MARCH 17
PIAA CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
(At Germantown)
Imhotep 65, McDevitt 54
  There are times when wonderful = horrible. Don't believe it? Then you must not have been a spectator in Germantown's sun-splashed gym. As the first half wound down, Imhotep was holding for a last shot. Pfft. That opportunity vanished as jr. G Tymere Wilder made a steal and headed downcourt with the clock quickly approaching 0:00. On the deep right wing, from a spot almost directly in front of Imhotep coach Andre Noble, Wilder launched a push shot and . . . swish! The crazy trey gave the Lancers a 28-18 advantage and they basically danced to their locker room. The Panthers, um, did not. One can only imagine how severely Noble dug into their worlds. Even if Imhotep had scored on that final possession, he would have been upset. They'd played lackluster defense and had settled for lazy shots on offense. Prime example: the two inside guys, sr. Shakur Nesmith (bound to Temple for football) and jr. Nigel Grant, combined to take NO shots. In the second quarter, Imhotep went about seven-plus minutes without a point. There was a very quick burst of eight points as treys by jr. CG Brandon Austin (Penn State) surrounded a fastbreak dunk by sr. WG Khyree Wooten. Other than that, 'Hotep was 0-for-7 in the session. Second half? It looked as if Noble subbed a college team for his guys and/or that the refs allowed six guys to play against five. The Panthers largely achieved buzz-saw status. They used a three-quarter-court press to force numerous turnovers and otherwise hampered the Lancers by sticking Austin and his 7-footer's wing spin on sr. F Brahieme Jackson. He took just one shot in the second half. (He did make it, finishing 5-for-5 for the game en route to 12 points; also swept nine rebounds.) The second half was when McDevitt most missed co-star Markeise Chandler, a sr. WG who'd suffered an ankle injury in the second-round win over Riverside. Chandler has good "swivelability" and would have been able to step through/around the assorted traps, then finish at the rim. Imhotep seized the lead, at 34-32, on a left-wing trey by sr. PG Kamani Jordan off an inbound play. Austin then hit another threeball from the top of the key and all could sense the Lancers were in trouble. Then, on the final play of the quarter, Grant hit the FOURTH shot of the possession to make it 42-36. Imhotep continued its surge into the fourth and McDevitt had no answers. In a performance highlighted by four treys, Austin contributed a season-high 24 points. He also snagged 11 rebounds and made six steals. Jordan, a lefty, posted 17 of his 19 points after halftime while notching four total assists. Wooten had 10 points, six boards and four assists. Grant added eight points (he took all seven shots in the third quarter) and nine boards. Soph F Tyrell Long paced the Lancers with 17 points (8-for-11 floor) and six points. Jr. F Carl Garner used two late treys to reach 10 points. Sr. F Mike Newns snagged six rebounds. Wilder had nine points and four assists. Jr. PG Kenyatta Long posted three dimes. Imhotep now owns 20 wins for the seventh consecutive season. Pretty impressive. The Panthers' semifinal opponent on Wednesday night will be Holy Cross (Scranton suburbs) and we're guessing that game will be played in Allentown. **Update: 7 p.m. at Liberty HS, in Bethlehem.** Though the loss finalized their record at 12-13, the Lancers have a lot to feel great about. As mentioned before in these reports, this is McDevitt's 49th season of Catholic League membership. Before this year's squad earned wins in the first and second round of the state playoffs, McDevitt owned ONE postseason triumphs in all those years. Congrats on making history, guys. It was also good to see a game with TWO cheerleading squads. Carroll (Tuesday in Coatesville) and Neumann-Goretti (last night in Norristown) didn't bother to send its gals. Finally, kudos to Germantown AD (and football coach) Mike Hawkins for making sure everything ran smoothly.

MARCH 16
PIAA CLASS AAA QUARTERFINAL
(At Norristown)
Neumann-Goretti 64, Holy Ghost Prep 37
  Earlier this week, someone who’d witnessed a few HGP games this season said he expected the Firebirds to give N-G a quality tussle. Maaaaybe even pull off an upset. Tonight, someone with similar expertise set the line at 33 points. Ding, ding, ding! Mystery Evaluator No. 2 was correct. Close enough, anyway. When the deep subs came strolling onto the court with 2:37 left, N-G owned a 29-point bulge, at 60-31. The only noteworthy moment thereafter was the chin-up performed by N-G soph guard Troy Harper with 10.2 seconds left. One problem: He did it on the basket where he’d just failed to complete a dunk. The unnecessary (yet funny) acrobatics earned him a tech. Though feisty and disciplined, HGP was out of this one early. N-G had too much size and athleticism (plus, HGP had no true long-distance snipers). After seeing Octorara Tuesday night and HGP tonight, I’m amazed at the chasm that exists between AAAA and AAA teams in District 1. The Saints led by 14-8 after one and by 27-16 at halftime and folks just knew there’d be no second-half tension. True dat. Before getting into some of the regular details, let me say this: HGP’s student rooters are TREMENDOUS. They showed up in serious force, roughly 300 strong, and maintained their enthusiasm throughout, even with a hint of hope long gone. The school’s primary color is red and at halftime some dude dressed like Moses appeared in front of the stands. On cue, the kids “parted” and Moses ran up the 20-odd rows to the top. Ha, ha, ha. A classic! Update: We're told the kid is a senior lacrosse player and his name is Kevin . . . MOSES. Gotta love it!! Late in the game, the kids chanted the names of assorted players and even sent a shoutout to coach Tony Chapman. After the Firebirds meandered through the handshake line, they doubled back and walked over to interact with the rooters and thank them for the season-long support. All very cool to see. That wasn’t all. Maybe 20 minutes later, as I began to write the philly.com story in one corner of the gym, maybe 100 HGP rooters started applauding. The players, now in street clothes, were returning to the gym to mingle with friends/family members before heading home. The cyber attention went to soph CG Ja’Quan Newton and it was very classy of him to say nice things about HGP’s fans. That was your best move of the night, ‘Quan. Newton finished with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. He had no points in the first quarter, but did total six other stats and his overall effectiveness was the focal point of the story. Newton had a vintage run as the Saints expanded the lead to 23-12. A flip shot off a drive. A steal and three-quarter-court drive for a three-point play. A step-back jumper along the right baseline. Another flip shot off left-to-right penetration through the lane. Late, Newton twice got hammered on inside attempts and the first was so blatant, it was labeled intentional. Luckily, he maintained his cool. Sr. F Derrick Stewart (Rider) added 17 points while going 3-for-4 on treys. Somehow, he didn’t grab his first rebound until the third quarter and finished with just three total. Jr. F John Davis managed 12 points and 10 boards. Jr. PG Hanif Sutton hit an early trey and sr. WG Billy Shank drained a late one; otherwise they had no points. Sixth man La’Quan Coaxum had four steals. The next round will bring about a repeat of the City Title game: N-G vs. Boys’ Latin. The Warriors won tonight in OT as Watson played a big role. Not Maurice, though. His frosh brother, Tymir! As reported by Joe Dunn, BL’s baseball coach, athletic director and hoops scorekeeper, Tymir drained a gigantic trey that was part of a FIVE-point play. How? As Tymir was making his shot, sr. F Carlos Taylor was being pushed away from the ball. A whistle blew and he sank both free throws. Meanwhile, Taylor exploded for a career-high 32 points, so his career total stands at 1,018. He becomes the third member of this year’s BL team to own 1,000 points (also Watson and jr. G Yahmir Greenlee). These guys have scored all of their points for BL. In the 2004 season, Penn Charter had three guys who tallied 1,000 points FOR the Quakers. Two had played varsity elsewhere, however. Two dignitaries were on hand tonight. One was Bobby Wine, a Phillies shortstop from the ‘60s. The other was Jim Siegler, former coach at McDevitt and M.L. King. Jim has always been a class act. Great to see him!

MARCH 14
PIAA CLASS AAAA SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFFS
(Doubleheader at Norristown)
Coatesville 61, Bartram 51
Lower Merion 67, Roman 49
  Why'd they have to invent fourth quarters? If these games, like hockey, had been limited to three periods, Our Guys would have experienced respectable nights. Yes, they still would have lost, but the feelings of disappointment would not have been as severe. Bartram was outscored, 18-11, over the final eight minutes and the deficit for Roman was even worse, 24-11. The night began with concern. Thanks to the ever-popular bus miseries, the Braves didn't walk onto the court until the warmup clock showed 6:00. I'd made a cell-phone call to coach James Brown just a couple minutes beforehand and he said the squad was walking into the school as we spoke. He didn't indicate that the driver had been late, or had taken the wrong route, just that there'd been lots of traffic. (Not sure what happened to Bartram's bus for student fans. The kids didn't come scrambling into the gym until six minutes were left in the SECOND quarter. Ugh.) Anyway, Bartram shot 5-for-20 in the first half (with no assists) and made just two regular steals. Was the late arrival the reason for the messy performance? Couldn't have helped? After no doubt being lambasted by Brown and his assistants at halftime, the Braves played very impressively in the third quarter. They were more aggressive and paid better attention to details and they at least got a hint of concern to creep into the Raiders' eyes. Senior PG Gary Gordon, a lefty, was the primary catalyst, scoring 10 of his 21 points in the session. Sr. F Bo Murray was also prominent, grabbing four of his seven rebounds and swatting two shots. Alas, the good vibrations faded. And Coatesville got help from Lower Merion's fans. Say what?! Believe it. With 1:22 left in the third quarter, after Gordon's follow drew Bartram within 41-38, the LM kids, already in the house for their upcoming game, began cheering, "Let's go, Coatesville! Let's go, Coatesville!" Then, early in the fourth quarter, during a break, three Coatesville cheerleaders ran around to the other side of the court and directed a chant from right in front of the LM kids. Could you ever see, say, N-G and Roman kids combining for an act of goodwill? Didn't think so (smile). As the fourth quarter proceeded, Bartram went back to its early brickin' ways (1-for-9 to start) and a bunch of runouts followed. Jr. G Malik Noel, who enjoyed some special moments this season as a sixth-man spark, had 11 points and four steals. Sr. G Jared Bryant, beset by foul troubles, did grab five fourth quarter rebounds. Gordon added nine rebounds to his quality show. (But any time your point guard is the leading rebounder, that can't be good.) By the way, when the Braves arrived, they were given extra time to warm up. Due to space issues, the plan was to do just a short story on the Bartram game. Unless the Braves had won. Then we would have gone shorter with the Roman story. I waited for a good 10 minutes, if not more, outside Bartram's classroom/locker room upstairs, but JB and his assistants were bringin' it, big time, to the players about assorted issues and how to go forward for next season, so I decided to hustle back to the gym to see as much of Roman-LM as possible. As I zipped through the Bartram story, Amauro Austin handled full stats for the first quarter of Roman-LM. The Aces wound up with a 14-10 advantage and were already showing inside dominance thanks to Yohanny Dalembert (Sam's brother) and Raheem Hall. That wouldn't change. In all, 13 Roman shots were blocked and a whole bunch more from in tight were flat-out missed. Plus, the Cahillites got no help from the stripes. Through three quarters, they went to the line on just two occasions. This fourth quarter mirrored Coatesville-Bartram. As the Cahillites ran out of gas, LM frolicked. Often, the guards flew downcourt and had the choice of TWO open guys at the end of fastbreaks. Three of the resulting buckets were powerful slams. The top Ace in the fourth quarter was B.J. Johnson, a jr. lefty SG-SF. Thanks to help from a pair of three-point plays, he had 10 points in the quarter. Old heads/medium heads will remember his father, Bob, star sub for Southern's 1985 Pub finalist (21 points in one playoff; 18 in another) and then a quality player for La Salle (after a prep school year, if memory serves). DN ink went to Roman soph Rashann London, who describes himself as a point forward. He shot 9-for-14 en route to 19 points and did a good job of converting late flips from jr. F Shafeek Taylor (seven assists). London's pop, Nate, played football for Lincoln while another relative, Eric London, was a pretty good hoops guard for Franklin. Soph PG Shep Garner had a great second quarter, with nine points, but settled for just 13 overall. the Cahillites were thumped on the glass, 36-23. Assuming everyone stays (probably not a safe assumption, however, in these crazy times), Roman's 2012-13 squad will look just like this one; every rotation guy was an underclassman. Plus, rumors are already swirling about quality big guys who might wind up in the fold. One of these years, D-12 will have some success in AAAA. Right? Well, we can hope. Like always, it was great seeing Norristown athletic director Chuck Knowles, former football coach at Egan, and his sidekick, Bobby Davis. Thanks for your help, guys. One last thing about London. Last year, Roman's coaches tried to spoof Puck by telling him that Rashann's last name was actually London-Bridges. I think they wanted to see Rashann take a charge and then hear Puck babble, "Yo, Wondon-Bwidges fallin' down." Ha, ha, ha.

