City of Basketball Love

By CoBL Staff (@hooplove215
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The dust has settled on Week 2 of the annual two-weekend hoopfest that is Philly Live 2025 with 10 courts of action wrapping up play Sunday night.

CoBL had writers and scouts at Jefferson University and the Alan Horwitz 'Sixth Man' Center throughout the weekend. Here's Pt. 1 of notebooks focusing on area high school teams and what they’re working on this summer, this one on several Catholic League teams:

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2025 Philly Live Week 2 Coverage
Standouts: Friday (Pt. 1) | Friday (Pt. 2) | Saturday (Pt. 1) | Saturday (Pt. 2) | Saturday (Pt. 3) | Sunday (Pt. 1) | Sunday (Pt. 2)
Notebooks: Recruiting (Pt. 1) | Recruiting (Pt. 2 ) | Recruiting (Pt. 3) | Recruiting (Pt. 4) | Recruiting (Pt. 5) | Team Coverage (Pt. 1) | Team Coverage (Pt. 2) |

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Smith debuts for Roman Catholic
R.J. Smith was all over the place checking in the action at Philly Live I two weekends ago even though he couldn’t suit up.

After spending the last three seasons at Imhotep Charter, Smith is attending Roman Catholic this upcoming school year. He unofficially put on the Purple and Gold for the first time Saturday night at Jefferson when he scored 21 points in a 62-60 win over Coatesville.

“I was itching to get out on the floor last week,” Smith said after the game. “But they let me free, let me out [of] the cage.”

Smith, who announced his commitment to La Salle earlier this offseason, is one of the area’s top players, earning Public League Player of the Year and all-state first team honors.

The 5-foot-10 point guard will fill a role left by first team All-PCL guard Tyler Sutton, who will play in the Overtime Elite League this school year.

Smith already has some familiarity with his new teammates. He is playing with Sammy Jackson and Bryce Presley, who transferred from Germantown Academy, with Team Final this summer. 

Smith started playing AAU with Jackson in fifth grade. He mentioned 2028 guard Dwayne Ruffin, who scored the game-winner against Coatesville, and 2026 guard Semaj Robinson as two other Cahillities he has played with before.

“It was just getting comfortable, getting in the swing of things,” Smith said. “I felt good though. I’ve been playing with those guys for a long time, since I was young, so it wasn’t any different. We’re just finding our chemistry.”

Smith thought he might spend his high school basketball career in the Philadelphia Catholic League at one point, playing with Father Judge during his first experience at Philly Live three years ago before eventually ending up at Imhotep.

He’ll be chasing a Catholic League championship this season to add to a resume that already includes three Public League, three District 12, two state and one City of Palms championship.

“I actually get to play in the Palestra instead of watching,” Smith said. “ It’s a good environment to be in every game. There’s not going to be a let off.”

This offseason along with preparing for the season ahead, he also has his future as an Explorer in mind.

“I’m in a space where I’m comfortable,” Smith said. “I’m going to La Salle, going to the A-10, going to school for free. I’m just going to prepare my mind, prepare my body for that and the season coming up.” — Owen McCue

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Bonner-Prendergast

Bonner is looking to take a step up in the Catholic League this season.

After finishing 7th in PCL league play this past season, they want to continue taking strides forward with the ultimate goal of getting back to where they were during the 2017-2020 seasons, where they remained at the upper end and even the very top of the table.

With a Catholic League that only ever seems to get tougher, filled with commanding powerhouses like Roman Catholic and Father Judge, this will require a young team to really step up to the plate.

 “I mean there are no nights off,” said head coach Bill Cassidy. “Every team is super competitive. We were right in that middle of the pack area so that’s a good spot to be. But, obviously we will want to make another push this year.”

The Bonner team have been trying to build themselves up the past couple of seasons and find their groove. The key to this could be 6-3 rising junior Korey Francis and that is who Bonner will be leaning on to get them to where they want to be.

“He’s the leader of our team, leader of our program,” Cassidy said. “That’s the role he wants too so we are definitely expecting big things from him.”

The strong guard, who last season was named First Team All-PCL, has a lot of weight put on his shoulders as he, along with Kam Jackson (2027), are challenged to lead this team. With only two high school seasons under their belts they have begun to take on this new role, starting here at Philly Live.

