Photos/Videos: Zack Beavers, Rich Flanagan, Kathy Leister, Ryan Nix & Krystal Williams

By: Rich Flanagan

PHILADELPHIA – With 7.9 seconds remaining, Joe Zeglinski already had the exact play in mind.

The Archbishop Ryan head coach recalled running the play in the fourth game of the season to secure a win and felt the same scenario would play out here. It’s one thing to have players who have been in this situation before but it’s even more important to have ones who have executed considering the shot could send the team to the Palestra.

Zeglinski drew it up on his clipboard and the Raiders turned the depiction into fruition and, metaphorically, vindication.

“It gives us two options where if they all collapsed on Thomas [Sorber], Darren [Williams] would be wide open and that’s what we thought they would do,” Zeglinski said. “If they all came up top, we had the lob to Thomas as the second option. Jaden [Murray] did a great job setting the screen and Darren found the space to hit a big-time shot.”

It was vindication as it lifted the Raiders back to the semifinals following a one-year absence, and gave Williams and Sorber, starters on the 2022 Archbishop Ryan team that lost in the league title game, one final shot at a coveted championship. The Raiders will face Neumann-Goretti, the team it fell to two years ago, in the semifinals on Wednesday at the Cathedral of College Basketball and will have the best inside-outside tandem the league has to offer. Sorber leads the team at 19 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 4.8 bpg and can’t be stopped with one defender. 

“We know our guards have to step up, especially down the stretch of games, because teams want to take away layups for Thomas and double him,” Zeglinski said. “Darren has been hitting big shots like that since his sophomore year and we have all the trust in the world in him to hit those. It frees Darren up more for one-on-ones off ball screens as defenses don't want to hedge off Thomas and it gives him more space than he would normally have.”

Zeglinski scored 16 points against Roman Catholic in his lone trip to the Palestra in 2006 as the Raiders fell in the semifinals, and his experience as a player combined with his plethora of berths in the semifinals as a head coach have trickled down to his team, most notable Williams and Sorber who have experience of their own. Those two-time First Team selections are leading the way and ensuring this group is primed for success on Wednesday.

“What they’ve been sharing in the last couple days is we need to be together and not let the environment take over our emotions,” Zeglinski said. We have to be laser focused, be in the moment and continue to play together. Darren and Thomas, our one-two punch, will get the focus but guys have been stepping up.”

“We have a little saying, ‘One man's misfortune is another one’s pot of gold,’” Arrigale said. “Unfortunately for Khaafiq, when he went down, it gave an opportunity for Keon [Long-Mtume] and DeShawn [Yates] to get more playing time. When Amir went down, it opened up even more minutes for everybody. It’s been the ultimate next man up type of team, and it’s made us a little stronger and tougher. We would love to have everybody playing.”

Arrigale is no stranger to having starters and rotational pieces miss time during playoff runs. During his first postseason as head coach in 1999, Second Team All-Catholic Cantrell Fletcher suffered a sprained ankle and only played six minutes in an opening round loss to West Catholic. The following season, starting power forward Spencer Hill hurt his knee and his backup, Hakim Haynes, had a fracture in his shin. Haynes came back as then St. John Neumann lost to Roman Catholic in the league final. Arrigale won his first Philadelphia Catholic League title in 2001 but without Fletcher, who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the quarterfinals. Brandon Brigman broke his left hand but played through it during that title push. Just last year, Myers was limited to 17 minutes in the title game against the Cahillites after reaggravating an ankle injury that had hampered him all season.

Arrigale has never made excuses and his unprecedented success speaks to that. His teams are always adequately prepared and this one will be no exception.

Yates put together another strong performance with 18 points on 8-9 shooting and Long-Mtume hit two three-pointers on his way to 14 points. Brooks, who is avg. 14.4 ppg and has made 49 three-pointers, had 12 points and seven assists, and Williams looked to be back to his old self with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. This is a vastly different team from the one that faced the Raiders in the 2022 final as Myers is out, Rober Wright III is playing at Montverde Academy (Fla.), and Masud Stewart, Aamir Hurst, Bruce Smith, and Sultan Adewale have all graduated. Williams was on the team but did not play in the title game while Myers starred alongside Wright. Myers will not play on Wednesday but Arrigale emphasized how he has been indispensable to the team’s preparation.

