City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

UNIVERSITY CITY — Xzayvier Brown took his time at the top of the ladder Monday night at the Palestra.

Wearing a grin that might not wear off until next week, the Roman Catholic senior encouraged the ‘MVP’ chants from the crowd surrounding him and took multiple scans around the hallowed gym before finally cutting off his piece of the net. 

Then Brown flashed one last ‘X’ with his arms and made his descent down the steps where the celebration continued.

“That was his moment,” Roman Catholic coach Chris McNesby said.

One couldn’t blame Brown for savoring every last second of it. 

He had the night basketball players dream of even if not long before that ladder climb it felt like a “nightmare.”

With six seconds left in regulation, Brown dribbled the length of the court before banking in a three at the buzzer to send Monday night’s Philadelphia Catholic League title game into overtime and complete a six-point comeback with less than 20 seconds remaining.

Three minutes and 57 seconds of game time later he was knocking down a pair of free throws in OT to put away a 57-52 title-game victory, Roman’s first since 2019.

“No, I didn’t dream of being down five with a minute left. I just dream of winning, but shoot I didn’t think it was ever going to be like that,” Brown said.

Roman Catholic senior guard Xzayvier Brown takes a moment on top of the ladder following Monday night's PCL championship win over Neumann-Goretti at the Palestra. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

While he never quite envisioned the way the events transpired Monday night, Brown always pictured himself on that stage in a purple and gold uniform, hoisting a PCL trophy, climbing a ladder to cut down a piece of the net. 

The significance was apparent as he unleashed one final roar following his clinching free throws and beamed from ear-to-ear as he buzzed around the court for photos and hugs when the mosh pit from the Roman student section cleared after the game.

“X was here, he told me he was here when Tony Carr was playing, he came down and watched and right away he wants to be a part of that,” McNesby said. 

Brown arrived at Roman Catholic in 2019-20 after the Cahillites won four PCL titles in a five-year stretch, starting during Carr’s junior season in 2015 and concluding with back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 that Brown’s future St. Joe’s teammate Lynn Greer III played a big role on, including the winning assist in the final seconds of the 2018 title game. 

As a freshman at Roman, Brown shared the floor with current Detroit Piston Jalen Duren and LSU player Justice Williams. Their chance for a three-peat ended at the hands of Neumann-Goretti in the PCL title game — a recurring theme during Brown’s career that looked ready to repeat itself Monday night until his shot banked in at the buzzer.

Brown followed the lead of Daniel Skillings and Khalil Farmer as a sophomore, the group falling to Wood this time in the PCL title game. With those three back, Roman felt it had a chance to finally break through last season, but there was Neumann standing in the way again, handing them a two-point loss in the semifinals and leaving Brown just one last shot for a PCL championship in his senior season.

“I’ve been playing with him for three years, I’ve been watching him…going to different schools and seeing it,” said Roman senior and Brown’s AAU teammate Anthony Finkley, who will head to St. Joe’s with Brown next season. “He’s been around winning people, so I mean, it was going to eventually take place.”

(Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Following last Wednesday’s semifinal victory over Archbishop Wood, Brown spoke about finally becoming ‘the guy’ for this Roman team. Following in the footsteps of Duren and Williams and then last season’s PCL MVP Skillings during his sophomore and junior season, Brown finally had the reins of the program handed to him as a senior.

The two-time first team All-Philadelphia Catholic League guard was going to do everything possible to ensure it ended with a PCL title.

“I do feel like this is my last chance and I want to end the last run on my own,” Brown said after his 22-point performance against Wood last week. “I don’t want to let anyone end it for me.”

Brown got his wish Monday night at the Palestra — the ball and the fate of his team both in his hands late. 

Neumann-Goretti led 48-42 with 19.5 seconds left before Brown was fouled on a 3-point shot and pulled the Cahillites within three. The Saints missed the front end of a one-an-one with 12.8 seconds left and Brown came down court and pulled up from the right wing, his first heroic shot attempt coming up short.

After two more missed Neumann free throws with 6.1 seconds left, Roman senior Erik Oliver-Bush grabbed a rebound and put the ball back in Brown’s hands. He used a few dribbles and an in-and-out move to give himself some space before launching from a few feet beyond the top of the key and banking in the shot of his life? Wait, no career? Season?

“No, life,” Brown assured.

“There’s not another deserving player to be in that moment, to make that shot,” McNesby said. “Four-year guy at Roman, has been through it all, around school everyone loves him, great student, great ambassador for the program, he embodies what Roman Catholic basketball player should be, and to have him make that shot, to me he deserved it.”

It's a moment that will be talked a bout for a long, long time.

“That ain’t really my job to say legacy, but I just try to put the work in, just trust in my teammates and my coaches,” Brown said. “If they want to say it’s a legacy that I left or whatever [they can]. I just think I left as a champ, so you can’t really say too much (to) that.”