Photos/Videos: Donna Eckert, Rich Flanagan, Dan Hilferty, & Mike Nance

By: Rich Flanagan

PHILADELPHIA – Matt Griffin watched anxiously on his phone as the two teams went back and forth against each other. A big finish inside here. A huge block that led to a fast break basket at the other end to ignite the crowd followed that. Each defensive stop became more palpable as the momentum shifted and fans became uneasy in the stands. It’s something that every basketball fan across the country is doing right now, but this game was part of another tournament.

Griffin relished the opportunity to share in the victory in the only way he could and felt pleased that players he coached are achieving something bigger than themselves.

“That’s the most rewarding part of what we do as coaches: seeing young, aspiring basketball players grow and mature, learn the game at a high level, live out their hoop dreams, and be rewarded for their hard work on the floor,” Griffin said. “The reason that they attended Roman was to have those experiences.”

Griffin will be there on Saturday night to watch Daniel Skillings Jr., Khalil Farmer, Xzayvier Brown, and the rest of the Roman Catholic roster take on Philadelphia Catholic League foe, Archbishop Wood in the PIAA 6A Tournament Championship Game inside the GIANT Center. Griffin coached all three during the shortened 2020-21 season in the midst of the pandemic and led the Cahillites to the Philadelphia Catholic League title game, but they lost to the Vikings at Cardinal O’Hara.

Griffin took over for Chris McNesby, who took the reins back this offseason and is looking to guide Roman Catholic, which owns a 27-8 record in the state tournament all-time, to its fourth state championship in program history. McNesby has two state championships to his name and the trio of Skillings, Farmer and Brown is eerily reminiscent of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Nazeer Bostick, who were the catalysts of those title teams from 2015-16.

Roman Catholic (22-4) advanced to the Philadelphia Catholic semifinals, where they fell to Neumann-Goretti, but since then they have turned their attention to the state tournament. Following the 2022 District 12-6A title over Lincoln, the Cahillites are hoping to make the most of one last run for an elusive title following a year of relentless adversity, according to McNesby.

Farmer, the 6-4 senior guard and Hofstra signee, is avg. 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and has hit 48 three-pointers this season. He knocked down five three-pointers on his way to 23 points against the Panthers then scored 11 points in the semifinals. Brown, a 6-1 junior guard and three-year starter, is avg. 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 3.0 steals this season. He came into the season as the only Cahillites player with state playoff experience and that has shown as he scored 16 and 15 points in the last two rounds, respectively. Roman Catholic received a boost from 6-2 senior guard Quadir Brown, who hit two treys and scored 10 points against the Aces. Down low, 6-7 freshman forward Shareef Jackson (4.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks) has had a nice season in his first year with his father’s alma mater.

When Roman Catholic and Archbishop Wood meet on Saturday, it will be the first time two Philadelphia Catholic League programs have met in the state final since Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Carroll in 2015. Vikings head coach John Mosco, who will be coaching in his fourth PIAA state title game, was an assistant when Neumann-Goretti played the Patriots in the 2009 PIAA 3A tournament quarterfinals, but this is his first experience of playing another league opponent in the state playoffs, let alone the title game, as head coach. Archbishop Carroll won that game then made a run to become the first Philadelphia Catholic League program to win a state crown.

Mosco vividly recalls that game against the Patriots and how the atmosphere in Hershey between two Philadelphia Catholic League opponents will present a different feel than in past years around this time.

“It will be different where we already know each other,” Mosco said. “It will have that friendly atmosphere, but it is a rivalry.

Bethea is avg. 18.8 ppg since the Boys’ Latin game and he put together one of the most incredible games by an Archbishop Wood player in the 74-47 victory over North Hills. He shot 11-for-12 from behind the three-point line and finished with 37 points, which broke the record for the most ever scored by a Philadelphia Catholic League player in a state playoff game. The previous record was held by Archbishop Ryan’s Aaron Lemon-Warren, who had 36 points against Chester in the PIAA 5A semifinals last season. When describing Bethea’s performance, Mosco stressed that his jumpshots “didn’t even touch the rim. It was amazing to watch and see somebody perform like that.”

Compared to state finals against the likes of Meadville, Moon and Reading, Roman Catholic is a team that the Vikings have had to go through to win the Philadelphia Catholic League title and now the two will meet again after Archbishop Wood took home a 64-61 win in the regular season with Moore scoring 21 points while Skillings had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Cahillites.

That added storyline of the league rivalry presents a different feel for Mosco and the Vikings.