MARCH 13
PIAA CLASS AAA SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
(At Coatesville)
Carroll 71, Octorara 50
  Let’s get to the important stuff first: Shoutouts to D.J. Irving, Jay Donovan and Franco “Luck o’ the Irish” Pellicciotta. All three recently played for Carroll and they made their way to the locker room after this one to interact with the coaches and current Patriots. I love seeing that kind of stuff because it means the kids enjoyed their experience while part of the program and/or built solid relationships with their former coaches. Good seein’ you, guys, and I won’t even put in here that Jay begged for the shoutout. (Oops, I just did – smile.) Important tidbit No. 2: A handful of writers/photographers survived a brush with Coatesville Water Torture. As we began to write stories or download photos in the area beyond the basket used by Octorara in the second half, you would have thought it was raining in the gym. Water kept drip, drip, dripping into trash cans – at a VERY loud, steady pace -- and we were all going, “What the heck is that?” It wasn’t even raining outside! Much later, a maintenance man said the problem could be traced to condensation and some kind of existing roof problem. Imagine if that had happened during the game. Honestly, the trash cans were not right against the baseline, or even right behind the basket. But guys going hard for layups at hard angles, or trying to block them, easily could have smacked into them. Tidbit No. 3: Carroll’s team bus, as provided by a private company, was pulled over for speeding en route to Coatesville! Ha, ha, ha. Gotta love it. I got wind of the incident even before the start of the girls’ prelim, in which Carroll thumped Downingtown West, and some comments from sr. WG Alec Stavetski provided entertainment in the DN story. OK, now for the game itself. Carroll coasted. Talk to ya later . . . Nah, we’ll go into some detail. With the score at 7-4, the Patriots rolled to 14 straight points and the Braves’ much bigger rooting section had little reason to stir thereafter. I mean, not even a HINT of a comeback was mounted. Stavetski, who has left his 0-for-11 struggles in the D-12 seeding game far behind, had 18 points and seven rebounds and at least two of his buckets, maybe three, came on follows. That was part of the plan because coach Paul Romanczuk had told his players that the Braves were not exactly masters at boxing out. Frosh F-C Derrick Jones was again impressive, pogo-sticking for 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The lefty drained his only trey and twice showed very impressive footwork after receiving down-low entry passes. Buy stock in this kid now (smile). Jr. PG Yosef Yacob had a somehow-quiet 20 points with four assists. Sr. F Lou Dominique, like Yacob, squeezed six points (of 10) into the first quarter and finished with a half-dozen boards overall. Jr. WG Isaiah Warren had four dimes while sr. Fs Pat Finnegan and Francis Jackson and sr. G Tom Rymal thirded six boards. Making Pellicciotta proud, soph F Armand Sorrentino repped for the deep subs with a bucket and a rebound. This was another great night for D-12 squads as all five won – also N-G and Boys’ Latin in AAA; Constitution and MC&S in A. So far, the district’s record in 2012 tourney play is 16-4. We can live with that, right?

MARCH 10
PIAA CLASS AAAA FIRST ROUND
(At Ryan)
Central Bucks West 48, SJ Prep 44
  For today's shocking tidbit, we offer this: McDevitt's record in PIAA playoffs is better than St. Joseph's Prep's. Hard to believe, right? After watching the Lancers storm past Shenandoah Valley, the Hawks took to the court and . . . no other way to say it; they just didn't play well. How often have you seen this? In its first game without an injured star, a team rallies like crazy and plays so well that the guy is hardly missed. Then, the second time around, reality sets in and it's suddenly not as easy to make up for his absence. Jr. G-F Miles Overton (recent thumb surgery) was still unavailable and the Hawks could have used his juice. Only jr. CG Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) scored in double figures and the other guys combined to shoot 9-for-25 from the floor. Also, the Hawks claimed just FIVE rebounds in the first half and, in many ways, they were "outprepped" throughout the game. CBW did a great job of controlling the ends of quarters and making positive things happen. The Bucks also had major success with back-door plays and, in the first half, they freed themselves well enough to drill four treys while building a 28-16 lead. Early in the third quarter, they had multiple chances to double the lead on the Prep and when that didn't happen, it was impossible not to believe a gradual climb-back would be in the offing. Bingo. The lead was down to eight points after three quarters, then it dwindled to five at 35-30 and four at 38-34 and two at 38-36 with just under 3 minutes left on a basket by Vasturia on a pass from sr. WG Gene Williams. CBW posted a bucket, but then jr. PG P.J. Kelly drained a big-time trey on a pass from Vasturia at 1:55 and the lead was down to one at 40-39. Then came, from the Prep standpoint, what was likely the game's most damaging moment as the Bucks got a three-point play after a back-door feed along the left baseline. Next, Vasturia wound up with the ball toward the right corner and, oh, he slipped and fell. Somehow, he was able to maintain his dribble while scrambling back to his feet and soon, he was trying a flip shot along the right baseline. No good. CBW hit the second of two free throws and then Williams hit a turnaround jumper from roughly the foul line. CBW sank another free throw at 26.4 to restore the four-point lead, at 45-41, then another of the Prep's lesser lights, sr. G Tom Stewart, swished a left-wing triple on a feed from Kelly. Two big buckets from guys not famous for hitting them! Major moments! With 9.9 left, Derek Dyer hit both ends of a double-bonus and that upped the lead back to three points. On the Prep's crucial possession, Vasturia wound up with the ball a shade to the left of the top of the key. The defense was good and, off a spin dribble, he wound passing to his left to Williams. Gene was not in the exact corner; maybe 7-8 feet away from the baseline? The shot did not connect and the Bucks added one more free throw. As the day/night unfolded, AAAA wound up being the only classification where D-12's record was as unsightly as .500 (2-2). The teams in A, AA and AAA went a combined 9-2. Vasturia totaled 22 points, but could claim just three rebounds. That's not his primary responsibility, of course, but in many games this season he had posted double-digit numbers in carom-clutches, or close to that. Williams had seven points and team highs in boards (six) and assists (five). Stewart had eight points (two treys) and four boards. Considering that it had nothing remotely close to a true inside player, the Prep slapped together a wonderful season. Kudos to everyone and best wishes to the departing seniors.

MARCH 10
PIAA CLASS AA FIRST ROUND
(At Ryan)
McDevitt 68, Shenandoah Valley 44
  The sports world works in mysterious ways. Exhibit A: After winning just one time in 12 postseason outings over 49 years of Catholic League membership, McDevitt not only collected triumph No. 2 in an energized environment at Ryan, it did so in what turned out to be eeeeeeasy fashion. Amazing, right? Bear with me for a trip in the Way-Back Machine, but this result reminded me of something from the 1982 football season. After getting blanked for 27 (yes, 27) consecutive games dating back to '77, Edison finally broke the drought on a punt return vs. University City. Properly inspired, the Inventors forged onward and won the game, 20-18. In this one, it was almost as if the Lancers told themselves, "Hey, look like we're going to win this game. Might as well step on their throats and turn it into a rout." In a story that ran in Wednesday's paper, sr. G Markeise Chandler had predicted a double-digit win. I'd imagine his coaches probably gave him at least a playful hard time about being so bold. Shortly after game's end, Markeise hustled over to the spot where I'd been watching the action and said, pleasantly, "See, I told you we'd win by double digits." Doubtful he was thinking of a 24-point margin. Also doubtful he minds in the least (smile). SV had an excellent player in Josh Dombrosky, a 6-7 lefty who was light on his feet and effective all the way out to spots beyond the arc. The rest of the guys were mostly scrappers, at best, however, so McDevitt had a big advantage in athleticism and pure basketball skills. Early, there was a problem. With McDevitt ahead, 11-8, jr. PG Kenyatta Long picked up a reaching foul 40 feet from the basket, then bitched about the call enough to get a tech. Ugh! With Dombrosky contributing two treys, SV went on an 8-0 run and it was impossible not to think karma was in the house. So much for that. The Lancers bounced right back with 10 consecutive points in a relatively short span, making it 21-16, and that pad was expanded little by little to the domination stage. Chandler had 16 points, three assists and five steals in a soid overall outing. Sr. F Brahieme Jackson, forced to miss the City Title loss to Comm Tech for violating a team rule, had nine points and 13 rebounds. Soph F Tyrell Long, the sixth man, shot 9-for-12 and 7-for-9 for 25 points while also snagging nine boards. Also vital to the cause was jr. PG Tymere Wilder, who was terrific on defense when coach Jack Rutter decided to sit K. Long (no relation to Tyrell) for the rest of the half. Wilder had three of his four steals and three of his five rebounds in the second quarter and twice (pretty sure) he drew charges against SV's point guard, throwing off the squad's rhythm. T. Long, meanwhile, had 21 of his 25 points in the second half along with six of his nine boards. For whatever reason, McDevitt's cheerleaders were not on hand. SV, meanwhile, had cheerleaders (in one corner), a student section of maybe 75 kids (in another corner) and many adult fans behind its bench (in yet another corner). And almost all of the adults were referees! (smile) These folks were passionate and/or insane. If they saw a call they didn't like, they IMMEDIATELY stood and complained like crazy. In a rage, even. Truthfully, it was cool to see a team's fan base care to such a large extent. The juice exhibited by SV's fans actually brought out the emotion in McDevitt's and the byplay was entertaining, also. Wish I'd been sitting a little closer to hear the best of the choice comments. Congrats to coach Rutter, his assistants and all the players for this noteworthy victory. McDevitt's only previous postseason victory had come in a 1989 quarterfinal vs. Cardinal Dougherty. A lot of players before and after had experienced loads of frustration, so hopefully everyone connected with McDevitt's basketball history feels good about this breakthrough triumph.

