Photos/Videos: Dan Hilferty & Rich Flanagan
By: Rich Flanagan
SPRINGFIELD, PA – Chris McNesby looked up at the scoreboard and felt it might be time to call a timeout. Cheltenham was in the midst of a momentum-swinging run in the third quarter and the Roman Catholic head coach was waiting to see how his Cahillites would respond to the adversity. Playing against an experienced Cheltenham team that refused to go away, McNesby allowed his group to play things out and gave them an opportunity to assert themselves.
For a coach who has two state championships to his name, he has seen this situation before and knew what he had shared with this corps would show itself.
“This time of year, any good team is playing together,” McNesby said. “If I have to over-coach, that’s not good so I try to let them play this point in the year, especially because the chemistry should be there with our senior leaders. They have to go do it and they just stayed with it.”
Khalil Farmer hit five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 23 points and Daniel Skillings Jr. posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds as Roman Catholic took down Cheltenham, 75-62 in the PIAA Class 6A Tournament quarterfinals at Cardinal O’Hara. The victory secured the Cahillites first state semifinal appearance since 2018 and McNesby’s third trip to the final four of the state tournament.
The last time the Cahillites played at O’Hara was the 2020 Philadelphia Catholic League title game against Archbishop Wood that saw Roman Catholic walk off the floor without a title. The regular season loss to the Vikings prevented any hope for a state tournament appearance and ending the year without a title of any kind was a disappointment for Farmer, Skillings and junior guard Xzayvier Brown, who poured in 16 points, seven assists and four steals against the Panthers (30-2).
Roman Catholic senior Khalil Farmer - PSD Photos by Dan Hilferty
McNesby’s championship experience and grasp on how to navigate the state playoffs was something he shared with his players, specifically Farmer.
“He always reflects on those teams from when he had Tony [Carr] and those guys,” Farmer said. “It wasn’t easy and he keeps telling us that we’re going to have to dig deep. I thought we did a great job today and we’re going to have to do the same thing.”
Farmer hit two of his shots from the outside in the first quarter and Skillings helped the cause with 10 points in the opening frame to put Roman Catholic (22-4) in front, 25-10 after one. Farmer hit another trey then Cheltenham’s Rasheem Dearry (17 points) answered with a three of his own and Panthers trailed, 30-15 with 5:10 left before halftime. Freshman big man Shareef Jackson, who had six rebounds and four blocks, converted on the inside twice to close the half and Brown hit four free throws as the Cahillites took a 17-point lead into the locker room.
After a gut-wrenching, two-point loss to Neumann-Goretti in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals followed by a dominant win over Abraham Lincoln in the District 12-6A title game, Roman Catholic refocused and pulled off a win over Haverford High in the opening round of the state tournament. Seeing the intensity and fervor that teams like the Fords play with was a real eye-opener for Farmer.
“Coach Chris was saying this is season-ending for these teams and some of them have been playing together their entire lives,” Farmer said. “It’s important that we come out and take care of business early.”
Roman Catholic vs. Cheltenham - PIAA 6A Quarterfinal Highlights by Rich Flanagan & Dan Hilferty:
The Panthers, the Suburban One League Tournament champions, epitomized a neighborhood team that had plenty of experience playing together and on this stage. Justin Savage, who finished with 14 points, converted inside then Nasir Edens put home a tough finish, and Cheltenham cut the deficit to 18. Dearry and Brandon Bush hit two free throws each and Savage’s layup with 4:21 left in third quarter had the Roman Catholic lead down to 12. Freshman Josiah Hutson, who hit four three-pointers in the second half, hit his first of two in that quarter alone as part of a 17-0 run and Panthers were within five with less than two minutes remaining in the third.
Brown was the lone player on the roster who had state playoff experience coming into this season, so for the rest of the roster, this was unknown territory to be in, but, as McNesby had stated, he was waiting for this group to have that realization to seize the moment.
“This is all new to them and they started to cruise a little bit,” McNesby said. “Cheltenham was not going to quit, and I said to them, ‘You’re ending kids’ senior years so you’re getting everything they have.’ They’re not going to go away.”
The Cahillites response started with a floater in the lane from Brown then a free throw from sophomore guard Toby Ojukwu (13 points). Hutson nailed a trey just before the third-quarter buzzer and the Roman Catholic lead was cut to five again. Skillings finished down the lane with his left hand then Farmer went baseline and finished on the other side of the rim to push the lead to seven.
In the process, Farmer began a 9-0 run and he helped close things out with an and-one to extend the lead to 60-48 with 4:27 left to play. Brown and Ojuwku shot a combined 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 1:38 to take the Cahillites home with a victory.
