City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The best program in Catholic League history found magic once again.

Facing an Archbishop Ryan squad desperate for its first-ever PCL championship, Roman Catholic’s group of new seniors and previously-untested underclassmen got it done anyways. It took four extra minutes, but the 34th title in Roman basketball history was not to be denied, the Cahillites taking home a 46-45 win over the Raiders in a Palestra classic on Monday night.

Kabe Goss played hero, hitting the game-winning shot, a pull-up jumper from the top of the key which dropped through as the buzzer sounded, setting off a celebration at the Cathedral of College Basketball like few others.

It was a rapid-fire ending which saw Ryan’s Ryan Everett seemingly play hero, knocking down a corner 3-pointer with six seconds left before Goss raced down the floor, the 5-foot-5 senior guard’s jumper over two Ryan defenders catching nothing but net. 

“It could have been anybody,” he said. “Today was just my night. I’m glad my guys trusted me with the ball, glad my coach trusted me with the ball in the last few seconds. 

“Coming across the court, I turned around and looked at the time, so I knew there wasn’t enough time to get anything, so I just had to trust myself and have confidence in myself.”

It’s the second consecutive Catholic League title for Roman Catholic and fourth for Cahillites head coach Chris McNesby, who won back-to-back titles in 2015-16 as well. This one was far from the program's most likely, with only two members of last year's rotation returning, McNesby having to rely on three seniors who played elsewhere a year ago plus a couple juniors and sophomores who were much deeper in the rotation a year ago.

And they're getting used to winning in the most dramatic of ways: last year’s championship was on the backs of an Xzayvier Brown buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send it to overtime. This year, the cardiac Cahillites did it again.

Even Brown, on the court afterwards, admitted Goss' shot one-upped his own.

“I said it last year, but it’s a one-in-a-lifetime shot, especially when the opportunity’s big,” junior forward Shareef Jackson said. “Seeing (Goss') shot go in was just mind-blowing, I can’t even put it into words.”

“This game is an all-timer at the Palestra,” McNesby said. “I don’t know how many game-winners there have been [...] I thought last year was good, and this one does that? Crazy.”

Jackson led the way for the winners with 16 points, adding six rebounds as the junior forward and son of former Roman standout NBA big man Marc Jackson went toe-to-toe with Georgetown-bound Thomas Sorber and more than held his own.

Goss, who missed time earlier this season with his second torn meniscus in of 2023, finished with 10 points in his final game in a Roman uniform, the Trenton High (N.J.) transfer ineligible for the PIAA playoffs. But he won’t be complaining in the slightest about the way his final shot felt, or all the videos currently going viral on Twitter of the buzzer-beater.

His buzzer-beater was the lead story on SportsCenter later on in the evening. 

“If we can find a way to put it on the refrigerator,” Goss said, “it’s going on the refrigerator.”

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Read More: Roman's Kabe Goss all about the smiles

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That was just the cap on a game which, while not high-scoring, didn’t lack for drama. 

Trailing by eight at halftime, Ryan battled back to tie it at 35 with just over four minutes left. Roman re-extended the gap at the line, getting two foul shots from Goss and one from Travis Reed (7 points) to make it a 38-35 game with 3:02 remaining in regulation. 

Both teams had moments they’d like to have back down the stretch. For Ryan, it was a missed layup and dunk, both within the final three minutes, both of which would have been critical buckets. Roman had a pair of missed foul shots with 54 seconds left and a one-point lead. 

It was after those misses that Ryan’s Darren Williams hit the night’s first biggest shot, a 3-pointer from the corner that put the Raiders up two with 20 seconds to play. But Roman answered back, a Jackson layup off a Goss feed tying it up with 2.1 seconds to play.

It was a battle of programs that couldn’t have had more different Catholic League championship resumes. Roman rolled in with 33 league titles under its belt, the Cahillites making regular trips to the Palestra, winning more this time of year than any other PCL squad. 

Ryan had only ever been to the league championship four times prior, its fifth time ending in yet another heartbreak for the Raiders and head coach Joe Zeglinski, a Ryan alum.

“You feel bad for Joey, and he’s built that program, he’s done such a helluva job, I have a lot of respect for him,” McNesby said. “The downside of that is someone loses a great game, it’s kind of rough.”

Though it was Sorber who came into Monday night the most-heralded big man in the Catholic League, winning co-MVP honors of the league this season, Jackson won the battle of the bigs early on, scoring 12 of his points in the first half.

Sorber held his own, finishing with a team-high 16 points, plus eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks for Ryan, which will face Imhotep in the District 12 5A championship later this week before advancing to the PIAA Tournament. Williams finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Raiders; Everett added eight points, including two 3-pointers, and senior wing Jaden Murray seven points, six rebounds and four assists.

When Jackson went to the bench with his second foul two minutes into the second quarter, it seemed like a prime opportunity for Ryan to take advantage. But Roman held strong without its starting center in the game, taking a 25-17 lead into the half.

He picked up two more fouls as the game went on, but was never off the court again. And he didn’t want to leave it afterwards, either.

“I was feeling amazing today, not going to lie,” Jackson said. “Feeling good coming into it, good in the middle of the game, and afterwards — you can’t really put a feeling on this.”

By Quarter
Roman: 12  |  13  |  10  |   5   |   6   ||  46
Ryan:     8   |   9   |  14  |   9   |   5   ||  45

Shooting
Roman: 16-44 FG (6-23 3PT), 8-9 FT
Ryan: 17-46 FG (5-19 3PT), 6-7 FT

Scoring
Roman: Shareef Jackson 16, Kabe Goss 10, Sammy Jackson 7, Travis Reed 6, Robert Cottrell 5, Hunter Johnson 2

Ryan: Thomas Sorber 16, Darren Williams 12, Ryan Everett 8, Jaden Murray 7