  McDevitt's individual stats . . .

MARCH 9
CLASS AAA FIRST ROUND
(At Southern)
Boys’ Latin 70, Pope John Paul II 49
  As the teams prepared to start the second quarter, a female PJP fan yelled to that school’s players, “Guys, stop being afraid!!” Was she a player’s mom? A teacher? An administrator? Beyond that, was she being too harsh? Open for debate, folks. This isn’t: In the first eight minutes, the Golden Panthers, at a minimum, were nervous and/or flustered and their early struggles were reflected in a 14-2 deficit caused by 1-for-13 shooting. Did things get better? Slightly, but not by much. The Warriors frolicked through three quarters (54-28), then coasted in the fourth as the deep subs and deeper subs got plenty of playing time. Overall, the night belonged to jr. G Yahmir Greenlee, who entered the contest needing 10 points to reach 1,000. The frisky, yet sensible lefty hit that number on the head 2:20 before halftime thanks to a steal/drive combo that covered roughly five-eighths of the court. The game was stopped briefly so an announcement could be made and downstairs afterward Yahmir was presented the ball by coach Maurice Watson Sr., who’d inscribed it with the details (though he needed help to make sure he spelled the first and last name correctly – smile). His total now stands at 1,005 and he’s the second member of this year’s team with a four-digit total. Sr. G Maurice “Doo-Wop” Watson (Boston U.) boasts 2,310 career points, the No. 2 total in city history to the 2,681 rung up by Strawberry Mansion’s Maureece “The Scorelord” Rice in the ’00 to ’03 seasons. A third guy could join them. Sr. F Carlos Taylor (UMass-Lowell) tallied 20 points and HIS total stands at 969 with one, two, three or four games remaining, depending on how the Warriors fare. Three 1,000-point scorers on one team?! How cool would that be?! Greenlee, meanwhile, almost had a downer of a night. As detailed in the SportsWeek story, he arrived at Southern some 40 minutes after the supposed reporting time of 5 o’clock and Watson Sr. at first was not going to start him. He changed his mind, however, perhaps out of sympathy for the pursuit of 1,000 points. Watson Jr. was terrific, by the way. This was probably the best I’ve seen him play all season. He forced nothing, yet was always energetic while maintaining a commanding presence. He missed just two shots en route to 23 points, while adding six rebounds, eight assists and six steals, and I’m sure his future BU coach was drooling. Taylor (eight) and Greenlee (six) added respectable rebound totals to their points while jr. F Eric Lark, the football squad’s QB, had five boards. Late in the first half, frosh G Tymir Watson, Doo-Wop’s brother, made an appearance. D-W was resting at the end of the bench at this juncture, but he stood up as Tymir got the ball out front and appeared to be pondering what to do next. D-W yelled, “Go to work, Tymir!” Honestly, since they were at opposite ends of the court, it’s questionable whether Tymir even heard D-W. He did go to work, though, knifing right down the lane for a layup. There was an incident with 2:16 left in the third quarter that resulted in double-techs and the ejection of BL sub jr. F Eddie Powell. The problem began as Watson and a PJP player chased a loose ball toward the sideline in the northwest corner. Both guys sprawled and it was almost as if their bodies were attached, lengthwise. The BL people claimed the PJP kid uncorked a kick while trying to free himself from Watson and Watson appeared to try to push the PJP kid when both were standing again; not even sure he connected. Meanwhile, a guy wearing an Edison hoodie hopped out of the north stands and ran over in that direction as if he were going to get involved. He was a non-factor, but was bounced from the gym after things settled down. The fact that Powell ran off the bench toward the dustup was a major shock. He always appears to be the most mild-mannered kid on the team and his expression NEVER changes. Even tonight, I’m not sure it did (ha ha). Two of PJP’s starters, jrs. Jamel Stinson and Brent Mahoney, played at the ol’ Kennedy-Kenrick, in Norristown, which closed in June 2010. The Wolverines’ final coach, Jack Flanagan, guides PJP and it was good to see him and assistant Dan Rafferty. Also had a chance to speak briefly with Mike Santillo, who has matched Flanagan’s coaching feat in football (head man at K-K, then PJP). Likewise a good guy! Mike said PJP’s buses carrying the cheerleaders and student rooters left the school, in Royersford, at 4 o’clock. The first bus didn’t arrive until early in the second quarter and the second group of kids didn’t appear until about 3 ½ minutes prior to halftime. Only in the Burbs! (smile)

MARCH 3
CLASS AAAA CITY TITLE
(At Lincoln)
SJ Prep 63, Bartram 56
  At halftime, scouting guru Allen Rubin walked over to confirm what he was pretty sure he knew: Prep star Stephen Vasturia, a jr. CG, had struggled mightily from the floor in the first 16 minutes. To what degree? Well, Stevie V had connected on just three of 12 shots while also going 1-for-7 on treys. Care to guess who finished with 35 points? Yes, 35! His initials are SV. As the Hawks stormed to victory in a VERY entertaining contest, in a gym that's quickly becoming my favorite, Vasturia, who's already committed to Notre Dame, exploded for 28 points beyond intermission. In a 21-12 fourth quarter, all he did was notch 17, shooting 4-for-6 (treys Nos. 4, 5 and 6) and 6-for-6. Early, Vasturia was blanketed nicely by sr. F Bo Murray. In time, however, Murray encountered foul trouble and the assorted fill-ins couldn't match his success (and neither could Murray, in the late going). Plus, Vasturia was FEELIN' it and once he got rolling, it was questionable whether anyone could have stopped him. In all, Vasturia shot 10-for-22 (6-for-14 on threes) and 9-for-9 and the 35 points enabled him to tie Wilt Chamberlain for the City Title record. Wilt had his 35 vs. West Catholic in 1955. At the line he's now 123-for-134 for the season and that computes to 91.8 percent. Most dudes couldn't do that well from 3 feet away, let alone 15. We'll get to some details later, but first some unusual tidbits. The Prep fired 34 treys (hitting 13) and just 11 regulars (hitting six). The five Hawks aside from Vasturia attempted just THREE non-treys. Coach Speedy Morris now holds this outrageous city record: Longest drought between City Title victories -- 38 years. His other one, by 38-35 over West Philadelphia, had come in 1974 during his wildly successful stint as Roman's coach. Guard Donald Kelly, the guy who hit the go-ahead field goal in that game, was among today's spectators. Speedball lost CT's in '78 (to West Philly), '79 and '80 (both to Overbrook), but we'll forgive him because those teams went 33-1, 34-1 and 34-0, respectively, and owned national profiles. (Oh, for a return to THAT glorious Pub.) One guy not in attendance today, not even as a spectator, was Prep jr. Miles Overton, a star WG-SF. Yesterday, Overton had surgery on a damaged right thumb (shooting hand) and won't return this season, no matter what kind of run the Hawks put together in the state tourney. Soph G-F Kyle Thompson, an aggressive lefty, advanced from sixth man to starter and contributed seven points along with a team-high six rebounds. Seventh man Tom Stewart, a sr. WG, also moved up a notch and was responsible for 13 points, seven of his own and six more on passes that led to threeballs. He also had three rebounds. Sr. WG Gene Williams totaled 14 points while nailing four treys. Jr. G P.J. Kelly and sr. G Kevin Oberlies had three and two dimes, respectively, and neither one cared about going scoreless (each took just one shot). For Bartram, which seemed to be ENTIRELY capable of pulling off the upset until early in the fourth quarter, jr. SF Terrieck Williams was terrific while shooting 8-for-9 en route to 17 points; he mixed drives and jumpers and always looked smooth. Sr. PG Gary Gordon added 10 points and six boards, but missed significant time due to foul trouble and, honestly, Bartram began to slip when he was out. Sr. WG Jared Bryant also had 10 points. Murray snagged nine boards. As the third quarter ended, frosh F Christopher McGill nailed a right-corner trey on a pass from jr. G Malik Noel and the Braves reclaimed the lead, at 44-43. However, the Prep roared to 14 of the next 18 points and Stewart capped that run by hitting a trey on a pass from Williams. I can't say enough about the appeal of Lincoln's gym. It's bright and the stands are close to the court (even though the sections behind the east basket weren't in use tonight) and there just seems to always be the feeling that something cool is gonna happen. Meanwhile, it was great to see the gusto displayed by the Prep players after the W had been secured. Losing by two, in OT, to Neumann-Goretti for the Catholic League crown was an all-time toughie, but these guys showed great resiliency, especially when you factor in Overton's absence. Congrats to the Hawks for this memory for a lifetime.