Roman Catholic senior Daniel Skillings Jr. - PSD Photos by Dan Hilferty
Roman Catholic will meet District 1-6A champion, Lower Merion, which downed Scranton, 72-44 in the state semifinals, on Saturday at a site to be determined. Penn State commit and 6-foot-10 Aces big man Demetrius Lilley poured in 30 points in the win. Lilley had 25 against Archbishop Wood in last year’s 6A semifinals and he will be a focal point of the Cahillites gameplan over the next few days as the team storied programs meet in the state playoffs for the first time since 2019.
A game like Wednesday only benefits McNesby’s group as they showed their resilience and toughness to close it out when met with adversity. After rebounding from the loss to Neumann-Goretti, McNesby feels the Cahillites have righted the ship.
“I think getting over the Catholic League becomes tough because it’s so important then there’s a week off but once we play that first states game, they’re ready because they’re ballplayers,’ McNesby said. “Once we started playing, I thought we would be good.”
Devon Prep takes down PCL foe, continues rise with deep state tournament run
A season ago, Devon Prep caught many teams in the Philadelphia Catholic League off-guard by winning nine league games and making the league semifinals for the first time in program history. While teams may have been more prepared for the Tide this year, they still managed to win a first-round playoff game over Archbishop Carroll before having their season end at the hands of West Catholic in the quarterfinals…or so they thought.
Jason Fisher’s team was selected as the No. 3 seed out of District 12 and showed it belonged by dismantling Dock Mennonite to open the PIAA Class 3A Tournament. After a win over Columbia in the second round, they met a familiar foe in the quarterfinals: the Burrs. West Catholic won both matchups, regular and postseason, over Devon Prep by an average of 17 points but on Wednesday night, there would be no third time.
IV Pettit put together a masterful performance with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists while Jacen Holloway led all scorers with 22 points as Devon Prep upset West Catholic, 60-53 at Cardinal O’Hara.
Devon Prep vs. West Catholic - PIAA 3A quarterfinal Highlights by Rich Flanagan & Dan Hilferty:
The win catapulted the Tide into the state semifinals for the first time in program history. In a season where a multitude of players within the Philadelphia Catholic League have distinguished themselves from Robert Wright III, Daniel Skillings Jr., Moses Hipps and more, Pettit reminded many what made him a First Team All-Catholic a season ago. He converted an and-one for his first basket and Devon Prep led 5-0 at the 4:50 mark of the first quarter.
Holloway, who shot 7-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-4 from behind the arc, knocked down his first trey on the ensuing possession and helped the Tide (17-8) to a three-point lead after one. The Tide looked like a team that had learned from its mistakes in the previous two matchups of allowing West Catholic (21-6) to get into the lane and convert easy baskets in the paint. They played a zone defense and forced the Burrs to shoot from the perimeter. Additionally, Devon Prep controlled the clock and tempo as Pettit, sophomore Ty Mishock (four points, five assists) and Susquehanna University signee Allen Cieslak (10 points) orchestrated a precise dribble-handoff offense that West Catholic did not have an answer for.
Pettit found Cieslak in the lane for an easy bucket then the 6-foot-2 senior guard, who began his career at West Chester Rustin, hit Holloway on the wing for a trey and the Tide were moving with a 20-11 lead with 4:38 left before halftime. Another strong drive by Cieslak and a putback by Pettit pushed the lead to 11 and eventually Devon Prep had a 12-point advantage at the break.
The Tide was the upstart of the Philadelphia Catholic League last season and West Catholic was, without a doubt, the upstart this year after winning 12 league games, making a trip to the semifinals for the first time since 1999 and advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
Devon Prep senior IV Pettit - PSD Photos by Dan Hilferty
Devon Prep junior Jacen Holloway - PSD Photos by Dan Hilferty
And they certainly played like a team hoping to add one more win to a historic season. Marcus Branker Jr. and Adam “Budd” Clark (12 points, five assists, three steals) hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions then Cal State Bakersfield signee Kareem Watson added one of his own, and the Burrs were within four. Fellow Cal State Bakersfield signee Kaseem Watson, who totaled 12 points and nine rebounds, scored six straight points to cut the deficit to 37-36 with under 1:30 left in the third.
As he did throughout the evening, Pettit answered. He converted down the lane then banked home a trey just before the buzzer to put the Tide in front by six heading into the final quarter. Kareem and Kaseem Watson hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions but both of those were answered by dagger treys from Holloway, who put Devon Prep up, 53-46 with 2:10 remaining. Zion Stanford, the First Team All-Catholic selection, scored five of his 14 points down the stretch and three from the wing put the Burrs within four with 36.1 seconds left. The Tide calmy hit 4-of-5 at the foul line to close things out.