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PIAA 3A: West Catholic's Bocachica back in Hershey as head coach

03/23/2023, 2:15pm EDT
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Miguel Bocachica is pretty familiar with the sidelines at the Giant Center. The building has treated him well.

Twice as an assistant at Imhotep, Bocachica made the trip to Hershey, twice leaving with state titles. When he left to take the West Catholic head coaching position in 2018, he knew he’d get back, he just didn’t know when.

The time has arrived for Bocachica and the Burrs.

In his fifth year at West Catholic, Bocachica will lead his program into the PIAA Class 3A championship for the first time as they face District 7 champion Deer Lakes on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I first got here,” Bocachica said. “A lot of the things we’ve accomplished or have gone through, I've kind of just learned on the fly.

"But, you know, I'm a firm believer that hard work pays off. My guys work extremely hard. I'm the guy that just opens the gym. But I knew at some point we would have some type of success. When it would come or how it would come, I didn’t know. I'm just blessed and thankful to be at this point.”


West Catholic's Miguel Bocachica won two state titles as an assistant at Imhotep and now looks for his first as head coach with the Burrs. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Bocachica spent three seasons as an assistant at Imhotep where he helped the Panthers to state championships in 2017 and 2018 — part of now eight total titles for coach Andre Noble’s program — and cut his teeth as a coach.

He departed for the head coaching gig at West Catholic in 2018 and began building a winner of his own. The Burrs went from a squad that went 6-17 overall and 3-11 in the PCL in his first season to a consistent PCL contender and one now 32 minutes away from being state champions.

“Miguel works so so hard, and he's a really good coach,” Noble said. “And just to see his growth has been awesome and to see what he's done with that program like from when he got the job to where it is today, how he's built it, you know, he's generally built it from the ground up with ninth graders growing, going through the program as he saw us do and he did with us here as an assistant here. So it's cool to see what he's done, and how they play hard, they compete for him. I’m just really happy for him.”

Noble built Imhotep from the ground up, starting the program in 2001-02 and eventually turning it into one consistently ranked among the top teams in the country. The Panthers will play for their own state championship, Friday night against Exeter Township.

West Catholic’s program has a storied tradition of its own but most of that winning dates way, way back. The Burrs captured the program’s first city title since 1953 when they won the District 12-3A championship earlier this season.

District 12’s programs didn’t compete in the state tournament until 2008-09. The Burrs hadn’t been past the quarterfinal round of states before this season. In their 14th season eligible for the state playoffs, they have the chance to add some more hardware and history on Saturday.

“To go to a state championship and potentially win a state championship, that's something that no one who's ever attended West Catholic, student-athlete or not, has ever witnessed or seen,” Bocachica said. “So you know, it's definitely something special, definitely something to look forward to for Burrs all around the world.”

Bocachica’s group is led by seniors Adam “Budd” Clark, a Division I-level guard who recently decommitted from Coppin State, and Zion Stanford, a 6-5 wing/forward committed to Temple. Fellow seniors Amyr Walker and MJ Branker are key pieces as well.

Sophomore wing Isaac Cole is a promising young piece who's started at times this season alongside the veteran group. Sophomore point guard Micah Waters Jr. hit a big shot in a semifinal win over Trinity. Junior wing Tariq Jennings, who started in the semifinals, makes the most of his minutes on the floor and freshman 6-6 forward Kingston Wheatley has had a few big plays during the postseason as well.

“It’s a very relentless group, a group that cares about each other and a group that can get to the next play,” Bocachica said. “You know, I'm not always the easiest guy to play for. This team, they look me in the eye, they say okay, and they keep it moving.”

There are traits he’s carried with him to West Philly from his time under Noble.

“I mean, Imhotep has always been my blueprint,” Bocachica said. “It's always been about being tough. It's always been about being together, playing fast, playing hard. So that's the formula in a nutshell. You know, for us at West Catholic, we simplified to playing extremely hard, and sharing the ball like that’s our formula and we go from there.

“Imhotep just gave me the experience and confidence I needed, being a part of that staff and preparing against some of the highest level of competition in the country and not only just preparing against them but competing and winning. … I’m just thankful for Brother Andre and how hands on he allowed me to be when I was there.”

It’s a mutual feeling.

“We talk about basketball all the time, so I’m sure there are some things that he would say he does that he’s got from this program, and there’s some things from his time here that he helped make our program better,” Noble said.

Noble hasn’t had too many members of his staff depart over the years. Assistant Stan Williams and Floyd Butler have been on Imhotep’s bench for more than a decade.

Tahar Sutton is now an assistant men’s basketball coach at Quinnipiac University. Former player Demar Morine is an assistant at St. John’s College (D.C.) Assistant Kevin Stewart took over at his alma mater Academy Park for a stint, but he’s back on the Panthers bench again.

Watching Bocachica build a program of his own in the city, is a unique experience Noble has enjoyed.

“It’s been cool to see him get here, especially when they had some bumps early and he always felt that they were gonna get where they go,” Noble said. “He never doubted that. … He was always steadfast that it was gonna turn the way he wanted it to and here we are.”

District 7 champion Deer Lakes, which is also making its first state title game experience, stands in the Burrs’ path of a state title — the first in program history and the first for Bocachica as head coach. Senior guard Bryce Robson is the team's top scorer, while junior guard Billy Schaeffer led the team in the semifinal win over Penn Cambria.

Noble, who is chasing his ninth state title on Friday won’t be able to attend in person as he’s headed to Houston on Saturday to watch Imhotep senior Justin Edwards play in the McDonald’s All-American game. He said you can guarantee he’ll be watching on the stream.

It’s been five years since Bocachica was back on those sidelines at the Giant Center. While he knows it will be different, he hopes at least one thing will be the same: getting to walk away with a state championship.

“I don't know what it's gonna be like,” Bocachica said. “I haven’t had that feeling as a head coach. But, I mean, I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited. I'm really happy for my guys to experience that so we'll see, we'll see.

“I'm not the nervous kind. But I think of all our firsts. It's been like the first time this happened the first time that happened. I think this is the biggest one. It's the biggest one because we don't have one of these. Never been to one of these, don't have one of these. So gotta handle business. And you know, hopefully we get it done and it'll be the first time forever.”


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