MARCH 3
CLASS AA CITY TITLE
(At SJ Prep)
Comm Tech 55, McDevitt 53
  When it comes to post-season action, McDevitt is not exactly The Center of the Good-Luck Universe. The Lancers own just one win in 49 seasons of Catholic League membership (1989, quarterfinal over Dougherty) and had the misfortune of falling to North Catholic's JVs, filling in for the suspended varsity, in a 1968 quarterfinal that made national headlines. McDevitt is now 1-11 in post-season games, including CL preplayoffs, and five of the losses have come by no more than four points. This one came down to the very last instant. With 1.9 seconds remaining, McDevitt had to go the length of the court, east to west, at the Prep. The inbounder was jr. F Carl Garner. Sr. WG Markeise Chandler ran west to east, caught the inbound pass a shade before halfcourt, turned and fired a heave from belly level while leaping forward. For a brief moment, the ball looked . . . as if it had a chance!!! Clang. It hit a spot on the right side of the rim. Man, oh, man. The Lancers hadn't played since Feb. 12, when they'd bested West Catholic, 60-55, to claim the CL's spot in this contest. Alas, their 3-10 mark was not good enough to earn them a spot in the CL playoffs; thus the long wait. A lot can happen in three weeks and, unfortunately, one of the worst possible scenarios affected the Lancers: star sr. F Brahieme Jackson violated a team rule and was suspended for one game by coach Jack Rutter. Man, oh, man, Part II. McDevitt, of course, will still participate in the state playoffs as D-12's No. 2 seed, but going into same off a win would have felt mighty nice. Apologies to the CT folks for starting this report with McDevitt's ins and outs, but I felt such an approach was justified, given the school's frustrating hoops history and how close it came to staging an upset. At times, this wasn't the cleanest game ever, but it was spirited throughout as each team displayed the mindset, "We're better than you are." CT had balanced scoring, as four guys tallied from eight to 14 points. The leader was frosh CG Samir Doughty while the identical sr. Parker twins, Tony and Terrell, added 11 and eight. Jr. F Terrence Brown also had 11 points. Tony Parker snagged 12 rebounds while Terrell had the misfortune of hurting his right foot/ankle with 3:35 left in the third quarter. He did reappear for the final 3:39. Jr. CG Basil Malik had a few clutch plays thanks to four assists and three steals. Malik's layup off a steal gave CT a 51-50 lead. Chandler hit two free throws to put Mickey D back in front, but Malik came through with another theft and Doughty banked home a trey from right in front of CT's bench on a pass from Brown, making it 54-52. McDevitt sr. F-C Mike Newns was unable to hit two free throws at 0:40, then Chander made a steal off a double-team and jr. PG Kenyatta Long wound up going to the line at 23.2. He hit the first, then Tony Parker rebounded the missed second shot. Walking was called on the Phoenix in front of its bench at 17.7 and McDevitt's next possession yielded a missed 15-footer by sub jr. G Tymere Wilder along the right baseline. Tony Parker went to the line at 2.5 and made the front end. Garner snagged the rebound and quickly called time, setting up the already detailed, last-play scenario. Chandler (15) and soph F Tyrell Long (12) scored in double digits while K. Long had nine and Newns/Wilder halved 14. T. Long had eight rebounds, K. Long dished five assists and Chandler hustled for seven steals. Huck was today's stat sidekick and he noticed a late-game glitch that hurt McDevitt's chances for victory. After grabbing a rebound, K. Long was fouled and should have gone to the line for a one-and-one. Nope. Didn't happen. Huck had CT for EIGHT team fouls at that point, as did CT's book person (Huck walked all the way across the court to check). McDevitt's had CT for just six and the scoreboard showed seven. Oh, baby. CT's book person, an adult male, and McDevitt's, a female student, were sitting at least a dozen feet apart. Obviously, no coordination was taking place. Oh, and there'd be one more messy moment right after the game ended. The City Title and MVP plaques were nowhere to be found. Pub chairman Ben Dubin said later he'd given them to CL counterpart Joe Sette. Dubin said Sette told him he'd mistakenly left them at home. After working so hard to win the City Title, the Comm Tech crew was NOT happy.

MARCH 2
CLASS AAA CITY TITLE
(At Southern)
Neumann-Goretti 66, Boys’ Latin 57
  Imagine if the Saints, fresh off a win that yielded their fourth consecutive Catholic League championship, had dropped this tilt, which pretty much amounted to a home game considering Southern’s location. CTs are only for seeding, not to stave off the start of spring sports, but N-G surely did not want to head into the state tourney off a BIG disappointment. Did defeat even come close to happening? Ah, not really. But the Saints were pushed around a little in the first half and we definitely had ourselves a ballgame. Thanks mostly to guards Maurice “Doo-Wop” Watson (sr., Boston U) and Yahmir Greenlee (jr., burgeoning interest), who almost always find a way to blend in something approaching perfect harmony, BL owned a 28-21 lead with 2 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. Then, you’re talkin’ serious drought. A drought with a few inconsequential raindrops. N-G stormed to 20 of the next 23 points as BL went cold and N-G often looked like an old-school Pub team, showing an off-to-the-races mentality. Right before the half, N-G jr. F John Davis got fouled, but also picked up a tech for flapping his gums. While Davis made one of two shots, Watson somehow missed both halves of the tech-shooting session and the Warriors also failed to convert the tacked-on possession. Soon, with just 1.3 seconds showing, jr. PG Hanif Sutton inbounded from a spot under N-G’s basket and the very important sixth man, sr. G La’Quan Coaxum, knocked down a trey to pull the Saints within 31-29. N-G roared to the first 12 points of the third quarter while BL was going 0-for-8. Ballgame. The post-intermission outburst featured two runners by sr. WG Billy Shank, usually a threeball specialist, two free throws by soph WG Ja'Quan Newton, Davis’ follow and another transition bucket on Newton’s feed to sr. F-C Derrick Stewart (Rider). Cyber attention (and Inquirer ink; more on that development later) went to Davis, the ever-active lefty. After getting scorched by coach Carl Arrigale at halftime for his tech, Davis jammed 14 of his 21 points and 11 of his 15 rebounds into the second half. Davis is a South Philly guy and up to 40 friends/family members were on hand, so it thrilled him no end to be so productive (and take home the MVP trophy). Newton also had 21 points and the same number of dunks as Davis (two). Also, he shot 11-for-18 at the line while fighting for eight rebounds and four assists. Stewart had 11 boards while Sutton and Coaxum were statistical matches in three categories – three boards, two apiece of steals/assists. In the first half, with 11 points, five assists and five steals, Watson played as well as is humanly possible. He expended incredible energy and was seemingly everywhere while leaving far behind a subpar performance in the Pub final. Overall, he notched 22 points, four boards, five dishes and 10 thefts, though I’m sure he would have been happier if his shooting (9-for-23, 3-for-7) had been better. Greenlee, who struggled during the meaty part of the Pub final, buried three treys in the second quarter and finished with 16 points, leaving him 10 short of 1,000. Incredibly, he hustled for TEN rebounds. Sr. SF Carlos Taylor (UMass-Lowell) continued to struggle, shooting 3-for-13 for six points. He’s one of those long-stride guys as he shoots and his rhythm is just not good right now. He continually looks off-balance. Taylor was one of four Warriors with four rebounds. As he knows, he has to snatch more than that. OK, now for the Inky development. Our two papers have long had the same ownership, but have been fiercely competitive. The new group feels a blending of staffs will make us stronger overall (no comment – ha ha), so now the Inky is free to use Daily News stories and we can use theirs. I didn’t receive word that tonight’s story would appear in the Inquirer until earlier today and the deadline wasn’t relayed until late afternoon. It was 10:30. Problem No. 1. The first half of the girls’ game took roughly 50 minutes (yes, 50 minutes!) and that set the whole night back. Problem No. 2. There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be chased out of the gym before 10:30. Game manager Scott Pitzner, Southern’s football coach, checked with several members of the cleaning crew and they said the same thing; they’d be hustling to wrap things up as quickly as possible. Zooooooom! After interviewing Davis, I headed back to the office, which was EMPTY because SportsWeek, the new Daily News weekend product that has roughly a 9:30 deadline, had already been put to bed. Very eerie to be in that big room alone. I rushed and rushed and finished maybe 10 inches by 10:30 and emailed it to the appropriate Inquirer editor. I told him what had happened and said I’d send the full version before the next deadline at 11:15. That occurred at 10:55 and the complete story was also sent to a philly.com editor, who posted it within minutes. Lord only knows what wound up in the Inquirer because that paper’s editor, upon receiving the final version, said he only had room for maybe two more paragraphs than what I’d sent earlier. Oh, baby. I was just getting warmed up (smile). Much earlier today, I had an email exchange with one of the Daily News honchos, expressing concern over this whole new twist, and he advised me to just hang in there and “bite the bullet.” I responded, “Only if it tastes like a quarter-pounder.” . . .

MARCH 1
D-12 CLASS AAAA SEEDING GAME
(For third/fourth; at Southern)
Roman 73, Fels 41
  If there's one thing a significant underdog can't do, it's allow the opponent to jump to a 9-4 lead thanks to a trio of treys and then - uh, oh -- add four more quick points. That happened tonight and any hope of a spirited match was quickly dashed. Jr. WG Britton Lee nailed the first two treyballs, then jr. G-F Shafeek Taylor tallied the third. (This all happened at the south end of Southern's gym and sitting behind the basket were Taylor's family members. Among them was Shafeek's brother, Marshall, a former star at West Catholic. Good to see you, Marsh! Since the Taylors are South Philly natives -- dad Marshall was the star point guard for Southern's 1986 Pub champs -- you know 'Feek wanted to play well in this gym and that definitely happened thanks to 17 points and eight rebounds.) After Taylor's bucket, soph PG Shep Garner made a steal at halfcourt and cruised in for a layup and 6-6 frosh TreVaughn Wilkerson followed with a semi-turnaround jumper from roughly the foul line. As the game proceeded, it looked as if Wilkerson was doing enough to warrant ink and, afterward, coach Chris McNesby was in full agreement. TW didn't sound completely positive, so I was kind of vague in the story, but he thought his previous start had come against Lower Merion. If so, that game was the season opener! Anyway, Wilkerson fnished with seven points, eight rebounds and four blocks and his interview comments would indicate he really understands what's possibly in front of him and what it'll take to realize his dreams. He showed a good shooting touch and range (late-game trey!) and appears to have nice hands, witness the early-game recovery he made after the ball was first slapped away from him. TW is still 15 years old and looks young facially, so we're guessing 6-6, 200, will not be his final dimensions. Taylor, meanwhile, notched his 17 points by shooting 5-for-9 (one trey) and 6-for-7. Lee added one more three en route to 13 points while Garner and jr. sub G-F Raquan Brown-Johnson added 12 apiece. All four of the deep-sub guys hit the scorebook. Junior Matt Simon and Angel Trinidad (not sure what grade he's in) nailed threebies while Jamil Taylor, the team's lone senior, converted a drive to draw a big response and Dan Maggiano (also not sure on grade; and Puck the Strapper is now spelling that last name differently than he did at earlier Roman games -- ugh!! ha ha) hit two free throws. The outmanned Panthers had trouble finding a flow and the fact that they didn't sniff the foul line until 7:18 remained did not help. As always, PG Danil Mateo was feisty. I heard him jawing with Lee on several occasions and Lee was givin' it right back. At one juncture, Mateo was standing close to where I was seated, right off the gym's southeast corner, and Lee barked at him, "You the point guard. How come you ain't up there runnin' the offense?" I couldn't hear Danil's response, but let's guess it wasn't, "You're a very perceptive young man. I'll go get the ball right now." The only true highlights were provided in the last five minutes by sr. sub G Nate McIntosh, who can't be much bigger than 5-5. He poured in nine points on three regulars and a trey and one of his layups was an all-timer. He pretty much pulled the ball out of his culo (check a website with Spanish-English translations -- ha ha) and flipped it into the basket. Very legendary!

