City of Basketball Love

Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1)
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Roman Catholic did not have the momentum it desired heading into the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs. Losing two of their last four games, falling to the hands of Neumann-Goretti and St. Joe’s Prep, the Cahillites had to do some real soul-searching to get back on track.

The pair of losses put a blemish on an otherwise perfect Catholic League record as they cruised to a 19-3 overall record. However, with the biggest games still to come, the Cahillites had to wipe away their recent disappointing performances and get back to the impressive team they proved to be early on in the season. 

“We were a really good defensive team like early in December and January, and we kinda fell off,” senior guard Xzayvier Brown said. “Getting our identity back was our main focus.”

There were no issues with the team on either side of the ball during their quarterfinal matchup with Cardinal O’Hara on Friday night at Holy Family. The Cahillites produced a convincing performance and secured 76-52 to advance to the Wednesday night semifinals at the Palestra.

From the opening tip they were locked in on both sides of the ball. Roman Catholic forced five turnovers in the first six minutes and jumped out to a double-digit lead early in the second quarter. There was no looking back from here as they held a wire-to-wire lead and had an answer for each adjustment O’Hara attempted. 

“The guys really locked in,” head coach Chris McNesby said. “All week we talked about (Izaiah) Pasha and how good of a player he is. Erik Oliver-Bush had a great assignment on him, Anthony Fickley guarded him at times, it was a team effort. But those guys were really really locked in on that.”

O’Hara is no pushover and still competed until the final whistle. Pasha, an Iona commit, ended the matchup with 17 points. Aasim ‘Flash’ Burton led Cardinal O’Hara in scoring with 19 points of his own. However, this backcourt duo and the rest of the O’Hara roster were unable to do enough to keep up with Roman Catholic. 

Early in the game, O’Hara paid notable attention to sophomore forward Shareef Jackson and was quick to double whenever he touched the ball. Jackson punished O’Hara for the excessive attention and ended the matchup with nine points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks 

“I mean, teams are doing that to him,” McNesby said. “I think we know how to play against that now. It happened a lot this year so Shareef does a good job of making good plays out of it.”

The Lions shifted to a full-court trap in the second half in an attempt to create some turnovers of their own. The Cahillites broke the pressure with ease and it led to a stretch of easy fast-break baskets and rim-rocking alley-oops that woke the crowd up and broke the game further open.

“We got guards,” McNesby said. “They’re smart. They know how to play out of that. They share the ball, they always have their heads up so it just kinda worked out.”

At the heart of this was the play of Brown who played the biggest role in orchestrating the offense. He finished with 19 points and five assists in the wire-to-wire victory. 

Jermai Stewart-Herring led Roman Catholic in scoring with 20 points while shooting an efficient 9-11 from inside the 3-point arc. Oliver-Bush, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, also added 17 points of his own in addition to the impactful defense. Both are in their first PCL playoffs; Stewart-Herring was at St. Elizabeth (Del.) last year and Oliver-Bush at Trenton Catholic (N.J.).

This marked the second victory for Roman Catholic over O’Hara this season as they secured a 59-41 win on January 6. Despite the positive result, the Cahillites were not overconfident heading into this matchup with Brown even saying it increased their motivation. 

“We were motivated because we knew we didn’t play our best,” the 6-foot-2 guard said of the regular season win. “We won at their place and we pulled it out but we just knew that we didn’t play to our fullest ability.”

It will be tough for the team to nitpick much of their performance in this one as the wire-to-wire victory should serve as a statement for their intentions in the PCL playoffs. The mindset shift within the team has been a key point of late for Roman Catholic. 

“For the seniors it made them realize this is kinda it,” McNesby said. “So they’ve really kinda locked in.”

Their focus will now shift towards another team they got the upper hand on in the regular season. Roman Catholic will face off with Archbishop Wood who entered the PCL playoffs with the 4th seed. The Cahillites secured a 77-56 victory over Wood when they faced off during the regular season, but they will be sure not to overlook the rematch. 

“They’re a good team with a lot of young players and a lot of energy,” Brown said of Archbishop Wood. “It’s hard to beat a team twice and we beat them in the regular season. But that doesn’t mean anything right now.”

The convincing victory over O’Hara is a massive step forward for the program and they will look to carry this momentum into the Wednesday night matchup. Getting back to their identity was the key for the team in this victory and they will look to build off this in the semifinal. 

“It’s gonna be another great game,” McNesby said. “They’re a great team with good players. So it's gonna be another Catholic League war.”

By Quarter:
RC:  20  |  14  |  20  |  22  ||  76
CO:  12  |  11  |   6   |  23  ||  52

Shooting:
RC: 27-52 FGA (7-22 3PA), 15-17 FTA
CO: 20-45 FGA (8-23 3PA), 4-6 FTA

Scoring
RC: Stewart-Herring 20, Brown 19, Oliver-Bush 17, Jackson 9, Finkley 6, Cottrell 5

CO: Burton 19, Pasha 17, Coulanges 7, McGuinn 6, Cervellero 3