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BOYS BASKETBALL: PCL’s Final Four Heading to the Palestra

By Rich Flanagan, 02/20/23, 1:30PM EST

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Photos/Videos: Rich Flanagan, Kathy Leister, Krystal Williams, Dan Hilferty, Ryan Nix & Rachel Macauley

By: Rich Flanagan

WARMINSTER, PA – Jalil Bethea stood underneath the rim trying to get lost in the scuffle. With bodies passing through as Archbishop Wood teammates cut to get separation and St. Joe’s Prep defenders shielded them from getting the ball, it was difficult to find openings on the floor. The Philadelphia Catholic League MVP had a career night against the Hawks going for 40 points in the regular season and they were doing everything they could to slow him down.

One of the focal reasons Bethea won the coveted award was his acumen on how to use screens and space to his advantage, and after posting eight points in the opening half, he found room and connected on one make after the next.


Archbishop Wood junior Jalil Bethea #1 - 2023 Philadelphia Catholic League MVP - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister

Bethea poured in 22 of his 30 points in the second half while teammate Josh Reed scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime to lead Archbishop Wood to an 84-73 victory over St. Joe’s Prep in the Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinals. The win secured the Vikings’ third semifinal appearance in the last four years. Bethea hit four three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone as he utilized down screens primarily from East Stroudsburg commit Carson Howard to get free. His ability to conceal himself from the Hawks defense then spring free on the wing or top of the key was reminiscent of former Duke great J.J. Redick, who made the fifth-most three-pointers in NCAA history (457).

Redick made his living finding different ways to get open with screens and constant movement and Bethea - who made 32 three-pointers during league play this season – has been doing much of the same throughout his Archbishop Wood career.

“They were worrying about me and trying to deny me,” Bethea said. “I used [Carson] as a target to set screens off the ball and that’s how I got open. It’s the chemistry Carson and I have. We will adjust and talk to each other about doing this and that. He will screen then I’ll come off and use his big body to my advantage.”

Bethea became the first Vikings player to score 30 points in a playoff game since Archbishop Wood all-time leading scorer Rahsool Diggins poured in 35 against Roman Catholic at the Palestra in the 2020 Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals. He began the second half with two free throws in a third quarter that saw he and Reed score eight points apiece. Bethea hit a jumper from the left elbow then Reed finished ahead of the defense and Archbishop Wood (15-7) led 47-41 with 3:42 left in third.

It was an exhilarating third quarter as St. Joe’s Prep (16-7) continued to answer every Vikings run. Jalen Harper (nine points, eight rebounds) finished with his right hand in the lane then Jaron McKie (12 points) drilled a corner three-pointer and the Hawks trailed by one. Howard answered that with a defensive rebound then led the break and found Gus Salem, who missed but Howard corralled the rebound and put it back. The 6-foot-8 senior forward finished with six points and nine boards.

A season after losing in the quarterfinals to Archbishop Ryan on their home floor, head coach John Mosco noted that players like Bethea, Reed and Howard brought that anguish into this contest and kept the pressure on the more inexperienced Hawks.

“It’s a year of experience with Jalil, Josh and Carson playing together,” Mosco said. “Milan Dean and Deuce Maxey sat last year but they saw that loss. They were able to mature and that’s what we had over St. Joe’s Prep was maturity. They’re young and it was their first playoff game. First half they did ok but we stepped up in the second half.”

Salem hit a three from the corner to make it 56-52 with 6:46 remaining then Bethea put his MVP pedigree on display. He hit three consecutive shots from deep, including one from the right corner that made it 65-54 and put the Vikings in control. Bethea was equally impressive in the rest of his stat line with 12 rebounds and four assists, but his efficiency was astounding as he shot 10-for-18 from the floor.

It was a performance that Mosco has come to expect from his 6-5 junior who boasts numerous high Division I offers and one that reminded him of one of the greatest shooters in NBA history who made 2,560 three-pointers in his career.

“Two years ago, I told him he reminds me of Reggie Miller with his build and how he comes off and gets his shot off,” Mosco said. “He just gets better every day with his basketball knowledge, shooting and playing. They weren’t going to let him score 40 again and they’re going to make him work. He’s running off screens trying and working to get open.”

The Hawks made one last-ditch effort to close the gap as Olin Chamberlain Jr., who had 12 points on the night, converted an and-one then Jordan Ellerbee – who scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the final quarter, hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 67-58.

