City of Basketball Love

Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)
—

PHILADELPHIA – Shattered glass and disturbed water, though distorted and sometimes tough to see, still show you a reflection.

After Friday’s blowout loss to West Catholic, second-year Father Judge head coach Chris Roantree hopes he was looking at a future reflection.

“This is something that we strive to, we want to get to West’s level,” Roantree said. “[Miguel Bocachica]’s done a great job with the program; he was in the same situation I am about five years ago.” 

Five years ago, West Catholic was far from a Philadelphia Catholic League power. Miguel Bocachica was taking the helm of a team that went a combined 6-20 in league play in the two years before his arrival. 

Now, they’re a top contender in the PCL, graduating multiple collegiate players a year, and packing their home gym for most of their contests. 

“If I told myself in four years we’d be here, I’d think I was lying,” Bocachica said before this season. 

It took time for West Catholic to get to where they are now. There were some tough losses, blown leads, and blowouts mixed in the current Burrs’ journey. 

And Roantree knows it because he witnessed some of those losses from Archbishop Wood’s bench just a few seasons ago. At that time, the Burrs were the upstart program, and the  PCL-power was Wood. 

“When I was at Wood, I remember we beat them pretty good a couple of times, and he just kind of progressed, and they've matured,” Roantree said.  “He's turned the program around… and all the guys that have gotten their programs better, they started from somewhere, and that's kind of where we're at right now.”

Some of those “guys” Roantree is referring to include John Mosco. Roantree was a crucial part of Mosco’s staff as Wood became a perennial power.  And like Roantree, Mosco was a part of a successful program-building process before taking over Archbishop Wood, after being a lifer on Carl Arrigale’s staff at Neumann-Goretti. 

Four years into Mosco’s tenure, Wood was on top of the PCL in 2017. But those four years included several middle-of-the-pack seasons that eventually led to Wood’s success.  

The early bumps that come with building a program shouldn’t define but develop it, just as they have for Wood and West. 

“Learning how to win and learning how to play 32 minutes and play through adversity is important for growth for us, it's growth for us individually, it's growth for a program, it's growth for me,” Roantree said. 

“I've used the word maturity about a thousand times [on Friday], but I think that's so important for developing your culture… how our guys progress, mature, get better day in and day out.

That growth and maturity have been on display at Father Judge. When Roantree was announced as head coach two years ago, Judge was coming off a 2-10 PCL record.  Last year they went 4-9, and thanks to the strides that several Crusaders have made, four games into league play, they are already halfway to that win mark.

Seniors Ernest Shelton (11.5 ppg) and Kyle Jones Jr (12.9 ppg) are once again the team’s leading scorers. And then there are promising younger players on the roster like junior LaQuan Byrd (15.4 ppg), sophomore Kevair Kennedy (6.6 ppg) and freshman Derrick Morton-Rivera (10.3 ppg), who are setting the foundation for what’s to come at Father Judge.

This year's group already has pushed Archbishop Ryan, last year’s PCL runner-up, to the brink, losing by five. Not to mention their convincing wins over Lansdale Catholic and Conwell-Egan.

But after Friday’s loss, the Crusaders are now facing a new challenge in their maturation process, bouncing back from defeat.

The process started Saturday with a 77-53 win over Council Rock South and continues Monday night back in the PCL against Devon Prep.

“The best thing that I told them about [Friday] is we play again [Saturday],” Roantree said. “We have an opportunity tomorrow… It's a chance to prepare for Devon [Prep] on Monday.”