellen Ingram, plus sophomore guard Paul Glants

~~~

Boys @ Bensalem
Norristown vs. Executive Education (6:15 PM)
Bensalem vs. Lower Moreland (8 PM)

Boys @ Dock Mennonite
Souderton vs. Dobbins (6 PM)
Dock vs. Owen J. Roberts (8 PM)

Girls/Boys @ Garnet Valley
G: Downingtown East vs. Central Bucks South (1 PM)
G: Garnet Valley vs. Great Valley (3 PM)
B: Bishop Shanahan vs. Archmere Academy (Del.) (5 PM)
B: Garnet Valley vs. Chichester (7 PM)

Boys @ Haverford High
Council Rock N. vs. Kennett (5:30 PM)
Haverford High vs. Council Rock S. (7:00 PM)

Boys @ Perkiomen Valley
Methacton vs. Wissahickon (4:30 PM)
Perkiomen Valley vs. North Penn (6 PM)

Boys @ West Chester East
Penn Wood vs. Downingtown East (6 PM)
West Chester East vs. Academy Park (8 PM)


D-I Coverage:

HS Coverage:

Small-College News:

Tag(s): Home  Josh Verlin  High School  Boys HS  Bicentennial League (B)  Collegium Charter  Father Judge  Ches-Mont American (B)  Unionville  West Chester Henderson  Friends' Schools (B)  Academy New Church  Friends' Central  Inter-Ac (B)  Episcopal Ac.  Public League (B)  Public League A (B)  Bartram  SOL Liberty (B)  Abington   Cristo Rey