Bethea, as he did all night, answered with another trey, and the lead was back to 12 with 3:04 left to play.

Bethea will get his first shot at playing on the floor at the Palestra on Wednesday when the Vikings take on Roman Catholic – a team that beat them 77-56 on the opening night of the league season – and he’s looking forward to playing instead of watching like he did when Archbishop Wood lost to the Cahillites there the night Diggins put up that semifinal-record 35.

Archbishop Wood vs. St. Joseph's Prep Quarterfinal Highlights by Rich Flanagan

“It was my eighth year and I watched Rahsool’s class play Jalen Duren and Roman Catholic there in the semifinals,” Bethea said. “The atmosphere of everyone from each school cheering and everyone in the city coming out to watch was amazing.”

The Vikings last played in the title game in 2021 when that senior class led by Diggins downed Roman Catholic at Cardinal O’Hara to claim the program’s second league title ever. Winning the MVP was special but for Bethea, it pales in comparison to what a league championship would mean for him and the program.

“I don’t care about any of that; all I care about is cutting the nets down at the Palestra,” Bethea said. “This game is over, but we still have two more games to get to where we want to be.”

Roman Catholic Follows Brown’s Lead to Advance

A year after dismantling Cardinal O’Hara in the quarterfinals, the Cahillites found themselves matched up with the Lions once again and – even without its two leading scorers from a season ago – enacted the same result. Roman Catholic led by 11 at halftime then outscored the Lions, 42-30 in the second half to secure an emphatic 76-53 victory on Friday night.

While Daniel Skillings Jr. and Khalil Farmer have moved on, one constant remains and that is Xzayvier Brown.

The 6-1 senior guard and St. Joe’s signee tallied 19 points and six assists in his fourth trip to the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs. He’s a four-year starter with 1,000 career points and a PIAA Class 6A title to his name but he’s still missing the one thing that has defined so many of the great Cahillites players like Lonnie McFarlan, Bernard Jones, Marc Jackson, Lari Ketner, Donnie Carr and even NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee, Marvin Harrison: a Philadelphia Catholic League championship.

Head coach Chris McNesby won a pair of league crowns during his first stint with the Cahillites behind Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Nazeer Bostick, and he sees so many similarities of what those players did to win back-to-back titles at the Cathedral of College Basketball.

“He’s completely focused on winning the league,” McNesby said. “There are a lot of other players in the league that have that same mindset but him being in the league so long as a veteran guy, it means a little more to him. It’s his senior year and he’s been at Roman all four years. He’s locked into this one and it would definitely be a great cap off to his career.”


Roman Catholic senior Xzayvier Brown, First-Team All-Catholic - PSD Photo by Krystal Williams

Brown is a two-time First Team All-Catholic selection and has made the Pa. All-State Class 6A team in each of the last two seasons. The individual accolades are plentiful but the drive to win this league title is paramount. He was a starter as a freshman on the Roman Catholic team that beat Archbishop Wood in the semifinals before falling to Neumann-Goretti in the final. He had 12 points against the Vikings in his first game at the Palestra, showcasing that the added pressure of the fabled arena didn’t faze him.

Wednesday in another matchup with the Vikings will be the next test to accomplish a goal that his predecessors have and he wants to be able to join that exclusive club. While he lost Skillings and Farmer to graduation, he has ample help in his final run. Jermai Stewart-Herring shot 9-for-13 from the field and finished with a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Erik Oliver-Bush poured in 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win. Both are transfers and gelled with the corps of Brown, Shareef Jackson – who father, Marc has a league title to his name – and fellow St. Joe’s signee Anthony Finkley. Jackson had a strong game with nine points, seven boards and seven assists and Finkley added seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Multiple defenders, but primarily Stewart-Herring were on Cardinal O’Hara standout and Iona signee Izaiah Pasha, who finished with 17 points, including three three-pointers, and four rebounds. Point guard Aasim Burton led the Lions with 19 points and six assists, but on a night where they needed to be at their best, the rest of the team combined for 17 points.

The Cahillites will play at the Palestra for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons with several new faces who do not have experience of playing there (semifinals were held at higher seeds home floor during 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Luckily, they will have Brown who has not only played but had success in that building. Experience in that arena is not something many players in the league boast and it also helps to have a coach who has been at the pinnacle of the sport on multiple occasions.

“Play how we play and try to stay connected with each other,” McNesby said. “We can’t be distracted by everything else around us. Hopefully the ball tips up and it’s just a basketball game again.”