FEB. 29
D-12 CLASS AAA SEEDING GAME
(For Third/Fourth; at Ryan)
Carroll 48, Phila. Electrical 37
  You know you’re walking down a hallway with a Penn grad when you hear him say, “This place is our new de facto home court.” (smile) The guy was Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk and Archbishop Ryan’s gym has become quite the good-luck charm for his squads. In 2009, lest we forget, the Patriots shocked CL kingpin Neumann-Goretti in a AAA quarterfinal at Ryan and went on to capture the league’s first state title in Year No. 1 of official membership. The Patriots also won a play-in game over Gratz at Ryan in 2010. (Maybe now you’re saying, “Wait, didn’t Carroll lose to Ryan THIS season?” Indeed. But that game took place AT Carroll.) Anyway, tonight’s game hardly qualified as a classic. In fact, it was rather hard on the eyes. Not only was the pace mostly slow – Paul said he did not want to run with the Chargers – both teams were wickedly poor from the floor. Jr. PG Yosef Yacob was able to post just one assist because his playmates shot just 6-for-28 and sr. WG Alec Stavetski, normally a capable wing sniper, somehow went 0-for-11. Yacob managed to go 3-for-5 and all of his makes were treyballs. Somehow, HE led the Patriots in rebounds with six. PET was 13-for-47 from the floor and hit just three of 14 threes. Like I said, it was ugly. Meanwhile, how often do you see a team score more than half of its points on free throws? Carroll did that, going 25-for-32, as Yacob and Stavetski led the way with matching 9-for-10 performances. PET went the distance without jr. PF-C Jai Williams, who has a tender left ankle. Coach James “Flame” Lewis said beforehand he might use Jai a little, depending, but that didn’t happen and that probably made sense since this game was only for seeding, not for win-or-start-baseball-season purposes. The Chargers continue to have major difficulties feeding the post. Sr. C David George, who’s drawing lower D-I interest and sports great academics, was pretty much a non-factor. He grabbed just five rebounds and shot 1-for-8 from the floor. Once, after not seeing the ball for a good while, he got it on the wing and made a wild trip to the hoop, as if he’d been thinking, “Who knows when I’ll see this thing again? Better have fun with it now.” In the second half, he did receive a couple of respectable entry passes, but then had footwork problems. (Maybe fouls should have been called? Couldn’t tell for sure. PET was shooting at the far end past intermission.) The best Charger was sr. F Davian Joseph, who’s usually a sub. He showed game-long energy while totaling eight points, 13 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Nice overall effort, kid. Jr. WG Hakeem Baxter had 11 points, two assists and four steals. One of the subs was frosh G Zakee Shakur, who’s brand new to the varsity. In the fourth quarter, along the right baseline, he made a quick, impressive move to lose a defender, then stuck maybe a 12-foot jumper. PET needs to regroup quickly. Otherwise, this squad will be remembered only as the answer to this trivia question: Which school, in the 2011-12 season, posted regular season victories over BOTH teams that advanced to the Pub final, but then really faded? (Admittedly, Constitution sat four starters the day it lost to PET. But still . . . )

FEB. 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FINAL
(At the Palestra)
Neumann-Goretti 59, SJ Prep 57 (OT)
  The Call will be discussed all day Tuesday in assorted outposts and, perhaps, forever and ever by those involved as players, coaches or spectators. Don Cummiskey made it and, by all appearances, it wasn’t WRONG. The debate will rage over whether it should have been made. Thank about it: Deep down, can any ref be faulted for making a call that’s correct? N-G loyalists are going to say, “No way,” while Prep people are going to contend, “At the very end of overtime in a tie game, unless murder and mayhem are committed, you swallow your whistle and let the teams decide it in OT No. 2.” Cummiskey decided to call what he saw and that sent jr. WG Ja’Quan Newton, who’d rebounded a missed layup by jr. PG Hanif Sutton, for two shots with 1.3 seconds remaining. Newton bounced in the first and swished the second and N-G had its fourth consecutive CL title, as well as its 70th consecutive triumph in league action (19 and 19 in the first two years; 16 and 16 in these last two). What a night! The Carroll-Wood girls’ game went OT and shortly before this one began, Jason Budd, the Archdiocese's tie to sports, said he’d been told 700 more tickets were being quickly printed because plenty of people were still outside, hoping to get in when Carroll-Wood fans departed. Once this game began, the place was packed and the atmosphere was electric throughout. In a way, it was surprising that the Hawks wound up taking N-G to the limit because, No. 1, they got off to a terrible start, falling into an 11-0 hole, and, No. 2, their franchise player, jr. CG Stephen Vasturia, finished the first half with zero points, as in none. Nevertheless, the Prep kept battling and the Saints had just enough chinks in their armor (despite its size disadvantage, the Prep was able to score on a decent amount of follows) to make things over-the-top interesting. Though the Hawks had fallen to N-G in their gym -- by 13 points, even – during the regular season, no doubt they were able to draw inspiration from the fact that Roman, a lesser light by comparison, had taken N-G to OT. Anyway, let’s go to the stretch and then we’ll backtrack. With 2:31 left in regulation, Vasturia tipped in his own miss to make it 45-45. Newton’s lefthanded layup, on a pass from sr. F-C Derrick Stewart, staked N-G to a 47-45 edge at 1:44. Jr. G-F Miles Overton tied it on a pair of free throws at 1:24 and Newton hit the second of two at 35.4. At 16.9, sr. WG Gene Williams was fouled down low after taking a pass from sr. G Kevin Oberlies and he hit the first of two throws, creating a deadlock at 48-48. Off an inbound pass from under N-G’s basket at 4.3, Newton was unable to hit about a 12-foot jumper along the right baseline. The ball hit twice on the rim before deciding not to drop. Vasturia (from Overton) and Newton (from Davis) traded buckets to start the extra session and the latter was more noteworthy because Overton fouled out on the play. N-G notched the next five points as Newton followed Stewart’s miss and, after Williams missed a trey, Davis took a feed from Sutton and toughed out a layup while getting thoroughly hammered. He also added the free throw, making it 55-50 with 1:57 left. Just when folks might have been thinking the Prep was fading, Vasturia hit a pair of free throws. Shortly thereafter came the game’s most amazing sequence. Sutton inbounded to the right of N-G’s basket, along the baseline, and could find no one open, so he whipped the ball high toward midcourt, on the side (north) where the benches are located. Newton soared to get the ball, but he guided it right to Williams, who steamed toward the bucket for what he undoubtedly figured would be an easy two points. His route was somewhat circuitous, however, and Newton, showing spectacular hustle, arrived at the very last instant to soar and block the layup. Sr. WG Billy Shank zipped to the other end for a basket and the lead was back to five with 1:07 left. Not for long, baby! Vasturia hit a WAY-out-there three and the score was now 57-55. Following a turnover, Vasturia converted a one-and-one at 33.9. N-G’s final possession featured nothing but out-front dribbling by Sutton, guarded by jr. G P.J. Kelly, out near halfcourt toward the scorers’ table. Finally, with roughly eight seconds left, Sutton set sail on a move to his left. Down the lane he went and his twisting layup was unsuccessful. Newton rebounded on the right side and, as mentioned earlier, was hit as he tried to convert the follow. The Free Throws Heard Around the Catholic League, and Beyond, then found their mark. All of the post-game emotion/celebration stuff is mentioned in the DN story. Suffice to say there was MUCH of it. We will mention here that Shank, then Stewart, standing together on the ladder at the Palestra’s west end, were the last two Saints to snip down the net. Only fitting since they’re the only two rotation seniors and really were part of all four titles; they were pretty much the second and third subs as freshmen. The Prep folks, no doubt, will long replay this one in their minds. The ins and outs of Overton’s night will be prominent. Late in the first half, he came down awkwardly after missing a left-corner trey (maybe he landed on the defender’s foot?) and injured his right ankle. At halftime, he appeared on the court before the rest of the Hawks and did some shooting before subjecting himself to some back-and-forth trots under the watchful eye of the trainer. He was given the go-ahead (you were expecting something different? – smile) and made a couple of nice early plays. Alas, he picked up his third foul at 5:45 and his fourth at 4:29, then was ordered to sit until 90 seconds into the fourth quarter. Big development, considering how well he’d been playing. Newton (21), Stewart (13) and Davis (12) scored in double figures for N-G while Davis (12) and Newton (11) reached double digits in rebounds. Sutton had five assists and took turns with sr. G sub La’Quan Coaxum to do an excellent job on Vasturia. Vasturia (19), Overton (16) and Williams (12) topped Prep in points and Stevie V swept 11 boards. Overton, Williams and Oberlies thirded nine assists. Each team used just six players and I can’t imagine that has happened too often in a CL final. Meanwhile, pic-wise, the frustration level is at an all-time high. The memory card is always a snap to remove. Just push on it a little to make it pop up slightly, then squeeze it with thumb and index finger and pull it out. This time . . . No go!! The card popped up fine, but then wouldn’t budge. The wife heard me snapping out (at maybe 1 a.m.; sainthood is not far behind) and offered to get her tweezers. She removed the card, but when I went to download the pics on the computer, they were nowhere to be found. I hope someone at a photo/computer store can salvage the memory card and figure things out. If not, I’m going to be one disheartened dude. Already am, in fact. So sorry for what I HOPE is just a delay. Lastly, thanks to both teams, and the fans, for a wonderful night of basketball. The atmosphere was as good as it gets. It's now 2:42 a.m. Time to go to sleep . . . maybe.

FEB. 25
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
(at Community College of Phila.)
Constitution 85, Boys' Latin 60
  Anyone feeling cheated right about now? Though the playoffs are supposed to give us the best games of the season, this year's offerings have mostly been duds. ConHigh frolicked to the title and BL saved face to the tune of minus-25 only because it won the last quarter, 23-15, When this one began, a good 95 percent of the seats were occupied. By game's end, the number was more like 20 percent and a decent number of BL's fans began heading for the exits with 5:29 remaining. Oh, baby. It's hard not to wonder if the BL guys would have fared better if they'd arrived shortly before gametime. Instead, like ConHigh's players, they watched the girls' final, in which Prep Charter demolished Central by 70-34. Like Central, BL was the underdog and its early performance mirrored what happened in the opener. The Warriors were guilty of poor shooting and lots of turnovers and I'd imagine at least some of them were thinking, "Man, what happened to Central is happening to us. This isn't lookin' too good." Coach Rob Moore had a great defensive plan. He stuck sr. CG Daiquan Walker on jr. WG Yahmir Greenlee, rotated little-guy sr. Gs Tamir Bolger and Amonie "Moonie" Holloman on franchise sr. PG Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson (Boston U.), and assigned sr. F Craig "Poppy" Slade to shadow sr. F Carlos Taylor (UMass-Lowell). All three Warriors turned in subpar performances and don't let Greenlee's 20-point outing fool you. Sixteen of those points were posted about three weeks after the issue had been decided, and during a time frame when the game should have been taking place at a playground. Sr. F-C Savon Goodman made it 13-4 with a steal/dunk combo with 1:09 left in the first quarter; the turnover was BL's seventh of the quarter. The Generals wound up with leads of 22-8 and 30-14 en route to a halftime score of 39-19 and, really, we all could have left right then and there. Oddly, despite its dominance, Con (18-9 overall) is the losingest Pub champion since at least 1950 (Franklin, the '52 kingpin, had eight losses) and maybe holds the No. 1 spot all time. Granted, the Generals have played a difficult non-league schedule. Con had 16 steals while forcing BL into 20 turnovers and were explosive in transition, thanks mostly to Goodman. Savon powered home five dunks en route to 24 points and was active overall with 12 rebounds, three assists and six steals. Walker, selected as the game MVP, had 15 points and seven assists while toughing things out on a tender left foot. Slade added six points and 10 points to his lock-down defense on Taylor (0-for-4, zero points). Bolger and Holloman halved rebounds and the latter drilled three treys while bagging 15 points. Bolger led Moonie in steals, 3-2. Frosh SF Ahmad Gilbert, showing a feathery lefty shot, scored six points in the late going. His dad, also named Ahmad (nicknamed "Ahhkie"), starred for Overbrook's 1983 champs. Watson settled for 14 points while adding four assists and five steals. Greenlee, quite uncommonly, went 1-for-11 on treys. Sr. G Rahshan Wooten-Miller was aggressive while slapping together a 12-point outing and soph G Charles Pressley, proud owner of one point beforehand, posted seven (along with four boards) while showing late-game gusto. Overall, I like Community a lot as a playoff site, but this place must be having money problems, as well. At least 12 ceiling lights were dark. And is this correct? No food, as in none, was being sold? Not even a candy bar could be had? What's with that? Meanwhile, this was the second biggest victory margin in Pub finals history. In 2006, Gratz dusted Comm Tech, 62-36, for a 26-pointer.

