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Catholic League Playoffs: Boys Quarterfinal Preview (Feb. 17, 2023)

02/16/2023, 1:45am EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

Archbishop Carroll has come close to pulling off some big upsets in the Catholic League quarterfinals under Francis Bowe.

In Bowe’s first year on the Carroll sidelines, 2018-19, the seventh-seeded Patriots took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter at No. 2 seed La Salle, only to suffer — according to hoops historian Ted Silary — the largest come-from-behind-after-three-quarters victory in PCL quarterfinal history as the Explorers won 49-47. The following year, just ahead of the pandemic, Carroll almost pulled the 8-1 upset at Archbishop Wood, the Vikings taking advantage of a backcourt violation late in regulation to force overtime and win 82-78 in the extra session.

If a couple plays go a couple different ways, it’s possible that Bowe wouldn’t be aiming for his first trip to the Palestra, but his third. Now once again the No. 8 seed and going on the road to face the Catholic League regular-season champs, Neumann-Goretti, in the quarterfinals on Friday, Bowe has some history to lean on.

“I think it’s going to be a good message to (the players) tomorrow in practice,” Bowe said. “It’s anything can happen; one deflection away, one backcourt step away and maybe you’re going to the Palestra.”

Carroll’s back in the quarterfinals after dispatching Father Judge 66-61 in the opening round on Wednesday night, getting balanced scoring led by senior guard Dean Coleman-Newsome’s 17 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Ian Williams (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) also finished in double figures for Judge in a game where all seven Carroll players who saw time scored at least six points, the Patriots going 23-of-43 from the floor and 8-of-18 from the 3-point arc.

Coleman-Newsome was a freshman starter when Carroll lost to Wood, coming up with 11 rebounds in the overtime defeat. The Catholic League didn’t hold a playoffs in 2021, and Carroll lost to Devon Prep in the first round a year ago.

That makes this the last chance for Coleman-Newsome and fellow seniors Blake Deegan and Seamus Rogers to play in the Palestra, the historic arena on Penn’s campus which hosts the boys’ semifinals and boys’ and girls championships each February.

“Since the beginning of the season, that’s been our goal, the Palestra,” Coleman-Newsome said. “We feel like we can make it there [...]  just play our game, go in there confident, like we can win the game, and we’ll try to get to the Palestra.”

Friday night’s quarterfinals also have No. 2 Roman Catholic hosting No. 7 Cardinal O’Hara at Holy Family, No. 3 Archbishop Ryan hosting No. 6 West Catholic and No. 4 Archbishop Wood hosting No. 5 St. Joseph’s Prep. All four games will tip at 7 PM.

The Patriots have their work cut out for them in Neumann-Goretti, which went 12-1 in the league to capture the No. 1 seed yet again under longtime head coach Carl Arrigale, who long ago established himself as a Catholic League legend and is now the league’s all-time leader in championships (12). 

Even without Baylor commit Robert Wright III, Neumann-Goretti handed Carroll a 72-61 defeat at Carroll a couple weeks back. Senior forward Sultan Adewale went for 24 points and 12 rebounds, while juniors Amir Williams (16 points) and Khaafiq Myers (12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) also played well; all three are Division I recruits. Adewale, a skilled and muscular 6-8 senior forward, especially presents a problem for a Carroll squad that doesn’t have anybody bigger than the 6-5 Deegan in its top eight. 

Throw Wright III, an uber-talented 6-0 junior lead guard, back into the mix, and they’re yet another league and state champion favorite coming out of South Philly. Carroll will need big games from Coleman-Newsome, sophomore guard Jake West and continued strong play from Williams, plus shot-making, defense and rebounding from the rest of the roster, to pull the upset.

“We don’t have a great scout on them because they didn't have Robert,” Bowe said. “How will they attack us, how will they play us? I know how we can look at film, study film at how they did, but now you put in a player of the year type candidate on the floor, it changes the whole dynamic so we’re kinda coming in there like alright, here are the adjustments that we have to do. And we’re in South Philly, and we’re going against Carl.

“It’s an uphill battle, and these kids are ready for the challenge.”

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2) Roman Catholic vs. 7) Cardinal O’Hara
7 PM, Holy Family


Flash Burton (above) and Cardinal O'Hara have won seven of nine entering the postseason. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Roman Catholic has been a mainstay in the Catholic League semifinals under Chris McNesby, and the Cahillites have a 59-41 win at O’Hara from back in early January to suggest they’re on their way yet again. But O’Hara has continually improved over the course of the season, losing by only a point to Neumann-Goretti on Feb. 6 and then beating St. Joe’s Prep on Feb. 12, as well as Bonner in the first round, to head into the quarterfinals having won seven of its last nine. 

O’Hara, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Ryan Nemetz, has a star wing in Iona-bound senior Izaiah Pasha, a 6-5 do-it-all guard, but Pasha’s really benefited from the overall emergence of his supporting cast. Junior forward Pearse McGuinn, a 6-7 stretch-’4’, has a productive inside-out game; Josh Coulanges, a 6-1 senior guard, has been consistently scoring in double figures; Aasim ‘Flash’ Burton, a 6-2 junior point guard, has multiple Division I offers; Christian Cervellero, a 6-1 senior guard, is a quality 3-point shooter and passer who’s back after missing three weeks with a broken bone in his arm; off the bench, 6-2 junior Miles Johnson, 6-0 junior Anthony Hobbs and 6-1 senior Ethan Schulz see minutes.

