City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA, PA — A basketball court is one of the few places in the world Bobby Cottrell can find solitude, let his mind go somewhere. The explosive Roman Catholic 5-foot-10 senior guard finds a raucous gym, like the one at Holy Family University on Sunday when the Cahillites hosted Catholic League rival Neumann-Goretti, a sanctuary.

When he’s not playing basketball, he still carries the visceral pain of his mother Jennifer’s sudden death at the age of 46 on December 28. He likes to think he can still hear her voice, urging him on, the way she did when she would sit courtside at his games.

Jennifer would have loved Bobby’s game on Sunday, when he scored a season-high 20 points in lifting Roman to an impressive 56-34 victory over previously undefeated Neumann-Goretti.

Roman moved to 17-1 overall and 8-1 in the Catholic League, while the Saints saw their 16-game winning streak to open the season snapped, falling to 16-1 and 7-1 in the league.

The last month has been a trying time for Cottrell, who has not only been a source of strength for his team on the court, but off the court at well.

“Bobby has been a great leader for us, and how he carries himself, following the example of players like Xzayvier Brown before him,” Roman coach Chris McNesby said. “In the beginning of the season, he came off the bench for us, and there were no issues there. He’s been starting for a while now. He’s been great.

“Bobby is such a tough, strong mentally kid. He is very independent, and I think Roman has been very good for him. At a young age, he has had to grow up very quickly.”

Cottrell has been taking his mother’s loss gradually. Games like Sunday are a huge help.

“I carry a picture of my mom on my phone everywhere, and playing basketball takes my mom off of it, her and my dad,” said Cottrell, who lost his father when he was 10. “There is a drive there. I know when I’m playing, I can just let go and I don’t have to think about it. I’m getting better day by day. Playing basketball lets my mind get away, where I don’t have to think about it.

“My mom was just loud at all my games. I could always hear her.”

Neumann-Goretti, playing without Hofstra-bound Amir Williams, stayed with the Cahillites for a quarter, leading 7-5 with 3:34 left in the first frame.

Then it became Roman’s show.

The Cahillites broke open what had been a close game in the second quarter, when Roman sophomore Sammy Jackson, playing in place of his injured brother Shareef, went off scoring 11 points. The Cahillites turned a 12-11 lead into a 26-13 edge—with Sammy scoring 13 of the Roman’s 26 points.

Neumann-Goretti shot a collective 6 of 24 at halftime, while the Cahillites were 13 of 31. But it was Sammy that got Roman going. In one one-minute, 2-second stretch, Sammy scored eight-straight points, moving from a 18-13 lead to 26-13 with 4:50 left in half.

“That was my first time getting on a role like this,” said Sammy, who finished with 13. “We wanted to bring the energy, and that was my goal, to bring the energy. I knew I was helping my team. I had to fill in what we were missing with my brother out.”

When Neumann-Goretti got within 35-25 with 4:41 left in the third quarter, it was Cottrell’s three that stamped out the threat.

“This was all about energy and mentality and all said to each other after the game in the locker room that we all played selfish,” said Neumann-Goretti’s Larenzo Jerkins, who finished with a team-high 12 for the Saints. “We didn’t have energy and we just got beat mentally. They beat us at our own game. We play a fast-paced game.

“We have to learn from our mistakes and keep pushing. I would love to see them again. It is a game we want to return to again, they didn’t see who we really are. We have to stay mentally focused. We don’t have a center, we have to play fast-paced to win these games.”

By Quarter

Neumann-Goretti (16-1/7-1 Catholic League):  11 | 8 |  11  | 4  ||  34

Roman Catholic (17-1/8-1):  12 | 20 |  11  |  13 ||  56

Scoring

Neumann-Goretti: Larenzo Jerkins 12, Keon Long-Mtume 9, DeShaun Yates 5, Torrey Brooks 4, Stephon Ashley-Wright 4.

Roman Catholic: Robert Cottrell 20, Sammy Jackson 13, Travis Reed 9, Sebastian Edwards 8, Hunter Johnson 4, CJ Miller 2.

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.