FEB. 23
DISTRICT 12 CLASS AA SEEDING GAME
(To Determine Fourth)
Imhotep 65, Del-Val 46
 Don’t take this the wrong way, folks, but this game was brutal. Not even a hint of a flow and extremely tough to watch. Imhotep scored just ONE point over roughly a TEN-minute period and still won by NINETEEN! That about says it all, right? Oh, and so does this: D-V went 3-for-16 at the line and two of those bricks were front ends. Also, one kid missed three attempts on the same foul-line visit. Effort wasn’t lacking from the assorted players on both squads, but the game just was not a pretty sight. It happens. After getting upset in the round of 16 and waving bye-bye to its chance at winning a fourth consecutive Pub title, Imhotep now has its sights set on garnering another state crown. That quest, too, will prove challenging, but hardly impossible. DN ink went to sr. WG Khyree “Old Head” Wooten, who powered for a trio of three-point plays while scoring 20 points (17 beyond halftime). I call Khyree Old Head because it seems as if he’s been around forever. He has enjoyed factor status for four seasons now and his career point total is up to 1,115. The crafty lefty, who has drawn some preliminary D-I interest, looks a little thinner and appears to be in great shape. Jr. CG Brandon Austin, who stands at least 6-6 and possesses a wing span that goes on for days, totaled 13 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. He recently committed to Penn State and Nittany Lion assistant Brian Daly, former star and head coach at Bonner, was on hand to check him out. Jr. PF Nigel Grant had 10 points and seven boards and sr. PG Kamani Jordan, also a lefty, dealt six assists while hitting three treys en route to 11 points. Off the bench, jr. SF James Edwards led D-V with 14 points. He plays (and even looks, slightly) like Constitution’s Craig “Poppy” Slade and could be an interesting player in the 2012-13 season since he has hops for inside stuff and enough range to launch from behind the arc. Soph WG Clayton “CJ” Wolfe had 13 points and sr. PG Fateem Brockington managed 10. Jr. PF-C Antwan Scriven clutched seven rebounds. D-V still has a chance to earn a spot in the state tournament; it’ll have to beat a squad from District I. (Details TBA.) A crowd just short of full-house numbers was on hand, and it included both schools’ cheerleaders. Imhotep’s started out along the east baseline, where there's maybe six feet of space between the line and the wall. Well, the gals were lined up in two rows, so yes they were within a foot of the baseline. Once, a D-V kid was ready to inbound the ball when one of the gals did one of those spread out quick jumps and brushed against the player. Oh, baby. The gals moved to the other end for the second half, but were rather quickly told to go sit down. Pretty sure that’s the PIAA rule anyway: cheerleaders must sit in the stands while the game itself is taking place.       

FEB. 22
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
(At the Palestra)
Neumann-Goretti 73, Roman 56
SJ Prep 58, Carroll 49
  Maybe Pennsylvania's lawmakers snuck a new one past us: Semifinals can only be good, not tremendous. These babies pretty much mirrored the Pub's, as in there were strong performances by certain players and the eventual losers battled hard. However, never in either fourth quarter did the onlookers get to experience the arrival of the ever-treasured, heeerrre-we-go! feeling, and that was particularly disappointing tonight because these matchups had required overtime during the regular season and fans were hoping for terrific repeats. In effect, N-G/Roman was over before it truly got rolling as the Saints stormed to a 12-2 lead thanks to four treys. Sr. F-C Derrick Stewart (Rider) nailed the first one and the next three went to sr. WG Billy Shank. Meanwhile, all four assists were credited to jr. PG Hanif Sutton. In the teams' first meeting, held at Philadelphia University, Shank had gone scoreless while shooting 0-for-5 total and 0-for-4 on treys. So, after the first few minutes of this one, I'd imagine the thoughts bouncing around inside the heads of Roman's players were something along the lines of, "The main reason we got to OT the first time was that we kept that kid from burning us. Now look. He has three treys ALREADY. Could be a long night." And it mostly turned out to be. The Cahillites often looked tentative and/or awe struck and considering their youth and the fact that the game was being played at the coolest possible local (world?) venue, perhaps that should not have have surprised. Anyway, the score after one quarter was 21-7 and Roman does deserve credit for having won the next two quarters by three total points. With 1:46 left in the third quarter, a drive by soph PG Shep Garner pulled Roman within six, at 37-31. So much for the anticipated wild ride. Sr. G La'Quan Coaxum, the ever-important and productive sixth man, hit a right-corner trey, soph WG Ja'Quan Newton buried another threeball (right wing) and Coaxum scored on a follow. Six-point lead to 14-point lead. Just like that. The fourth quarter highlights belonged to jr. F John Davis, who had energy to burn after having to sit down due to foul trouble; the lefty wolfed down a pair of dunks. Newton (17), Coaxum (14), Shank (12) and Davis (11) scored in double figures and Stewart (eight) came close. Stewart led in rebounds with 10 while Davis (eight), Newton and Sutton (six apiece) helped out. Sutton dealt eight assists. Steals leader? EVERYBODY. Oops, make that NOBODY. Sidekick Ed "Huck" Palmer had the Saints finishing with no steals, which meant all nine of Roman's turnovers were unforced. Garner (20) and jr. F Shafeek Taylor (14) led Roman. Taylor and jr. WG Britton Lee halved 12 boards. Here's a telltale number: Only seven of the Cahillites' 22 field goals featured assists. The Roman guys were mostly driving and keeping. Or, when they did make passes, guys didn't hit the shots. In Game Two, coach William "Speedy" Morris claimed victory No. 622, making him the winningest coach in city history. One problem: the Palestra peeps weren't told. PA announcer Joe Donahue, who coaches the Prep's freshman team, didn't say word one, so it was left to assistant Keith Morris, Speedy's son, to remind the players in the locker room. They knew anyway because the tied-Dan-Dougherty feat had been mentioned by another PA announcer (Joe wasn't there that day) after the quarterfinal triumph over Wood. Speedy was playfully busting Joe's chops right at the entrance to the locker room and a good time was had by all. I was writing the N-G/RC story through most of the first half, so only occasional glances were made at the action. Huck mentioned later that Carroll owned a 10-9 lead late in the first quarter and that the Prep then embarked on a 10-0 run thanks to prominent contributions from jr. WG Miles Overton. In the second half (and to some degree beforehand), the Prep ran a layup clinic. The Patriots had plenty of problems preventing penetration and the Hawks made the ball talk with lots of snappy feeds. They shot 10-for-13 total in the third quarter and seven of those buckets were layups. Through three quarters they were 15-for-18 on twos (en route to 18-for-28 for the game). Jr. CG Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Overton had 20 points and was the only Hawk with true success (3-for-5) beyond the arc. Sr. WG Gene Williams joined Vasturia atop the rebound column while adding eight points. Sr. WG Kevin Oberlies led in assists with five and steals with three. Jr. PG P.J. Kelly managed two apiece. For Carroll, jr. PG Yosef Yacob, continuing his strong play over the second half of the season, had 17 points and five assists. Sr. bruiser Lou Dominique posted 11 rebounds (and 10 points) and frosh Derrick Jones had eight, along with three blocks. Sr. WG Alec Stavetski, paid strong attention all night in assorted defensive looks, owned just two points through three quarters. He got it rollin' down the stretch to finish with 12. All four schools had strong fan support, but the Prep's student turnout appeared to be the best. Thanks to Huck, Amauro, Frog and Keith for their great help. Somewhere in the bowels of the Palestra is a fax machine and Frog hustled back and forth to send the boxscores to the office so Kerith Gabriel could type them into the computer and get them into the paper. The night's best moment was seeing Tom Telford, who back in the day served as the Catholic League's chief umpire and whose son, Tommy, was a star athlete at Germantown Academy. Tom was living down south for 10 years or so, but now he's back. Great to see you, Tom!