“We’ve been talking about what it took to get here and as the week goes on, we’ll talk about the GIANT Center and the atmosphere,” Mosco said. “It will be different because we know Roman, and they know us. We’re not playing the whole area of Reading or Moon. It’s a little different.”

When Devon Prep (18-8) joined the Philadelphia Catholic League in 2018, Jason Fisher’s vision for the program was to compete with the most skilled and talented teams in Pa. and test his players against the very best. Following three years of development and hardship, the Tide have established themselves as a team that cannot only compete, but also hold its own. The first part of Fisher’s goal was to improve the caliber of the team and find how his team could thrive in the most competitive league in the state.

“It was an opportunity to challenge the guys and we made it a goal for them to stay focused on what was happening at that moment,” Fisher said. “We were trying to have them to get something out of everything that they do. We didn’t say, ‘Four years from now, we want to be playing for a state championship.’ It’s been a process.”

Despite having never coached in the state tournament prior to this season with a roster where only one player had any state playoff experience, Fisher and the Tide have been on a mission to make a name for themselves and help the Philadelphia Catholic League get back to being a force in Pa. IV Pettit, who played his first two seasons at West Chester Rustin where he helped the Golden Knights reach the state tournament twice, has been instrumental to Devon Prep’s rise to legitimacy. The 6-2 senior guard is avg. 15.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals this season. He has hit 52 three-pointers, including 11 during the state playoffs. He had a team-high 29 points against Columbia then 20 vs. the Burrs. “Everybody knew that he could score, but I don’t know if he truly knew what he was capable of. He’s just scratching the surface of what he can do. He has such an overall game that I don’t think he realized before,” according to Fisher.

While the Tide are getting their first experience in a state final, Carl Arrigale and Neumann-Goretti (22-4) will be looking to win their ninth state championship, which would extend another record for the legendary head coach after winning his 12th Philadelphia Catholic League title in February. The Saints will take on Quaker Valley, the District 7 champion which boasts a 27-0 record and has reached its first state final in program history, in the PIAA Class 4A Tournament Championship Game on Thursday night.

Arrigale owns a 52-3 record in the PIAA Tournament and the road to this appearance in Hershey has been unlike any other.

“I’m not sure if we know who we are but we’ve gotten to a place where we can be successful and understand what it takes to win the games,” Arrigale said. “The preparation has been nice, and we’ve been able to slow down.”

“The Palestra does prepare you for just about anything,” Arrigale said. “I was pleasantly surprised at how they handled that atmosphere. I knew they wouldn’t be afraid, but I wasn’t sure they would be as composed. I thought they would be amped up to the point where it might be detrimental, but they were extremely poised. The sophomores are the leaders because they always have the ball in their hands. Our team was able to follow their lead and we took off from there.”

Those sophomores are 6-foot guard Robert Wright III and 5-11 guard Khaafiq Myers. Wright has avg. 22.5 ppg since the beginning of the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs and poured in 30 points in a 77-50 victory over Dallas in the PIAA semifinals, becoming the first Saints player to score 30 in a state playoff game since Zane Martin had 33 against Mars in the 2016 PIAA 3A title game. Wright hit a season-high seven three-pointers in the win while Myers had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. The backcourt duo have been sensational following a shortened season and their growth has been aided by the Saints seniors in 6-1 guard Masud Stewart (11.4 ppg) and 6-1 guard Aamir Hurst (7.9). Aside from the growth of Wright and Myers, the addition of Sultan Adewale (11.7), the 6-8 junior forward from London, England, has paid dividends. He had 12 points and three blocks vs. ELCO to open the state tournament then put together a dominant performance with 13 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks in the semifinals.

The Saints will have to contend with 6-5 Quaker Valley senior guard Adou Thiero, who holds offers from Duquesne and UC Santa Barbara and has received interest from Pittsburgh, Indiana, Marquette, Cincinnati, West Virginia and even Kentucky. He had 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and seven blocks against Belle Vernon in the second round then had 20 points against Archbishop Carroll in the semifinals. He has scored 1,606 career points, third-most in program history.

Fellow senior and 6-5 forward Markus Frank has also been a force this season, having scored a single-season record 731 points this year. He had 21 of his 28 points against the Patriots in the second half. He had a school-record 45 points in a win over Deer Lakes, beating the record of 44 Thiero set earlier this season. He has scored 1,433 career points, fifth on the all-time list.

The last time a Philadelphia Catholic League boys program claimed a state basketball title was 2018 when the Cahillites and Saints took home the trophy. Since that time, there have been no celebrations on the floor of the GIANT Center and the hope is that this is the year the league returns to the summit. When adding in Constitution in Class 2A, District 12 has the opportunity to assert its dominance once again.