By: Rich Flanagan
Photos/Videos: Rich Flanagan, Kathy Leister & Mike Nance
PHILADELPHIA – Matt Griffin has stood on the sideline of Cardinal O’Hara and heard the roaring crowd behind him belting cheers and jeers down upon him. The Roman Catholic head coach has led his team into and through the PIAA state tournament over the last few seasons on that floor, including last season’s victory over Coatesville in the Class 6A first round.
Two years ago, the Cahillites thrashed Lower Merion in the state playoffs as former Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown, whose son is a starter on the Aces, looked on. While his memories of coaching in Cardinal O’Hara's gym are quite fond, those as a player have a different feeling.
Roman Catholic head coach Matt Griffin, will lead the Cahillites to the their fourth consecutive title game - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
“As a player in 2007, my senior year, we played Roman in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs and we lost,” Griffin said. “That was the end of my high school career. That was the first year the Palestra came back into play.”
A First Team All-Catholic as a senior, Griffin and St. Joseph’s Prep lost to a Cahillites team that featured Golden State Warriors guard Brad Wanamaker and would go on to claim the title that season. While it’s nothing to frown about, it’s a memory that has remained with him and one that drives him as a coach. The fact that his team did not reach the league semifinals and a trip to the Palestra was a disparaging one, he has made several trips to the Cathedral of College Basketball at the helm of Roman Catholic with two titles to his name.
Griffin will lead the Cahillites (10-1) into O’Hara on Monday night to take on top seed Archbishop Wood in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game.
This is the first year the title game will not be played at the Palestra since 2006 when it was played at La Salle University. Roman Catholic is playing in its fourth consecutive title game under Griffin and this run may be more remarkable than the past three when considering the roster has been completely revamped from a season ago.
Lynn Greer III, a Dayton commit, graduated and is completing a post grad year at IMG Academy (Fla.). Justice Williams, the Cahillites leading scorer last season, and 6-foot-10 big man Jalen Duren, the No. 3 player in the Class of 2022, are playing together at Montverde Academy (Fla.). Christian Kirkland returned to Friends Select, where he spent his freshman season, while Nasir Lett (Lincoln University) and Kyle Maska (Gwynedd Mercy) also graduated.
With so much gone from a team that had two league title game appearances on its résumé, any team would be hard-pressed to duplicate the success they had put together.
Roman vs. Devon Prep - 2021 PCL Semifinal Photo Gallery by Mike Nance for PSD
Bring back sophomore guard Xzayvier Brown (10.2 points per game) and enter transfers Daniel Skillings Jr. (St. Joseph’s High School (N.J.) and Khalil Farmer (Shipley School). Brown was the lone returning starter and gaining experience as freshman has paid dividends in year two. Skillings, the 6-6 athletic forward, is avg. 20.1 ppg and scored 13 points in the Cahillites’ 38-36 win over Devon Prep in the league semifinals on Saturday. Farmer had 30 points at O’Hara back on February 20. Adding in players like junior guard Jhamir Martin, who saw little time at the varsity level last year, 6-7 junior Chad Anglin and 6-7 forward Matija Radunovic, a foreign exchange student from Montenegro, and this core group is a complete overhaul.
For Griffin, the approach has been the same and he’s been so impressed with their ability to come together in a shortened and confusing season.
“I’m very proud of this group because it is a relatively new group of guys,” Griffin said. “The guys that came back didn’t get many varsity minutes, aside from Xzayvier. We have an international student in Matija and two other guys from different schools. This has been a process of committing to a common goal.”
The Vikings (15-0) enter Monday’s final with revenge on their mind as they fell to the Cahillites, 83-73 in the semifinals at the Palestra, despite a semifinal-record 35 points from 2020 Philadelphia Catholic League MVP and UConn commit Rahsool Diggins. Archbishop Wood won the regular-season matchup over Roman Catholic with a convincing 79-69 victory behind 20 points from Richmond commit Marcus Randolph and an 18-point, 10-rebound and four-block performance from 6-5 forward Muneer Newton, the unheralded starter on a lineup featuring four Division I prospects.
Vikings head coach John Mosco notes that Newton “has made us go for the last four years” and “he’s gotten better offensively.” He has stood out on that lineup with Diggins, Randolph, Jaylen Stinson (James Madison) and Daeshon Shepherd (La Salle).
After losing in the semifinals then not being given the opportunity to make a second straight trip to the state title game, Mosco continued to preach the mantra of unfinished business with his group.
“Coming in, the message was that we didn’t get to where we should’ve been last year because we lost to Roman then COVID-19 hit,” Mosco said. “We had to figure out how to get there, regardless of the format or scenario that was constructed for the season.”
Archbishop Wood vs. Archbishop Ryan 2021 PCL Semifinal Highlights by Rich Flanagan & Kathy Leister
Archbishop Wood has been on a mission from the beginning, becoming the first Philadelphia Catholic League boys team to go undefeated in league play since Neumann-Goretti in 2016 and winning 10 regular-season games by double digits. After defeating Archbishop Ryan in the regular-season finale, the two teams met once again in the semifinals on Saturday with the Vikings cruising to a 77-47 triumph to make their first title game appearance in 2017. That team was led by Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Tyree Pickron (Quinnipiac), Keith Otto (Moravian College) and Matt Cerruti (Lock Haven).
Stinson poured in a game-high 20 points while Randolph put together a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebound and 10 assists. Diggins, playing on a tender ankle following an injury suffered at practice during the week, scored 10 of his 13 points in the third quarter and Shepherd controlled the glass with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Newton may have played the best of the starting five with 16 points and seven boards.
Stinson, a three-year starter who recalls losing both in the 2019 PIAA Class 5A final and the league semifinals a year ago, stressed how individual accolades don’t mean a thing without championships.
“We all have individual accomplishments: 1,000 points, All-Catholic and All-State,” Stinson said. “That doesn’t mean anything if we’re not winning. We’re winning but we’re not winning. We need multiple championships. We want the PCL and the state. We want to be considered the best.”
Regardless of who the teams were going to be, the fact that the title game will be played is a significant achievement for the Philadelphia Catholic League and its teams. Having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for each program to manage, but once again on Monday night, a league champion will be crowned.
Wood vs. Ryan - 2021 PCL semifinal Photo Gallery by Kathy Leister for PSD
Griffin is hoping his team can take something away from the first matchup in preparation for this one.
“They’re so talented and experienced,” Griffin said. “In that first game, for a lot of our players, that was the first time playing against that level of team in that environment on the road. Experience is the best teaching tool and it really was. Hopefully, that taught us a lot about ourselves.”
Putting together a perfect season can easily be undone with a loss in the title game but Mosco has seen the drive of this 2021 class and what ultimately winning one would mean.
“Our motto from the get-go was to get to the final game, no matter what happens or whatever playoff scenario,” Mosco said. “All we could do is take care of what was in front of us each game and that’s how we prepared.”