FEB. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
(Doubleheader at Southern)
Boys' Latin 70, Comm Tech 59
Constitution 76, Bartram 55
  If you're an old-school guy who's big on tradition, you're not a happy camper right about now because the championship game will match schools with just seven seasons of combined Pub experience. Look at it this way, though: At least three of the league's acknowledged top four players will be on display Saturday, 5:45, at the Community College of Philadelphia (following the 4 o'clock girls' final). ConHigh will have the edge in franchise players, 2-1, thanks to sr. F-C Savon Goodman and sr. PG Daiquan Walker. But if you expand the matchup to "very goods," the momentum swings in BL's favor, at 3-2, because sr. top-dog PG Maurice Watson has quality playmates in jr. WG Yahmir Greenlee and sr. F-C Carlos Taylor. We'll see how it goes, folks . . . As for this doubleheader, it never quite gripped the soul. BL led throughout and Con assumed command by the end of the first quarter. Actually, Pub semifinals with at least a hint of one-sidedness are not uncommon. Over the last 25 seasons, for example, just 12 of the 50 games have been decided by five points or fewer and just twice, in '04 and '98, were both games that competitive. Thirty of the 50 games have been decided by at least 11 points, tonight's smaller victory margin. (In '92, the numbers were 25 and 40. Whoa!) BL jumped to a 17-6 lead in the first eight minutes and, for once, the headliner wasn't Watson. In fact, he didn't rack up his first two points until he beat the buzzer with a jumper from roughly midway between the foul line and arc. The early forces were Taylor and Greenlee, who scored eight and seven points, respectively, while hitting two treys and one. Taylor wound up with 17 points and seven rebounds, as well as DN ink, and his story is interesting because he committed to a D-II program even before the season began. Most good players keep thinking, "I'll get that D-I offer . . . I'll get that D-I offer." Then, if it doesn't come, it's almost as if they're hissed that they have to go D-II. Taylor, instead, was happy to commit to UMass-Lowell because he thoroughly enjoyed his visit and Lowell is close to Boston, so he'll get to maintain his close friendship with Watson; the two played middle school together in Upper Darby. Taylor projects as a fluid small forward with effectiveness along the baseline and even the deep wings. He still looks young, so he could truly become a D-II force as he matures. Watson had 23 points and nine assists and went 11-for-15 at the line. Greenlee, a lefty, totaled 18 points and, like Taylor and Watson, also hit two treys. Sr. F-C Amir Tucker was the best of the rest, snagging six rebounds and grabbing a few of them in very authoritative fashion in traffic. For CT, frosh WG Samir Doughty smoothed his way to 18 points (love this kid's body control) and sr. WG Tony Parker shot 5-for-5 and 4-for-5 for 14. His twin, Terrell, mostly a PF, had five points and eight boards. Jr. F Terrence Brown managed nine points and five boards. Taylor was the centerpiece of the game's key sequence. After two free throws by Brown advanced CT within 56-53, Taylor took a pass from Watson and canned a layup while absorbing contact. Though Taylor missed the free throw, the ball went over the baseline in BL's favor and Taylor wound up being the inbounder. As noted in the DN story, the kid might have a future as a point guard (smile). He threaded a perfect pass to sr. PF Khadafi Robinson through the assorted bodies and that layup made it 60-53. I had to write the BL-CT story right after the game, so the first half of Con-Bart was only a rumor. Amauro Austin and Keith Hines combined to do stats, then Amauro and I handled the second half with Keith as the third set of eyes (when he wasn't checking out the babes -- ha ha). Amauro said Bartram came out strong and took an early lead, but Con was on top by the end of one, at 18-15, and that never changed. Goodman had 27 points (three dunks, all in the first half) and 11 rebounds while Walker had a terrific overall outing with 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Sr. G Tamir Bolger added five dimes, but the ink went to the sixth man, sr. G Amonie "Moonie" Holloman, who sniped 5-for-9 beyond the arc for 15 points. His nickname (because his bald head looked like the moon) was given at birth by his dad, Fred Wharton, and how cool is it that he now shoots almost nothing but moonballs? Moonie can be streaky, but when he's feelin' it, he cannot be left alone. For Bartram, the top two scorers were lefties, sr. PG Gary Gordon (20) and jr. sixth man G Malik Noel (13). Sr. F Jared Bryant added 10 points while jr. G-F Terrieck Williams combined eight points with 10 rebounds. Gordon, Noel and Bryant thirded six treys. Holloman swished two of his treys in a 7-2 run that provided some breathing room after Bartram crawled within 40-38 on two buckets by Gordon. And then, in the fourth quarter, with Bartram still very much alive at 55-51, Holloman took a pass in the right corner from Bolger and, bang, lifted the lead to seven points. From there things turned into a circus. Even with the suspense long gone, the Braves kept fouling and fouling and Con kept hitting most of the free throws, and that sequence made the final score deceiving. The Generals had to go without sr. F Craig "Poppy" Slade, who lost a tooth in Saturday's quarterfinal while taking a charge. From the other end, I wasn't sure whether the tooth was dislodged by the initial contact or Poppy's fall to the floor. We spoke tonight before the first game and he said the IC was the culprit and that he spit out the tooth while falling. Phew. He said he would only have to miss one game. Good news! Meanwhile, the crowd was very good. If not a full house, right on the doorstep. But I have to ask . . . Why is there no organized cheering? (Except from cheerleaders, of course.) Back in the day, the Pub was famous for having organized sections of kids who would stand and bellow out stuff and entertain the rest of the spectators just as much as the players, if not more. Now, there's a big reaction only if someone dunks or breaks a defender's ankle. Is it uncool to show you care? Are you viewed as a strapper? Bartram is a much bigger school than Con and appeared to have a decent amount of supporters on hand, including alumni. If the Braves' faithful had truly assumed COMMAND of those south-end stands and been energetic as one, maybe they could have willed their squad to victory.

FEB. 18
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL/CLASS A FINAL
Constitution 72, Math/Civics/Sciences 51
  Just before starting this report, I decided to check my Facebook page and someone sent this message: "Can you please write about how bad the refs were at the Pub games today? They ref one way all year and then call touch fouls 90 feet away from the basket." I assume this gentleman was talking about the second game (this one) much more than the first because the whistles were tweeting more than a celebrity's Twitter account. Here's one of the problems: Only two refs are used all season and then you have three guys for these important games. More eyes mean more chances to see "stuff" that might be going on. Also, there's an evaluator present at each game and any ref who wants to keep working important contests can't run the risk of letting stuff slide and then being nixed from future assignments because of that. For a while, though, it seemed like breathing on guys was a foul. Through the first half, I kept writing on the note pad about the second foul for this guy and third foul for that guy -- most indeed were ticky-tacks -- and the game had absolutely NO FLOW. ConHigh led by 15-6 after one and by 36-16 at halftime and, as things turned out, we all could have headed home then because MC&S pretty much went meekly and mildly. The game's most interesting moment occurred 1:58 before halftime when Con sr. F Craig "Poppy" Slade tried to draw a charge and wound up with one less tooth. Not sure if the loss occurred while Poppy was still standing or after he fell, but people at that north end of the gym reported that his left front tooth literally went bouncing across the floor. He also suffered a lacerated lip and the blood had to be mopped up, just not tapped with a towel or something. Poppy went to the hospital and we all hope he's OK! Sr. PF-C Savon Goodman led the Generals with 24 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and even six assists, four steals. Oh, plus he wolfed down SIX dunks. It's tough to tell how well he'd fare with a steady diet of regular jumpers because so seldom is he forced to take one. He did do well at the line, however (8-for-9). Sr. PG Daiquan Walker had just eight points (2-for-12 floor), but dished six assists and made many more passes that led to two-shot fouls. Sr. F Fajion Jones did a great off-side job with 18 points and 10 boards, mostly just making sure to place himself in open areas. Almost everyone of importance for MC&S experienced severe foul problems. Only jr. F Jeremiah "Lump" Worthem and jr. CG Malik Starkes (might be able to gain an extra year of eligibility) scored in doubles for the Mighty Elephants, with 15 apiece. Truthfully, few of those points were meaningful and they combined to shoot just 8-for-25 from the floor. Jr. F Jeffon Powell, a sub, didn't score but snagged 10 rebounds. Not much more to say about this one. Con now owns a 2-0 record against its chief Class A rival. Do not be surprised if these guys meet one more time in the down-the-road state playoffs. Most ironic moment: In the fourth quarter, Goodman wound up with a defensive rebound and began to take the ball upcourt. He was still maybe 70 feet from the basket when one of MC&S' assistants yelled, "He ain't got no handle!!" Know what Goodman did? Went coast to coast for a layup.

FEB. 18
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL/CLASS AAAA FINAL
Bartram 57, Fels 49
  When this one started, it's doubtful more than 80 spectators were in Southern's gym. And some of those were players hanging out until the Constitution-MC&S daycap. Also, it appeared only about 15 of the spectators were Fels loyalists. Sad. Not sure whether that lack of support contributed to the Panthers' early struggles, but it couldn't have helped. Bartram roared to 13 of the first 17 points and the capper was a down-low bucket by jr. PF-C Gerald Evariste on a feed from jr. G-F Larry Manigo. Fels shot just 2-for-13 in the first quarter and the marksmanship never really improved 16-for-62. Sr. WG Casey Bell launched like someone who was confident, but hit just one of eight attempts from behind the arc. Sr. F Nijay Kelly went 6-for-20. He made numerous strong drives, often around/through two or three defenders, but finishing was an issue. He also got clobbered a few times, but went to the line just twice. Since he's also a football star, maybe the referees figured he could withstand the punishment (smile). Bartram's leader was sr. PG Gary Gordon, a transfer from U. City and a mid-season addition coming off knee surgery. The lefty shows a nice combination of grit and smoothness, and I liked that he was mostly dependable at the line, too (8-for-11). Jr. Terrieck Williams, officially a WG, claimed 12 rebounds while scoring 10 points. Jr. WG Malik Noel, another lefty, provided a big boost in the second quarter with 11 of his 12 points. Evariste added six boards and three blocks to seven points. Bartram has a lot of similar players: rather slim SFs with decent hops. Kelly (nine) and sr. WG TJ Scott (seven) led Fels in rebounds while jr. PG Danil Mateo, the definition of feisty (and maybe nutty -- smile), hit two treys while totaling 12 points. He also had three assists and four steals and his gumption was central to Fels' fourth quarter rally, as were the contributions of sr. WG Kyree Westbrooks, who scrambled for six steals. Mateo's brassy drive got Fels within 54-48 with 1:06 left and it was almost buckle-the-seatbelts time. The cause was helped when Bartram missed a pair of free throws, then Westbrooks hit one of two to slice the deficit to five. His miss of the second shot turned out OK because Bartram was last to touch the ball before it squirted over the baseline. On the followup possession, sr. G Devon Wilson missed a trey on one side and Bell could not hit a follow from the other. Again the Panthers lucked out because a held ball occurred and the arrow favored them. Bell wound up with a good look on a right-wing trey, but the shot went awry and Williams hit one of two at the other end to pretty much seal the deal. To make sure, sr. WG Jared Bryant made a steal and Gordon nailed two last free throws. Bartram all-timer Tyrone "Braidheart" Garland ('10) was among the spectators. Like always, the lighting in Southern's gym drove me nuts for photo purposes! For whatever reason, it makes the background look green. Ugh! Though the semifinals will also be played at Southern on Tuesday, the championship game will take place next Saturday at the Community College of Philadelphia, a much better and brighter venue. Nice!