“Khaafiq has been good with that and taking on the leader role still,” Arrigale said. “We talk about how in that place you have to be together. You can’t be disconnected and win in that building. It’s everybody fighting for one cause and that’s the message I’ve been able to get across to my teams.”

The first matchup of the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals features two teams who haven’t met at the Palestra since 1999, which was the last time Father Judge made a trip to the hallowed arena. Chris Roantree was a starter of that team as Father Judge was at the tail end of three consecutive semifinal appearances, which included the 1998 league title, under the late Bill Fox. Roantree was part of that title team then avg. 8.2 ppg on his way to Third Team All-Catholic as a senior alongside First Team selections Mike Pidhirsky and Brian Fox.

Kennedy, who is avg. 17.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 6.0 apg and 2.0 spg, is the first Father Judge player to be named First Team All-Catholic since Marc Rodriguez in 2017 and surpassed the previous playoff record Rodriguez scored (32) against Archbishop Ryan in the quarterfinals that year. It truly was a year of firsts for a program and community that has been yearning for this type of success since Fox, who won 545 career games, stepped away for good in 2005.

Roantree played an essential role in Father Judge’s success on the hardwood, and he has brought about a resurgence within the program in his third season as head coach.

Laquan Byrd, the 6-3 senior and Second Team All-Catholic avg. 12.8 ppg and 7.0 rpg, contributed six points, five rebounds and four assists in Friday’s victory and is hoping to duplicate the performance he produced in the 76-62 win over Roman Catholic in the regular season, the program’s first win over the Cahillites since 2011. He had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in that game.

Chris McNesby was on the sideline when Xzayvier Brown drilled one of the most historic shots in the history of the Philadelphia Catholic League that sent last year’s final against Neumann-Goretti into overtime. McNesby secured his third league title as head coach and gave Roman Catholic its all-time leading 33rd crown.

One starter from that team remains in Shareef Jackson, who had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in a dominating 71-32 win over Cardinal O’Hara in the quarterfinals. The 6-7 junior and First Team All-Catholic, who is avg. 17.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.4 bpg and has posted nine double-doubles, is a three-year starter but this is his first true test as the go-to player for the Cahillites with Brown, Anthony Finkley, Daniel Skillings Jr., and Khalil Farmer all having moved on over the past two seasons.

The Cahillites are finally at full strength, but the way McNesby has interchanged lineups and put different players in particular positions to create the best matchup for his team has been sensational. It’s a focal reason why Roman Catholic is a game away from yet another league final. Robert Cottrell, who came off the bench on last year’s team, had 16 points, Travis Reed Jr. scored 12 points and Sammy Jackson, the 6-5 sophomore and Shareef’s younger brother, hit three three-pointers and finished with 11 points as Roman Catholic recorded 24 assists on 28 made field goals against the Lions. The Cahillites have five players who have hit at least 20 three-pointers this season in Reed (36), Sebastian Edwards (32), Sammy (28), Hunter Johnson (20) and Cottrell (20).

“Some of them have the body type but also the will to do that,” McNesby said. “They wanted to be a really good defensive team. It’s their togetherness and commitment to defense. That’s been really good to see.”

Roman Catholic already has one advantage heading into Wednesday night. It has played the majority of its regular-season home games at Holy Family University with two games at its renowned gym on the third floor of the school at the intersection of Broad & Vine along with one game at Jefferson University and another at Chestnut Hill College. This team travels well and playing at neutral sites is second nature for the Cahillites.

The Philadelphia Catholic League title game will either be a continuation of dominance for Neumann-Goretti and Roman Catholic, who have played each other 10 times in the final since 2000, or perhaps Northeast Philadelphia rivals Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan will meet in the championship for the first time ever. Whoever advances, the Palestra will play host to one of the great nights in Philadelphia high school basketball once again.