“Me and Kam Jackson are the two leaders on the court,” Francis said. “We make sure people are in the right places, make sure we are in the right defenses, make sure that we are the on-court coaches.” 

The tough competition of Philly Live also exposed some flaws within this Bonner team especially as they suffered two tough losses on Saturday one being to Bergen Catholic whose roster is filled with multiple D-I prospects including Julius Avent. However, they do not take this personally, instead seeing it as an opportunity to make changes now during the offseason, being more prepared for the competitive Catholic League season to come. 

“There’s a ton of things you can take away from this month but the good part is we still have time,” Cassidy said. “Our kids love to work so they listen, they work hard, and they’re good kids. We know we’re going to get better.”

Cassidy is not just pushing and asking for work from Francis and Jackson but the whole team, as taking on the PCL is a team effort. They are looking to show that they are a threat within this league.

“The Catholic League is always going to be tough, you are going to be tested every game,” Francis said. “Every game is going to be a dog fight so you just have to come ready to play.” — Olivia Valania

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Cardinal O’Hara

If there is a team that could sneak up on a few teams in the Philadelphia Catholic League, it could be the Lions. 

For one, O’Hara will get immediate help from 6-7 rising junior lefty wing DJ Jones, the son of former St. Joe’s great and current Hawks’ assistant coach Dwayne Jones. DJ transferred into O’Hara from Sanford High School (Del.) so he could go against better opposition in the Catholic League. The Lions also return of 6-foot rising senior guard Jack Quinn, who could not play last weekend at Philly Live II recovering from a collapsed lung, but is now healthy. Ryan Krawczeniuk looks like he is building something nice at O’Hara as he enters his second season as the Lions’ head coach.

The Lions finished 11-11 overall and 4-9 in the Catholic League, missing the playoffs. Three of the nine league losses came by four points or less. The Lions also notched a victory against Archbishop Carroll, 67-64, and started the season 3-0 in the Catholic League, before the gauntlet of their schedule began.

It’s a brutal league, producing four of the six state champions. O’Hara will be vying for a PIAA District 12 Class 5A playoff berth with defending state champion Neumann-Goretti, and Bonner-Prendergast, which upset eventual Catholic League and PIAA Class 6A state champion Father Judge during the regular season.

“We had our chances,” Krawczeniuk said. “We lost to Neumann-Goretti by two, at Neumann-Goretti, after we missed 10 free throws and we lost to (Archbishop) Wood by three in a game where we missed eight free throws. We lost to (eventual Class 4A state champion) Devon Prep in overtime on missed free throws. We were young, and we’re going to be young again. But we do have a lot to build on.”

Jones, who has already received interest from Navy, is a nice start. He dumped in 16 towards O’Hara’s dramatic 51-49 victory over Montgomery (NJ) on Saturday. He will get help from his brother, Dylan Jones, a 6-5 incoming freshman forward, Kiyen Alexander, a 5-10 rising junior guard, 6-6 rising senior forward Toby Hartman, and 6-foot rising junior guard Kaleb Hargrove. Someone who may bear watching is spunky 5-9 incoming freshman guard Drew Baskerville, who dropped five three-pointers on Montgomery, three in succession during clutch moments of the game.

Gabe Skehan, a 6-1 rising junior guard, will get serious minutes in the Lions’ top-seven rotation. He also played well against Montgomery, doing everything from rebounding, to generating steals, to finding open teammates under the basket.   

“We were right there in games,” Krawczeniuk said. “We just need to learn how to win. We have some players that are showing some good things, like Drew (Baskerville), who just graduated eighth grade and hasn’t stepped foot in an O’Hara classroom yet. He will be a help to us. He is young and will get used to the pace of the game. We know what he can do. When he is open, he is a lights-out shooter.

“We are going to be deeper than people think. The one thing that is different with this team is this is a cohesive group that shares the ball. There is a much different vibe this year, with this group of kids.”

Said Jones, “I think we’re being underestimated a little bit, and I think I’m being underestimated a little bit (in the Catholic League). I still have to make a name for myself in the Catholic League.” — Joseph Santoliquito