West Catholic Achieves More History on its Road Back to the Semifinals

In a season of firsts, the one thing West Catholic missed out on was playing in its first Philadelphia Catholic League title game since 1999. Last season, the Burrs fell to Archbishop Ryan in the semifinals at the Palestra in a season where they felt they should have been playing in the final against Neumann-Goretti. Instead, they walked off the court with their heads slumped searching for answers.

A year later, the Burrs and Raiders met again, this time in the Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinals with a chance to return to the Palestra. With the experience gained from last season’s run, the Burrs were amply prepared and their return appearance to the University of Pennsylvania for Wednesday’s night semifinal matchup with Neumann-Goretti was never in doubt.

Two-time First Team All-Catholic selection Adam “Budd” Clark posted 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and six steals while Third Team pick Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui chipped in 21 points, five boards and five assists in leading West Catholic to a 71-51 victory over Archbishop Ryan.

Miguel Bocachica became the first West Catholic head coach to lead the Burrs to consecutive semifinal appearances in program history and after seeing what his team did last year when they won 12 league games, he knew his side would break through.


West Catholic senior Adam “Budd” Clark, First-Team All-Catholic - PSD Photo by Dan Hilferty

“I didn’t sense any nerves and our guys came out with great energy,” Bocachica said. “Budd knocked down two early threes and if they were any nerves, he loosened everybody up and the rest of the guys were focused.”

Clark hit those two three-pointers as part of a strong opening quarter that saw the Burrs lead 15-4. The Raiders dropped back into a zone, forcing West Catholic (14-9) to have to make open shots from the perimeter. While the Burrs have had their struggles from behind the arc this season, they made Archbishop Ryan (15-8) – which had won 10 league games for the first time since 2006 – pay throughout the contest. As Bocachica stressed, “We trusted the guy with the ball to make the right play” and those guys were Clark, Wilbanks-Acqui and Temple signee Zion Stanford (16 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals, three blocks).

The Burrs shot 58.5% from the floor and while they only made six three-pointers on the night, it seemed like more as each one that went through the net, quieted the Archbishop Ryan faithful and the momentum remained with West Catholic. Archbishop Ryan made a push toward the end of the second quarter and the Burrs lead was cut to eight heading into halftime. First Team All-Catholic big man Thomas Sorber – who came into the game averaging 18.3 points per game – didn’t score his first basket until the 2:53 mark of the second quarter.

While no team in the league can boast a player of similar size, strength and ability to the 6-9 Sorber, Bocachica’s teams generally have length so he threw different players at the vaunted forward in the likes of Stanford, 6-5 senior forward MJ Brankers Jr., 6-6 sophomore Isaac Cole and even 6-6 freshman forward Kingston Wheatley, who Bocachica applauded for playing key minutes and competing on the defensive end.

Archbishop Ryan vs. West Catholic - PSD Quarterfinal Highlights by Rachel Macauley

“We tried to limit Sorber’s touches and kept bodies around him,” Bocachica said. “We have some length and size, but he makes all our tall guys look small. We wanted to be really physical and tried to limit his catches to disrupt their entire offense.”

Sorber finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks while fellow First Team All-Catholic selection Darren Williams had 20 points but shot 7-for-21 from the field. The Burrs continued to extend their lead in the second half and never allowed the Raiders to get within striking distance. The lead grew to 35-23 with 5:14 left in the third with Clark scoring seven in that quarter alone. The Burrs eventually secured full control with a 55-38 advantage and soon the elation of a return to the Palestra was on full display.

West Catholic takes on the Saints on Wednesday night, a team they fell to 57-56 back on Jan. 6. Clark was sensational in that game, going for 21 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals but the end of the game is where things got interesting. With the Saints clinging to a three-point lead, Clark came down on the Burrs’ final possession and was fouled on a last-ditch heave just in front of halfcourt with 0.3 seconds remaining. He sank the first two free throws but the last one grazed the right side of the rim and Neumann-Goretti escaped with the victory. Stanford had 12 points and eight rebounds while Wilbanks-Acqui added 11 points and eight boards in that loss.

That loss to Neumann-Goretti was yet another example where the Burrs fell short but also gained valuable experience that they hope will translate into a different result this time around. After the quarterfinal win, Bocachica used a prime example of what transpired on the biggest stage last year and why this year is a new opportunity.