FEB. 17
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
(At Phila. University)
Roman 53, Ryan 43
  Whether you’re young or old, think about how many games you’ve seen. Have you ever seen this? TWO official center jumps to start the game. That happened tonight. Occasionally, you’ll see a re-do because the ref tossed up the ball in crooked fashion and neither center was able to get a clean touch. But this time, Ryan sr. Christian Rivera and Roman jr. Secean Johnson got clean taps and the ball went a shade toward the scorers’ table. There was a scramble on the floor and, well, nobody was able to establish possession. A held ball was called and . . . hey, couldn’t exactly look at the possession arrow, right? So lead ref Kevin Clay summoned jr. G Rashann London and Ryan jr. G Tyler Reed back to the circle and up the ball went again. Roman got it. Later, there was another rarity as the ball got stuck at the top of the backboard at the end of the gym closest to Henry Avenue. Clay whipped another ball toward the game ball, trying to dislodge it. Didn’t work. Roman soph PG Shep Garner then took over and, pow, he connected and the game continued. How was the game itself? Like games always are when Ryan’s involved: different. The Raiders took their usual approach, making Roman chase and chase and chase and, oh yeah, chase. And the Cahillites did so, almost always in dedicated fashion. It was impressive to see and more than once you could just tell that Ryan’s players were thinking, “Wow, they’re not making things easy for us. We can’t get back-door layups, and not even enough room to launch treys.” Of course, Ryan did have breakthroughs or Roman would have pitched a shutout (smile). But overall, the Cahillites were impressive on D and that produced the W. Cyber attention went to jr. SF Shafeek Taylor, who was completely energized all game. In Roman’s gym this season, sometimes he appeared to be a shade laid back. But he got AFTER it tonight and I could see a mind-set resembling that of his father, Marshall, star point guard for the 1986 Southern High Pub champs that featured future NBAer Lionel Simmons. Marshall later was the floor leader for Texas Tech. Shafeek shot 7-for-12 (one trey) and 4-for-5 for 19 points while grabbing eight rebounds. London also scored in double figures while likewise snatching eight boards and dealing three assists. Garner had one of his few truly quiet games of the season with only six points, one apiece of rebounds/assists and two steals. Johnson had seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Jr. WG Britton Lee claimed three steals. Ryan placed only sr. F Nick Aughenbaugh in double figures (10), but jr. sub G Gage Galeone (nine, on three treys), Reed (eight) and Rivera (seven) were in the ballpark. Rivera was hurt by foul trouble. Incredibly, Rivera was the rebound leader with four. The coolest development concerned sr. PG Kyle Slawter, who never took a shot and only came close to doing so once, if I remember correctly. In the second half, he got the ball on the right wing and at least glanced toward the bucket. It was like, “Oh, man, is he going to launch a trey here?” Nope. Slawter finished with three boards, five assists and two steals. It would take a lot of research, but I wonder if a starter in a CL playoff game ever went shotless? (Except for maybe someone who suffered an early injury, of course.) Jr. WG Bryan Okolo settled for four points and just one field goal. He got to some good spots, but the ball just wouldn’t fall. It’s always frustrating when “one of those games” happens at exactly the wrong time. Taylor had two big plays to lift Roman’s lead from six to 10 (at 37-27) – a short jumper on the right baseline and a follow of a miss by jr. F Raquan Brown-Johnson. Later, Taylor hit two free throws off a steal and passed to Johnson for a dunk. Both schools had respectable, but hardly gigantic, student sections. Roman’s yelled again and again for an appearance by jr. G Matt Simon, and if he’d hit the late trey he took . . . Oh, baby. The ceiling might have cracked from the noise. Ryan’s kids began departing with about 40 seconds left. Roman’s hollered down to them, “Where you GOIN’?! Where you GOIN’?!” The Palestra semis will feature Roman vs. Neumann-Goretti and Carroll vs. SJ Prep. Should be a classic night!

FEB. 17
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
SJ Prep 76, Wood 49
  . . . As I was saying. Last Friday, Neumann-Goretti beat the Prep in its own gym mostly because it turned the tables on a team that loves to span quarters/halves with a strong run, or at least a mini-run, that provides momentum. Today, those tables were flipped back into their original position and coach William "Speedy" Morris wound up with yet another coaching milestone. Speedball posted two last season and this is his second of 2011-12. Last year, roughly a week apart, he claimed win No. 600 as a high school coach and then No. 561 in just the Catholic League portion of his stellar career, breaking the record of former Kenrick/O'Hara coach Buddy Gardler. On Feb. 3 of this campaign, Morris upped his lifetime win total to 900 counting guys/gals at the scholastic/college levels and today he notched triumph 621 at just the high school level, which tied him with Dan Dougherty (Malvern/Episcopal) for the city record. An announcement was made as the game wound down, but there was no wild celebration, no balloons, no plaques, no rollouts displayed by the grandchildren. Those things would have been very unusual for a tie, No. 1, and there's still much work to be done, No. 2, as the Prep will play Carroll (a winner tonight over La Salle) in a semifinal at the Palestra. Meanwhile, how amazing is this?! This was game No. 788 for Speedy and that's now his winning percentage!! He has averaged exactly 23 wins over his 27 high school seasons while Dan Doc averaged 17.3 over 36 and his winning percentage was "only" .685. Ah, but Doc owns the head-to-head competition, 4-2. Roman beat Episcopal in the legends' one meeting while Speedy was at Roman. Then, Episcopal went 2-0 against Speedy and Penn Charter in the '83 season and 1-1 in '84. That '84 win came in the season finale and kept PC from finishing 10-0. Their other meeting came in Dec. '03, when Speedy was in his third season at Prep. Episcopal won, 47-42, and two of the mainstays were future NBAers Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington. Prep went on to win the CL title and even crushed Dougherty and future NBAer Kyle Lowry, 84-61, in the final. Speedy could not remember this loss vs. Dan Doc. His son, Keith, his first assistant (and player for him at PC), did, however. Anyway, back to the positive run. It spanned halftime and featured a 15-2 advantage, making the score 45-24. The first five came before intermission as jr. PG P.J. Kelly hit a trey on a pass from jr. CG Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) and sr. WG Gene Williams canned a follow of Stevie V's missed three. Out of the halftime blocks, jr. WG Miles Overton nailed a pair of treys, then sr. G-F Kevin Oberlies scored two regulars on a jumper and drive. Ballgame. SportsWeek ink went to Overton, whose dad, Doug (Dobbins), was our Player of the Year in '87 and then had an outstanding career at La Salle (under Speedy, in fact) before advancing to the NBA. He's now an assistant with the New Jersey Nets. Miles had some foul trouble today and early it appeared his afternoon might be a total downer. However, he sniped 4-for-5 on treys in the second half and posted 18 total points while also dealing three assists. Vasturia had 13 points, 11 rebounds (amazing how he gets to double figures so often) and three assists while Oberlies shot 7-for-10 (3-for-5 on treys) en route to 20 points (and four assists, plus strong defense on impressive Wood soph WG-SF Pat Smith). Kevin's the youngest of four brothers to play for Speedy. The oldest, John, said of Kevin's outburst, "I think he scored more points than I did in my entire career." Ha, ha, but not quite. John had 65 in his senior season of 2002-03 alone. Williams had 12 points and was second in boards with six. Kelly had eight points and four assists and was guilty of just one turnover. This will sound somewhat stupid, but I'm stickin' with it anyway. A huge moment was Wood's first possession. Soph C Joe "Big Suburbs II" LoStracco did a great job of sealing off his defender and then gathered in an entry pass. Alas, his layup missed and that became an omen. If he hits that and gains the early confidence, who knows? I do know one thing: Wood will be a major playah over these upcoming seasons because PG Kyle Adkins (worked VERY hard all game, just trying to make things click) was the only sr. rotation member. Jr. F Shane Neher had 15 points and five boards while also busting his butt. A late-game highlight was watching sr. G Colin Davis dish three assists. His brother, Matt, was a quality guard for McDevitt and he wrote about Lancers football for this website during his high school days. He wound up starring in soccer at Albright and claiming numerous academic awards. Even graduated a semester early. Niiiiice. Meanwhile, the Legendary Spectator of the Day Award goes to Bonner sr. PG Dan McLoone. We won't tell anyone that he sat in the front row of the Prep's student section. Oops, we just did (smile). Overall, the atmosphere hardly seemed CL quarterfinalish. Wood had almost no student support and the Prep's kids never fully went wild. They did turn out in respectable numbers, however, especially considering the fact that school was closed.

FEB. 15
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
La Salle 59, Judge 41
  OK, so there’s this NAIA school named Taylor University, in Indiana, and it boasts quite the very cool tradition. They call it “Silent Night” because the student rooters, many of whom show up in outrageous costumes, are completely quiet and still until Taylor scores its 10th  point of the game. Then, they go absolutely nuts (that's a link to a YouTube video) and remain over-the-top energized throughout the game. Only when Taylor wins (assumedly?), the kids croon “Silent Night” to end the proceedings. Shortly before the game began, I figured 160 kids were prepared for SN. Then some more showed up and it was standing room only, so we’ll go with 200 as the number. The kids – some girls were included – went nuts with 3:52 left in the first quarter as jr. F Steve Smith hit his second trey. He launched from the top of the key and it was Trey No. 2 for him. And before that, play-alike classmate Matt Rodden had nailed a pair of threeballs. So, yes, La Salle got to 10 (and right past it to 12) by opening with four three-pointers! So much for coach Joe Dempsey’s concern that his squad might be too anxious to hit 10 in a hurry and, thus, experience early-game struggles. Struggles? Hey, the Explorers were just getting warmed up! They finished a 42-24 first half with nine treys (in just 12 attempts) as Smith and Rodden led the way with four and three, respectively. La Salle, in the person of Smith, hit just two threeballs in the second half, but it didn’t much matter because Judge never was able to mount a truly serious rally. DN ink went to sr. PG Darnell Artis, who had five of his six assists before he scored his first point (of eight). The very small Darnell (5-7, 135) has willed his way into the starting lineup after mostly serving as a conversation piece in 2010-11 and his advancement has been very cool to witness. As it turns out, Darnell lives one block over from where I lived as a kid in East Germantown -- up to age 12, anyway – so now I know why he’s so cool (smile!) Darnell is best buddies with jr. CG Amar Stukes and they played on the same team, as long as 10 years ago, that was coached by Amar’s father, Dhaamin, laughingly called by Darnell “the craziest coach ever.” Stukes finished with 14 points and four assists and did a bang-up defensive on Judge jr. G Steven Griffin (six points, just three shots after the first quarter). Smith sniped 6-for-9 on treys while scoring 20 points while six rebounds apiece went to Smith and jr. F-C Ryan “He’s Our Kicker!!” Winslow. Sr. WG Brian Hennessey was the only reliable Crusader. He shot 7-for-14 (three treys) en route to 19 points and one of his buckets came on a follow-up dunk. Quite impressive! Jr. G-F Malik Robinson got it going a little down the stretch to finish with seven points and as many rebounds. La Salle visits Carroll Friday night for a quarterfinal. It’ll be interesting to see if the students make that sojourn and try to take over Carroll’s gym, whether in costume or not. Through the years I’ve seen many great performances by student sections. Counting the non-stop emotion and costumes, plus the get-to-10 surprise, this might have to be No. 1. Way back in the day (mid-'70s, maybe?), some student fans of the old Bishop Kenrick drew media attention by dribbling from their school, in Norristown, all the way to the Palestra for a playoff game!! Wonder if anyone’s up for dribbling from Wyndmoor to Radnor?? (smile)

FEB. 15
CONTRIBUTION FROM WEBSITE VISITOR BARBARA LOWE
  I wanted to pass on something "nice to see" that I witnessed the other night.
  As you know Malvern Prep beat Germantown Academy on Saturday night at Malvern Prep.  It was a loud and exciting game.
  At the end of the game when Malvern was the winner, all the students stormed the court and flooded the players with their congratulations.
  One lone player came away from the basket and off the left side of the court. He did not head toward all the celebration but instead headed toward the stands.
  He was heading towards us . . .
  His dad met him a quarter of the way and they embraced.
  He then came and gave each one of us a hug and a thank you for our support.  There were three rows of us, family and friends.
  It was Brendan Kilpatrick and it just epitomized what a nice gentlemen he has turned out to become.
  Just wanted to pass along something "nice to see."
Thanks,
Barbara Lowe