City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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UNIVERSITY CITY — There’s a reason the bleachers at the Palestra are filled one Monday night every February to watch a pair of high school basketball games. 

Those packed into the historic gym, which typically rises to an uncomfortable temperature as the night goes on, are there to see the insanity that unfolds when two groups of teenagers take the court in what will be the biggest game in many of their young lives

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia Catholic League boys and girls championships delivered just that — and more.

After three total overtimes, a pair of last-second game-tying shots, two go-ahead threes, mixed in with crowd roars, tense timeouts and anxiety that crept into even the neutral observers, an incomparable night of basketball ended when Roman Catholic senior Kabe Goss delivered the Cahillites a second straight PCL title with a walk-off winner in overtime for a 46-45 win over Archbishop Ryan.

“It’s probably one of the best moments I got to experience,” Roman senior Hunter Johnson said. “It was a great game. The atmosphere was crazy. The crowd, the fans, everybody was amazing. And then at the end, my guy got it done. That’s all you can wish for at the end of the day."

The Roman Catholic student section celebrates during Monday's Catholic League championship against Archbishop Ryan at the Palestra. (Photo: Gavin Bethell/CoBL)

Goss’ title-game shot followed a double overtime thriller between Archbishop Wood and Archbishop Carroll’s girls teams — a Vikings 54-52 double overtime win despite despite a game tying shot by Carroll’s Abbie McFillin late in the first overtime and a last-second attempt by Brooke Wilson at the buzzer, who had pulled her team within one with a clutch shot moments prior.

There were multiple players who looked like they stepped into the role of hero in the boys game. First, Ryan senior Darren Williams put the Raiders up with 33 seconds left in regulation before Goss dished to junior Shareef Jackson to tie the game with 2.1 ticks on the clock and send it to overtime. 

Then Ryan senior Ryan Everett appeared to hit the game-winner in the closing moments of overtime before Goss came down and pulled up from the foul line to deliver his team the PCL championship— and earn both seniors a shout out on SportsCenter and a few other nightly news programs.

That’s the draw of the special night of hoops. You never know who the hero will be or which moment will be the one that gets remembered.

“It could have been anybody,” said Goss, who didn’t score a point in last week’s semifinal win over Judge. “There’s a lot of reps going into that jump shot. I’m just happy it was me today.”

The standard was set high for Monday’s title games. 

How could the four teams follow a memorable championship night in 2023 when Lansdale Catholic’s Olivia Boccella hit a shot from NBA range to deliver her team the first Catholic League title in program history before Roman’s Xzayvier Brown banked in a shot from halfcourt at the buzzer to give his team a chance to win in OT?

Somehow they did. Brown, who was in attendance, was happy to concede that himself.

“His shot was way better,” Brown said of Goss. “The situation and everything. I liked that shot way better, and I love his game.”

Those who left the Palestra trying to wrap their head around what they’d just witnessed will be comforted in knowing they were witnesses to some history.

Monday marked the first time the Catholic League boys championship went to overtime in back-to-back seasons since 1967 and 1968. Goss’ buzzer-beater winner was the first since Neumann-Goretti’s DJ Rivera In 2006 (shout out to Rich Flanagan for digging up that one). There have been a handful of game tying shots before the horn and winners in the last seconds. However Dennis Bohn’s putback for North Catholic in a double overtime thriller is the only other walk-off game-winner.

The double-overtime thriller is the first time the Catholic League girls have needed a second extra period to their champion. Despite eight previous boys overtime games and five previously on the girls side, the two games had never both gone into extra periods before — let alone in the same building.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” Wood senior Alexa Windish said. “You don’t get here often, it’s such a cool experience and this environment is crazy, so to get here and win, it’s something we all talked about for a very long time.”

Part of the allure is certainly how much it means to the kids. Johnson sat in disbelief prior to the postgame press conference starting that championship hubcap next to him.

The Cathedral of College Basketball will be filled once again next February to watch a new group of kids try to leave their mark on the city’s hoops tradition. There will be tears, there will be cheers and you can almost guarantee there will be something new someone in the building will remember forever.

“It’s a historical building. You can’t really describe it,” Brown said. “Every year, everybody from the city in Philly or wherever comes to watch this one game and the girls game too. It’s just crazy moments like these.”