Cardinal O’Hara goes as Aasim Burton and Pearson McGuinn take them and to this point, that has been a recipe for success. Burton, the 6-3 senior and Second Team All-Catholic, is averaging 22.1 points per game and comes off a terrific night against the Tide with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The Rider commit has scored over 20 points in 14 games with six 30-point performances and even tied an O’Hara program record with 40 points against Reading earlier this season. He is one of the best shot creators in the league and the way he reads pick-and-rolls has given O’Hanlon a facet that makes this offense go.

McGuinn, the 6-7 senior and Stonehill College commit, is an underrated inside-outside threat who can score in the paint with a variety of moves, step out and nail a three-pointer, and protect the rim. He is avg. 12.5 ppg and scored in double figures in 16 games. The Third Team All-Catholic selection had 15 points with three three-pointers, eight rebounds and six blocks against St. Joe’s Prep in the regular season. If these two can get the looks they’re accustomed to and open up options for others, the Lions can keep the game within striking distance.

Miles Johnson, the 6-3 senior guard, avg. 5.2 ppg and is an above average rebounder, and 6-foot senior Anthony Hobbs (2.8 ppg) provides veteran leadership. Both are holdovers from the Ryan Nemetz regime and have experienced postseason success, notable in the state tournament. Sophomore guard Tygee Clark has been a nice surprise, avg. 7.1 ppg, and he scored 13 points against Bonner-Prendergast. Finally, Ethan Schulcz, the 6-2 senior guard, has come on late in the season. He was 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the first-round win over Devon Prep.

The 2023-24 version is very much made up the same way with 6-7 junior forward and First Team All-Catholic Shareef Jackson manning the middle. The son of former Roman and Temple standout Marc Jackson, Shareef is avg. 17.4 ppg and looks to be back to almost 100 percent after missing six of the final seven games with an ankle injury. Sammy Jackson, the 6-5 sophomore and Shareef’s younger brother, has made tremendous strides this season, particularly when his brother was out. He had 19 points against La Salle then 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks versus Neumann-Goretti. The towering duo might be the most versatile front court in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

Even with Shareef and Sammy down low, the true strength of the team lies in the backcourt interchangeability that McNesby has deployed throughout the season. It’s a senior-laden corps led by 5-10 guard Robert Cottrell, 5-4 guard Kabrien Goss, 6-foot guard Hunter Johnson and 6-2 guard Travis Reed Jr. Cottrell was a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League title team last season and avg. 7.8 ppg this year on his way to Third Team All-Catholic. He scored 17 points against the Saints then 22 vs. Bonner-Prendergast. Goss has avg. 6.4 ppg since returning from two knee injuries. His first game was against Lansdale Catholic on Jan. 12 and his best performance was a 12-point outing against Archbishop Carroll.

Perhaps the two best coaching jobs of the season were done by the men who will be leading their respective programs in this one. Francis Bowe has a roster full of freshmen and sophomores at Archbishop Carroll and not only did he lead the Patriots to an 8-5 league record, but his side also secured a postseason win over Bonner-Prendergast. Carl Arrigale lost Myers and Hofstra commit Amir Williams has missed several games, but as has been the nature of things at Neumann-Goretti during his tenure, the Saints locked up a top-two seed and will host a quarterfinal game yet again. 

The Second Team All-Catholic is electric in transition and gets into the lane with ease. Ralls avg. 11.5 ppg and the 6-foot guard knocked down four three-pointers in that win over the Crusaders. Even as sophomores, they have the most experience on the roster and have had to grow up fast over the course of the year.

Luca Foster and Drew Corrao provide length on the inside. Foster, the 6-5 sophomore forward who is avg. 13.4 ppg and was named Third Team All-Catholic, led the way against the Friars in the opening round with 19 points, including three makes from deep, and eight rebounds. Corrao, the 6-8 sophomore big avg. 4.6 ppg, had three blocks against West Catholic and has found success as a rim protector.

Bruce Smith and Sultan Adewale graduated while Robert Wright III transferred to Montverde Academy (Fla.). Myers went down and Williams has been in the out of the lineup, but the way in which Arrigale has steadied the ship in pursuit of a ‘chip has been one of his better coaching performances. Larenzo Jerkins has been the catalyst behind that and the 6-6 senior forward, who had to sit out last season due to PIAA transfer rules, is avg. 14.9 ppg in his final high school season before heading to West Chester next year. He has been a double-double machine (17 points, 13 rebounds vs. La Salle and 10 points, 12 rebounds vs. Bonner-Prendergast) and can also score anywhere inside the arc with his season-high 32 points coming against Father Judge. He and 6-3 junior wing Keon Long-Mtume (9.7 ppg) control things inside, and this undersized frontcourt has been tough to score on.

