City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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UNIVERSITY CITY — Roman Catholic coach Chris McNesby knows Xzayvier Brown has a future in coaching. So it was no surprise when McNesby and his St. Joe’s-bound guard were on the same page with the play selection during a timeout late in Wednesday’s Catholic League semifinal at the Palestra.

“It was pretty close or I said it, and he said, ‘Yep, that’s the one,’” McNesby recalled of the postgame huddle.

Holding a two-point lead over Archbishop Wood, the Cahillites ran a play that resulted in Brown finishing a backdoor cut with a layup off a feed from future Hawks’ teammate Anthony Finkley.

A few possessions later, Roman was up by eight before finishing off a 66-59 victory over the Vikings to book a trip to next Monday’s PCL title game against Neumann-Goretti.

Brown scored 22 to lead Roman in the win and classmate Jermai Stewart-Herring added 13, helping seal the victory with a two-handed slam late. Junior Jalil Bethea led Wood with 22 points.

“I’ve been to the final four every year, and now this is kind of my team with the help of some other guys,” Brown said. 

Wood trailed 15-12 after a quarter of play before taking a 36-25 lead with 1:50 left in the first half on a three by sophomore Mike Green followed by a pair of free throws by Bethea. Sophomore guard Milan Dean had 11 of his 16 in the quarter to help the Vikings take control.

However, the Cahillites trimmed the deficit down to four, 36-32, by the end of the half with seven unanswered, capped by a jumper from Brown.

The late first-half Roman surge continued into the third quarter as RC scored the first nine points of the second half. Roman senior Erik Oliver-Bush had the first four, including an emphatic slam, before Brown knocked down a stepback triple and Stewart-Herring added two to give the Cahillites a 41-36 lead less than three minutes after the break.

“We were down and then we started the half on a 9-0 run,” Brown said. “Going into halftime, we had a lot of trouble, and we knew we were down but we didn't play good. Our goal was to try and keep Bethea under his average, and he was on his way to get there, so it was like, 'Let's go and play defense.'"

After going 11-of-16 from the field in the first half, Wood missed its first seven shots of the third. A triple by Gus Salem slowed the Roman run and the Vikings were back within one, 47-46 heading to the fourth. The Cahillites grabbed a 54-48 lead early in the fourth on a bucket by Brown, but Wood came right back, answering with six unanswered to tie the game with 4:14 to go on an and-one by Josh Reed. 

Wednesday’s contest was a far cry from the 77-56 Roman win over Wood back on Jan. 3 to open league play that saw the Cahillites sprint past the Vikings in the second half.

“We just matured,” Bethea said. “Our first game we played them, we weren’t as mature as we are now. I guess we just learned from the last time we played them and put that into the way we lead the game.”

Xzayvier Brown (1) goes up for a bucket while Wood's Gus Salem defends. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

That was the last tie of the game, however. Roman sophomore forward Shareef Jackson (8-0) answered Reed’s big play with a bucket. His basket started an 8-0 run.

“It was really important in the long run just because this game was a lot of up and downs, back-and-forth,” Jackson said. 

“If they score, just go back twice as hard, try to make sure you get a point in as well.”

Neither team scored for about two minutes until McNesby called timeout and ran the play for Brown. The bucket, assisted by Finkley, put RC ahead 58-54 with a minute and change remaining.

“I’ve been playing with Ant since fourth grade,” Brown said. “That just shows our chemistry.”

Roman junior Robert Cottrell, who finished with 10 points, hit a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch and a dunk by Stewart-Herring with 43 seconds left extended the lead to 62-54 and sent his teammates and the roommate student section into a frenzy, including Brown who leaped in the air with Stewart-Herring as he jammed the ball.

“I didn’t even know I did that," Brown said. "It’s emotions. It’s my last year. I might have more emotions since it’s my senior year."

The Vikings hope its not their final encounter with Roman. They will play for District 12’s third 6A spot in states against the Public League’s second-best 6A squad.

“I would love to play them again because it’s kind of hard to beat a team three times,” Bethea said. “It’s good playing with the guys this season, so I’m looking forward to going to states with these teammates that I have.”

By Quarter
Wood:   12   |  24  |   10   |   13   ||  59
Roman:  15   |  17  |   13   |   19   ||  66

Shooting
Wood: 18-of-38 (8-for-14), 15-of-21 FT
Roman: 25-of-56 (3-for-13), 13-for-17 FT

Scoring
Wood: Jalil Bethea 22, Milan Dean 16, Josh reed 12, Carson Howard 6

Roman: Xzayvier Brown 22, Jermai Stewart-Herring 13, Bob Cottrell 10, Shareef Jackson 8, Erik Oliver-Bush 6, Anthony Finkley 5.