“I tried to give them a life lesson on experience,” Bocachica said. “Experience is the difference between you getting and not getting a job. We didn’t get the job last time, but we did gain the experience. Now we return with some experience, and I told them let’s get the job now. Our résumé is better. They know what’s at stake.”

Wright Continues Torrid Postseason Play to Down Archbishop Carroll

Robert Wright III had a postseason run few, if anyone ever, have duplicated in their high school careers. He avg. 21.8 ppg during a postseason run that saw Neumann-Goretti win the Philadelphia Catholic League, District 12 and PIAA Class 4A title. That was only his sophomore season and one where many finally got the opportunity to see what the Baylor commit could do when the lights were brightest and he did not disappoint.

After avg. 21.2 ppg during the regular season, Wright came into Friday’s Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinal matchup against Archbishop Carroll with the same mentality he did one year ago and he dazzled in front of the Neumann-Goretti crowd in historic fashion. He shot 14-for-18 from the floor and finished with a career-high 36 points in the Saints’ 86-61 victory to reach the Palestra for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. His 36 points are the third-most ever in a Philadelphia Catholic League playoff game, behind only Roman Catholic’s Kyle Locke and Archbishop Carroll’s Juan’ya Green, who both had 39 points respectively. Locke did it against Cardinal Dougherty in the 1992 league final and Green had his performance versus St. Joe’s Prep in the 2011 quarterfinal.


Neumann-Goretti junior Robert Wright III, guards Carroll's Dean Coleman-Newsome - PSD Photo by Ryan Nix

Head coach Carl Arrigale has seen incredible playoff performances during his successful tenure at the helm of Neumann-Goretti and seeing Wright amass stat lines like this is even more remarkable considering his impeccable efficiency.

“You almost didn’t even realize it was happening because he was really efficient,” Arrigale said. “ It was impressive because he did it within the flow of the game. You almost expect it because he’s a very gifted player.”

Friday’s performance brought a few additional accolades for Wright. He became the first Saints player to score 30 in a league playoff game since Quade Green (31 points) and Zane Martin (30) against Archbishop Ryan in the 2016 semifinals. His 36-point night put him over 1,000 career points, making him the 22nd player in program history to surpass that mark and the first since Chris Ings (Norfolk State) in 2019.

Neumann-Goretti (20-2) led by three after one, but the game was tied 32-32 at halftime. Wright turned things on in the second half and he finished the game with six three-pointers while First Team All-Catholic big man Sultan Adewale had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Khaafiq Myers had a strong outing with 12 points, six assists and three steals.

Wright also dished out five assists but what made his monumental game so essential for the Saints moving forward is the way he flourished within the offense. 


Neumann-Goretti senior Sultan Adewale, First-Team All-Catholic - PSD Photo by Ryan Nix

Arrigale stressed that Wright had been finding success through isolation for larger periods this season, but Friday showed that when he plays within the confines on the offense, he can be just as equally effective.

“He got away from that a little bit this year and put a little more on his shoulders,” Arrigale said. “We explained to him as a staff that he’ll get the same numbers with putting less pressure on himself as long as he does what he continues to do and plays within the framework of our offense. There’s no reason to rush things and he’s been getting to that. It’s nice to see when he’s playing at that level, and we feel good going into every game."

Junior Amir Williams only had five points, but he contributed four steals and was instrumental in spearheading the second-half turnaround. Arrigale said the 6-6 wing was “the unsung hero of the game” and “he was at the top of the press, so he was guarding Dean Coleman-Newsome most of the half. His length bothered him, and he was really special.” Williams’ length and versatility gave the Patriots fits when bringing the ball up the floor and bothered them enough to cause turnovers and turned the game into a rout.

Coleman-Newsome finished with 13 points but shot 3-for-10 from the floor and Jake West was limited to eight points. Blake Deegan had 10 points and nine rebounds while Seamus Rogers sank three three-pointers on the night for a team that had numerous impressive shooting performances throughout the year but finished 9-for-27 from the outside.

Wright, Myers and Adewale were phenomenal at the Palestra last year and with previous experience of not only having played but won there helps immensely. 

They won both of their appearances there a season ago by a combined six points. They pulled out those wins and possess more experience than their counterparts in West Catholic.

Arrigale understands how to prepare his team for this stage and atmosphere, and he’s confident this group will answer the call once again.

“These games are always tough with the bigger court and crowd,” Arrigale said. “Everything seems to slow down and a lot of times it comes down to guard play. Our guards are playing well and hopefully we can carry that into the game on Wednesday and last years’ experience helps us.”