Torrey Brooks is avg. 14.5 ppg and made First Team All-Catholic in his first season with the Saints. The 5-11 junior lefty hit the game-winning three-pointer to beat Archbishop Ryan in overtime, and he took the torch from Myers while running Arrigale’s offense beautifully. He had 25 points in that overtime victory and followed that with another 25-point performance, this time vs. Father Judge. Stephon Ashley-Wright, the 6-foot guard Third Team All-Catholic, has found a nice spot playing off the ball and is avg. 10.8 ppg as a sophomore. He scored 18 points against St. Joe’s Prep then had 23 points against Devon Prep.

DeShawn Yates has been the biggest surprise for the Saints, avg. 14.5 ppg in his first season of extended action. The 5-9 guard can mix it up inside and finish through contact, a staple of Neumann-Goretti guards for decades. He is in the midst of his best stretch of the season with 20 points (three three-pointers), four rebounds, four steals and two blocks in a win over La Salle followed by 26 points as he hit four three-pointers and went 12-12 from free throw line to go along with four rebounds and six assists.

Back in 2016, Mosco and the Vikings were a year away from their first Philadelphia Catholic League as Tommy Funk (21 points), Tyree Pickron (14) and Collin Gillespie (13) cruised to a 64-42 victory over Marc Rodriguez, the first 1,000-point scorer in Father Judge history who had 14 in the game, and the Crusaders in the opening round. Following that game, the Vikings ascended to the top of the league in historic fashion and have remained there for much of Mosco’s tenure while the Crusaders have been looking for a resurgence and return to the Palestra for the first time since 1999, Roantree’s senior season. Roantree was a starter on that Father Judge team which fell to Roman Catholic in the semifinals, but it may have its most talented team in program history with its current blend of size and talent with Roantree at the forefront of the return to prominence.

Roantree is in year three at the helm of his alma mater and Laquan Byrd has been with him since that first season. The 6-3 senior was a Second Team All-Catholic selection, and his first breakthrough performance came during his sophomore season when he went for 37 points on 12-22 shooting and 10-11 from the free throw line in an overtime win against Cardinal O’Hara. Fast forward two seasons and Byrd is avg. 13.1 ppg and is coming off a 22-point performance against La Salle to close out the regular season. Byrd is the savvy veteran who has waited for this opportunity and finally gets his chance to put himself and the Crusaders in a position they have long been waiting to be reacclimated to. 

Byrd makes up one of the most electric trios of guards in the league with Kevair Kennedy and Derrick Morton-Rivera. Kennedy, the 6-1 junior guard who is avg. a team-leading 17.1 ppg, was named First Team All-Catholic, the first Father Judge player named to the first team since Rodriguez in 2017. He has had a breakout season and has scored in double figures in every game except the opener.

Stat lines such as his 18-point, 12-rebound, eight-assist game against Roman Catholic and his 20-point, 13-rebound, six-assist outing against Cardinal O’Hara are indicative of how his total skill set has evolved and gives Father Judge a versatile floor general.

Morton-Rivera, the 6-3 sophomore and son of former Neumann-Goretti standout D.J. Rivera, shot 42% from behind the arc this season and comes into the postseason avg. 15.5 ppg. He is one of the premier shooters in the league (six threes against St. Joe’s Prep, four against Roman Catholic), but his length and athleticism have taken off in year two. He had 21 points in that win over the Hawks and his long arms allow him to score over and through smaller defenders while controlling the glass at the other end.

The Crusaders have significant size upfront in 6-6 senior forward Anthony Lilley (6.4 ppg) and 6-9 junior big man Everett Barnes. Lilley has had his moment this year, like scoring 13 points against Devon Prep.

Mosco secured his 200th career win earlier this season and many of those have been during the time Jalil Bethea has donned the black and gold. The 6-5 senior and Miami (Fla.) is already the Archbishop Wood all-time leading scorer (1,553 and counting) and a two-time Philadelphia Catholic League after being named Co-MVP this season. He comes in avg. 23.3 ppg this season and has scored at least 20 in a game 13 times with a 40-point game in the Hoophall Classic. He is the best guard in the best league in Pa. and he’s primed to lead the Vikings back to the Palestra after starting the season 3-5 then accruing 11 wins in league play. Josh Reed, the 6-3 senior bound for Drexel, had the best season of his career after avg. 19.6 ppg and being named First Team All-Catholic. Another high-level scorer, Reed had 10 games of 20 points or more with a career-high 38 points coming against Benton High School (Ark.) in the King Cotton Classic. Archbishop Wood is 7-1 when Bethea and Reed score 20 points in the same game and no defense has been able to slow them down yet.

