City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)

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The more that happens to you, the more you will learn. 

Head coach Chris McNesby’s Roman Catholic squad is brimming with talent. But what makes this year’s Cahillites so formidable is their experience with four seniors in the starting lineup that have played a lot of competitive minutes. 

Offensive contributions from Roman’s seniors and team defense were the difference in Tuesday’s night rematch of the 2022’s PIAA Class 6A Championship game. Xzayvier Brown and Roman Catholic overpowered a skilled, but inexperienced, Archbishop Wood program, 77-56,  in both teams’ first Philadelphia Catholic League matchup this season.  

“That’s a good Wood team,” the senior guard Brown said. “That was a good first test, a team like Wood we could definitely see in the Palestra. It’s a great test to see where we’re at.” 

“That was good for our guys to get win number one,” McNesby said. “It’s a tough league. You can't get too high, can't get too low, just keep battling. I think in the first half we kind of had some mistakes of our own, some turnovers, but our guys hung in there, battled back, and had a good strong second half.” 

Roman’s defense created plenty of offensive opportunities and once the defending 6A state champions settled down and protected the basketball, they began exploiting their opponents’ offensive woes and outscored the Vikings 46-26 in the second half. 

The 6-foot-2 Brown filled the stat sheet, compiling 25 points and five assists. But the St. Joe’s commit’s maturity and leadership set the tone for Roman and propelled their second-half dominance after a tough first-half where Wood had all the confidence to come away with a victory.

“His leadership and his overall composure was good,” McNesby said about his point guard and senior leader. “I think our guys saw him remain calm. So, they stayed calm. He never really gets panicked. He never gets selfish. He never gets down hard on his teammates. He’s always upbeat and positive. 

“(Brown is) a tremendous leader and I think he really has the respect of all our guys and they want to play hard for him. He keeps it together and helps us big time.” 

“I think it’s easier for me and our team to score when defenses aren’t set, like when we get stops and run out,” Brown said. “Also ball screens with me and our bigs are just as good.” 

Roman’s 6-foot-7 big-men duo, headlined by fellow St. Joe’s commit Anthony Finkley and sophomore Shareef Jackson, finished with 11 and 12 points, respectively. 

The pair are great offensive weapons because of the pick-and-roll and low-post offense that they provide. Finkley and Jackson’s biggest asset to the Cahillites; however, is their vision and willingness to share the rock. 

“They help me because they are both super big and can pass the heck out the ball,” Brown said. “Very unselfish, they do whatever it takes to help the team win.” 

“They are a good combination,” McNesby added. “I think we had 16,17 assists. That’s characteristic of how we want to play. To have two big guys that can pass, that’s pretty good.” 

“We share it. I think finding our guys and sharing it is always the ingredient for us.” 

Roman’s unselfish style of play that’s preached by McNesby and exemplified by Brown, Finkley, and Jackson helped the Cahillites find an additional offensive spark.

Jermai Stewart-Herring finished with 22 points and two assists in his first PCL game. The senior from Delaware, who transferred from St. Elizabeth, looked comfortable on the court. 

He knocked down threes and aggressively drove to the hoop. The 6-foot-4 guard either finished the two points or got fouled. The former Diamond State Conference Player of the Year also cashed in at the charity stripe, going 11-for-11. 

“We don't have droughts,” McNesby said about Stewart-Herring’s impact on Roman’s offense. “When Xzayvier gets a little low or Anthony, he is another guy who can help us score in different ways, out in transition or make open shots. He's a big help.” 

“That was a cool and fun experience to see someone play in a big game and just play good,” Brown said about his new teammates' performance on Tuesday night. 

The Cahillites’ offense out-paced Wood’s because of their disciplined play on the defensive end in the second half.

Roman had the difficult task of slowing down Jalil Bethea and Wood’s talented crop of young guards like Milan Dean, Josh Reed, and Deuce Maxey. Bethea did plenty of damage, scoring at all three levels and finishing with 24 points. 

Both teams traded blows and Wood trailed 31-30 at the end of the first-half. When Roman went on a run, Wood answered due to excellent floor spacing and unselfish offense. 

“In the first half we really couldn’t stop them one-on-one guarding the ball,” Brown said. “When you have a player like Jalil Bethea, he makes the game easier for everyone since he can do so much. Even if he doesn’t have the ball, he just makes the driving lanes easier because we can’t help off of him.” 

“He’s one of the top players in the country in his class,” McNesby added. “He’s gonna be a matchup nightmare for teams every night.” 

“He scored a lot on us.” 

But McNesby adjusted at the half and the Cahillite defense shut down Wood’s other guards in the third and fourth quarter, which forced the 6-foot-4 Bethea into less efficient isolation situations. 

“I think we stopped playing together and moving the ball,” Wood head coach John Mosco said about the offense after their 21-point loss. “It was too many quick shots.” 

“When he (Bethea) starts going one-on-one it doesn’t work. Everyone knows he’s gonna shoot it.” 

Dean, Reed, and Maxey combined for six of the Vikings’ 26 second-half points, while 6-foot-8 Carson Howard added four of his nine total points in the second half.

Bethea contributed 14 points in the second half with Romans’ defense denying the other options around him. The talented junior couldn’t bear the weight and the Vikings offense faltered as a result. 

“They are always a good team and they have really good players,” McNesby said. “We just did a little better job defensively.” 

Brown was pleased to start league play on the right track. Especially after last season when Roman finished with the best regular season record last season in the PCL. 

Yet, it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. 

Roman lost to eventual champion Neumann-Goretti by two points in last year’s PCL semi-finals.  

2022-2023 has a new meaning for Brown because it’s the senior class’ last chance at cutting down the nets at the Palestra. Their win over Wood was one small step in that direction. 

“This is our last year and nothing is promised, nothing is guaranteed,” Brown said. 

“Why not leave everything on the line?” 

By Quarter:

Archbishop Wood: 16 | 14 | 15 | 11 || 56

Roman Catholic: 18 | 15 | 25 | 21 || 77 

Scoring: 

Archbishop Wood: Bethea 24, Dean 13, Howard 9, Reed 8, Burt 2

Roman Catholic: Brown 25, Stewart-Herring 22, Jackson 12, Finkley 11, Edwards 3, Oliver-Bush 2, Cottrell 2