Roman comes in having lost two of its last four games, at Neumann-Goretti and St. Joe’s Prep, but the Cahillites had won 15 straight before then, and McNesby has plenty of talent at his disposal, though only so much PCL playoff experience. Senior point guard Xzayvier Brown has the majority of that experience, considering he was a starter when the Cahillites made it to the championship game in 2020, and to the semifinals last year; four of the six players who scored for Roman in last year’s semifinal loss are no longer at the school, only Brown and sophomore Shareef Jackson, who has a much larger role, are back. New to the program are seniors Jermai Stewart-Herring and Erik Oliver-Bush and junior Bob Cottrell, while senior Anthony Finkley transferred in early last season and sat out most of the year. Finkley (6-7) and Jackson (6-7) will present a challenge for McGuinn and Pasha, but the real matchup to watch will be on the wings, with Stewart-Herring and Oliver-Bush’s production against Coulanges and Burton’s going to be crucial.

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3) Archbishop Ryan vs. 6) West Catholic
7 PM, Archbishop Ryan


Darren Williams (above) and Archbishop Ryan are on a roll entering the playoffs. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

It’s hard to believe that this is a quarterfinal, because this is a high-level game; when it was played at West on Feb. 3, Ryan beat West 63-61 in overtime, and it wouldn’t surprise if the return matchup needs extra time as well. This is a matchup between two young-but-proven coaches in Ryan’s Joe Zeglinski and West’s Miguel Bocachica, both of whom have molded their programs into exactly what they want in their stints at their respective programs, and both have teams that not only could advance but win the whole league. Ryan enters having won eight of its last nine, losing only by two at Neumann-Goretti; West has won six of its last eight, losing to Ryan and by five to Roman. 

Ryan starts with the man in the middle, junior forward Thomas Sorber, a First Team All-PCL Selection and recent Villanova offeree, who’s going from a solid young forward to a real force in his second year at Ryan. The 6-9 post has great hands and feet and much-improved endurance to go along with good physicality and ability to score from the mid-range and closer. Senior guard Michael Zaire Paris has been great as a sparkplug two-way guard, while junior Darren Williams, a 6-4 lefty with Division I offers, continues to improve; 6-6 wing Jaden Murray gives them length and bounce on the wing and 6-3 junior Rocco Morabito has fit right into Ryan’s toughness in his first year after coming in from Shipley. 

West Catholic is led by the senior duo of Zion Stanford (Temple) and Adam ‘Budd’ Clark (Coppin State), the two future Division I players an awful lot of fun to watch at the high school level. Clark has been playing consistently high-level ball since the summer after his sophomore year, the 5-10 guard uber-confident with the ball in his hands, while the 6-4 Stanford can stroke 3s or play bully ball around the rim with equal measure. Senior guard Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui gives them more scoring, as does senior guard Amyr Walker, and MJ Branker provides length and rebounding, plus more scoring, on the wing. Both teams are heavily reliant on their starting five and also like to play uptempo and physical, so whichever team best manages its foul situation and plays smart defense is likely to come out on top.

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4) Archbishop Wood vs. 5) St. Joseph’s Prep
7 PM, Archbishop Wood


Jalil Bethea (above) won the Catholic League MVP award as a junior. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

These two played on Feb. 6, with Wood beat Prep 77-63 at Prep; now the Hawks will hope to repay the Vikings in kind to make it back to the Palestra for the first time since 2018, while Wood is also aiming to return after missing out last season, meaning none of the Wood rotation has been there before, even if John Mosco has had plenty of success there. This should be a high-scoring affair, as both teams can really turn it up offensively, while neither are so suffocating defensively as to be too disruptive. 

Prep’s perhaps a year ahead of schedule, Jason Harrigan without a senior in his rotation, but all of his sophomores and juniors have taken significant steps forward a year ago. Perhaps none moreso than junior forward Tristen Guillouette, the 6-9 post making big strides in his conditioning, passing ability, and overall impact, with a developing face-up game as well. Sophomore Jaron McKie might have the highest ceiling on the team, the 6-4 sharpshooter greatly improved off the bounce, while 6-2 junior Jalen Harper has emerged as a Division I prospect; junior Matt Gorman and sophomores Jordan Ellerbee and Olin Chamberlain Jr. have all been double-figure scorers who can handle the ball, shoot from outside, and play well in Harrigan’s system.

Wood has two seniors of its own but they’re useful ones in 6-8 senior Carson Howard, who’s really filled his role this year as an energy/rebounder/put-back specialist, and 6-3 Gus Salem, who moved to Pennsylvania from California last summer and is in his first PCL playoffs. Junior guard Jalil Bethea, a 6-4 guard who’s emerged as a clear top-100 prospect in his class, is the newly-crowned PCL MVP, and he’s got help from classmate Josh Reed, plus sophomore talents Milan Dean Jr. and Deuce Maxey in the backcourt. Whoever wins that frontcourt battle between Howard and Guillouette — and if Prep can find a way to slow down Bethea — will be the keys to watch.


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