A Mosco-coached team has been at its best when talented guards lead the way with complementary guards starring in supporting roles. The 2017 Philadelphia Catholic League title team had Gillespie and Pickron but also had Keith Otto and Matt Cerruti then the 2022 team that advanced to the PIAA Class 6A title game had Mike Knouse, Tyson Allen, and Bahsil Laster.

Milan Dean, the 6-5 junior wing who is avg. 7.7 ppg, is also another year older and could be the x-factor in this one. He had 15 points in a win over Bonner-Prendergast. Dean, Maxey, and Green helped Archbishop Wood reach the league and state semifinals a season ago, and if this group can give consistent play, the Vikings should be in prime position to return to the Palestra.

As Mosco and Roantree prepare to face off in their first postseason matchup, Mosco holds the advantage in the win column with three victories, including the 85-69 win at Father Judge on Jan. 2. Bethea shot 9-17 from the floor with five three-pointers on his way to 25 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and five steals while Reed contributed 22 points and nine boards. 

St. Joe’s Prep won 10 league games for the first time since 2015 when league MVP Chris Clover, Jack Henkels and James McGovern led the way for Morris. Jason Harrigan is now at the helm and fresh off his 150th career win, the Hawks come in having won four of their last five, including a victory at Neumann-Goretti where they hadn't won since downing the Saints in the 2018 quarterfinals. St. Joe’s Prep may have the deepest corps of guards the league has to offer in All-Catholic selections Jaron McKie, Jordan Ellerbee, Olin Chamberlain Jr., and Jalen Harper. This marks the first time the Hawks have had four All-Catholic picks since 2006 when Reggie Redding, Dave Stefanski, Matt Griffin – the former Roman Catholic head coach and current Bucknell assistant – and Larry Lougherty made the list.

Chamberlain is the decisive floor general who can heat up from the perimeter. The 5-11 junior and Second Team All-Catholic is avg. 12.5 ppg, 3.2 apg and 1.0 spg while shooting 44.3% from behind the arc.

Performances against Bonner-Prendergast (18 points, three three-pointers, six rebounds, five assists, three steals) and La Salle (20 points, four three-pointers) are part of what makes Chamberlain such as indispensable piece to the Hawks’ success, and he will be called upon to deliver yet again. Harper, the 6-3 senior and Second Team All-Catholic, is the unquestioned leader of the group and he fills up the stat sheet at 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.2 spg and 1.0 bpg while shooting 54.2% from the floor. He had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a win over Archbishop Carroll followed by 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists against the Saints. This quartet is as multifaceted as any in the league and if they get going the way they have with such regularity this season, it could be a long night.

The 6-9 Georgetown commit is avg. a team-best 19.1 ppg and has been a double-double machine. He is in the best shape of his career and dominating at both ends. He posted 23 points and 12 rebounds in the regular season finale against Roman Catholic and was an absolute force against Neumann-Goretti with 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocks.

He became the Archbishop Ryan all-time leading scorer against Conwell-Egan with a 16-point, eight-rebound, four-block performance, and has his sights set on a league title.

Williams and Sorber have two trips to the Palestra under their belts as they led the Raiders to the 2022 Philadelphia Catholic League title game where they fell to Neumann-Goretti. Williams has such a pure form on his shot and may have the quickest release in the league, and he combines that with a quicker first step and being a lefty allows him to get to his spots and convert in the lane.

Head coach Joe Zeglinski has taken his alma mater to five league semifinal appearances during his tenure and he has had certain players step in huge situations in key games. Two seasons ago, Jalen Snead had 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocks and Michael Paris went for 13 points to lift the Raiders past West Catholic in the semifinals. Jaden Murray, the 6-6 senior forward avg. 7.8 ppg, was named Third Team All-Catholic and finished the season strong, going for 13 points and seven rebounds against Conwell-Egan then 15 points and nine boards vs. Bonner-Prendergast. He can be that third option on the offensive end with his improved skill set. Rocco Morabito is headed to play at Gannon University next season and the 6-2 senior who is avg. 4.9 ppg on the season is looking for a signature moment in his final postseason run. Ryan Everett, the 6-1 senior guard, is a returning starter from last season and scored 13 points against Roman Catholic. Brandon Russell, the 6-6 junior wing, had 18 points and six assists in the loss to Archbishop Wood, but he can shoot it and get to the glass.

This game has all the makings of an instant classic, especially when considering St. Joe’s Prep came back from 13 down in the third quarter to win the league opener between the two teams. Ellerbee hit four three-pointers and finished with 19 points and Harper chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and four steals.