skip navigation

BOYS BASKETBALL: Maturity In Defeat, Key Sophomore Helps Keep Roman Catholic’s State Title Defeat In Perspective

By John Knebels Photos: Donna Eckert, 03/29/23, 8:15PM EDT

Share

Photos/Videos: Donna Eckert & John Knebels 

By: John Knebels

HERSHEY, PA – When your high school basketball team resides along Pennsylvania’s Mount Rushmore for the past eight seasons – and is Philadelphia’s most successful program over the past century – there’s only one expectation.

And that explains why most – but not all – of Roman Catholic’s players left the Giant Center in despondency after losing to Reading in overtime, 63-56, in Saturday night’s marquee PIAA Class 6A state title contest at the Giant Center.

After the team had huddled in the locker room for one last time, third-team All-Catholic sophomore Shareef Jackson emerged with his head held high. The son of NBA standout Marc Jackson – a 1993 graduate of Roman Catholic and Temple University and now a Philadelphia 76ers television analyst – Jackson provided a beyond mature assessment of what had just occurred, especially for a sophomore.


Roman Catholic ends season as the PIAA 6A runner-up after an overtime clash with Reading High - PSD Photo by Donna Eckert

“Loss and victory go hand in hand,” said Jackson. “Nobody ever in their life ever wins, wins, wins, and wins . . . it’s just impossible. It’s not gonna happen. Especially when you come up to a game like this, a championship, play with everything you have, and the other team comes out on top.

“It hurts, but you gotta realize, you played with everything you’ve got. You didn’t come out of here missing all of your shots. You didn’t come out here and play terrible defense. You didn’t come out here and just walk around the floor. You came out here and played as far as you could, and in the end they won, and I can’t really be mad at that.”  

Enjoying the advantage of having an almost ridiculous amount of fan support clad in a sea of red screaming after virtually every play – and that includes significant obnoxiousness directed at officials who had the audacity to call fouls against the Red Knights, but we digress – Reading led throughout most of the game. The Cahillites, however, refused to fold, eventually erasing a nine-point deficit to take a 47-46 lead with 5:41 remaining in regulation.


Third-team All-Catholic sophomore, Shareef Jackson #44 - PSD Photo by Donna Eckert

“That’s been them all year long,” said Roman Catholic coach Chris McNesby. “You never really feel like they’re down and there’s always a chance. And they’ve done it. It just kinda didn’t happen our way this time.”

Roman Catholic sophomore Shareef Jackson is wise beyond his years, shedding enlightening words about looking at the bigger picture and lessons learned from loss against Reading High - PSD Video by John Knebels

Roman Catholic head coach Chris McNesby - proud in defeat - PSD Video by John Knebels

Competing without two key starters because of transfer rules – seniors Jermai Stewart-Herring and Erik Oliver-Bush, who contributed a combined 16 points and 16 rebounds in Roman’s Catholic League overtime championship win over Neumann-Goretti almost a month ago – the Cahillites still gave Reading quite a scare.

Roman’s makeshift lineup consisted of the aforementioned Jackson (17 points, game-high 11 rebounds, two blocks, assist, six fouls drawn), first-team All-Catholic and St. Joseph’s University-bound senior Xzayvier Brown (game-high 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, block, 12 fouls drawn, clutch game-tying free throw with 1.7 seconds left that sent the game into overtime), second-team All-Catholic and St. Joseph’s University-signee senior Anthony Finkley (six points, three rebounds, the only Cahillite with a positive plus-minus differential with a plus two), junior William Felder (seven points, assist, steal), junior Robert Cottrell (three points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals), and a pair of freshmen – Bryce Hillman (steal, rebound) and Sammy Jackson.

Thanks mostly to Brown and Jackson, it almost proved to be enough.

“We had an opportunity to play tonight as one of the last two teams to play in the state of Pennsylvania,” said McNesby. “It’s tough to lose, but we played as far as we could play. That in itself is a great year. You must have done some good things. These kids overcame a lot. What a run.”

In the big picture, that “run” came oh-so-close to a fifth state title in eight seasons and was highlighted by Roman Catholic’s epic 33rd Catholic League crown.

That, said Jackson, should never be discounted one iota.

“That is a very big prize,” said Jackson. “Especially for last year not winning that and falling short in the semifinals  . . . that’s a very big prize.”

PIAA 6A Championship Highlights - PSD Video by John Knebels & Donna Eckert

“He’s a special kid,” said McNesby. “His future is so bright. He’s so mature. A gentleman. The way he speaks to you . . . looks you in the eye. He’s such a special, unique kid. He’s bigger than basketball. He has such a bright future.”

In the end, that’s always the most important goal.

 

(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)

*Please Contact donnaeckert29@gmail.com to purchase championship photos*