BOYS' BASKETBALL: Meet Your Catholic League Final Four - St. Joseph's Prep, Roman Catholic, Bonner-Prendergast & Archbishop Carroll

PHILADELPHIA – Wednesday night at the Palestra promises to be one of the most anticipated Catholic League semifinal doubleheaders in recent memory.

Top-seed Bonner-Prendergast meets fourth-seed Archbishop Carroll at 6:30. Less than two hours later, third-seed Roman Catholic faces seventh-seed St. Joseph’s Prep. The winners will then return to the Palestra on February 26 to decide the Catholic League title.

Most years, especially lately, it’s been easy to predict who would eventually come out on top in the penultimate playoff round. This year, it’s a different story.

Bonner-Prendergast (20-3) has won seven straight, including an 88-63 victory over visiting Cardinal O’Hara (11-12) in one of four quarterfinals played Friday. The Friars outscored the ninth-seed Lions in every quarter. Junior Catholic League Most Valuable Player Isaiah Wong indeed played like an MVP, netting 32 points. Junior Tyriq Ingraham (13 points), senior Ajiri Johnson (12), and senior Yohance Garner (11) also reached double digits.

“Good win,” said Wong, “but there are more games ahead to worry about.”

B-P, which bested Archbishop Carroll, 79-72 on February 9, will have its hands full. The Patriots (17-6) dethroned defending league champion and fifth-seed Archbishop Wood, 69-62, their second win over the Vikings (13-10) in less than a week.

Sophomore AJ Hoggard was immense with 23 points and 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line for the Patriots, who swished 18 of 20 from the charity stripe compared to 13 of 21 for the Vikings.

MBAP vs. O'Hara - PSD Photos by Chip Frenette

Carroll's student section cheers during the Patriot's victory over the defending PCL champions - Video by Jt Hoagland for PSD

It was Hoggard’s three-point field goal early in the fourth quarter that created a 50-50 tie. A three-pointer by senior Devon Ferrero (eight points) gave the Pats a 54-50 edge, and they never looked back. Senior Keyon Butler chipped in 17 points for the victors while Wood senior Andrew Funk (18), junior Julius Phillips (13), and freshman Rahsool Diggins (10) kept the game tight.

“We locked in defensively,” said Hoggard. “That helped our transition game and that also brought us back in the game.”

Butler said the Patriots “believed in their game plan” even when the Vikings were ahead by 44-38 late in the third quarter.

“We trusted each other and trusted our coaches,” said Butler. “Defense was a huge key. We also were resilient when those guys made their run. We didn't give up.”

The Roman Catholic-St. Joe’s Prep contest will pit mentor versus student. Hawks coach Speedy Morris coached Roman coach Matt Griffin, an All-Catholic for the Hawks when he graduated in 2007. Morris will try to imitate what he was able to do against Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale, also a former player under Morris while at Penn Charter.

The seventh-seed Hawks (17-7), at one point in the second quarter on the receiving end of a 13-0 mini-collapse, turned a 26-19 halftime deficit into a 29-26 lead entering the final stanza. Nope. That is not a misprint. The normally potent Saints (17-6), the second seed who had not lost a Catholic League game at home in 10 years and had advanced to at least the league semifinals nine straight winters, were held scoreless in the third frame. The Prep then outscored N-G by 25-14 in the fourth, the 35-14 advantage the biggest second-half deficit experienced by N-G this century.

“We wanted it more,” said Prep senior Ed Croswell, arguably the game’s MVP after collecting 18 points and 16 rebounds. “We played to win. It felt so good. Now that's over and we're looking forward to winning these next couple of games.”

Sophomore Trevor Wall scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished five assists. Senior Kyle Thompson scored 16 points, 14 of them in the second half. He also nailed 10 of 10 free throws and at one point of the game reached the career 1,000-point plateau.

The game was not stopped, and many of his teammates were unaware that he had joined senior Darius Kinnel as the second Hawk to reach quadruple figures this year.

“I was more focused on building up our lead than scoring my 1000th,” said Thompson. “So when Darius gave me the ball at half court, I saw an opening to the basket and took it. After I scored, the Prep fans erupted in cheers and that’s when I realized I reached 1,000. It was a great feeling, but since they didn’t stop the game, I had to get right back on defense.”

St. Joe's Prep vs. Neumann-Goretti Highlight Video - by Aaron Mitchell for PSD

SJP vs. NG - PSD Photos by Aaron Mitchell

St. Joseph's Prep senior captain Kyle Thompson #1 scored his 1,000th career point in historic win over Neumann-Goretti in the PCL Quarterfinals - PSD photo by Aaron Mitchell

Kinnel, who scored his 1,000th at home on January 12, the same day that Morris reached 1,000 career-coaching wins, was ecstatic for his teammate.

“I’m proud of him,” said Kinnel. “He got it in a historic win, like I did. It’s just so fantastic.”

Kinnel lauded the Prep coaches for keeping the Hawks focused during halftime intermission.

“The coaches did a great job of telling us to stay locked in, and that this game was not over and not decided,” said Kinnel. “In practice they had been telling us that we could do it, that we needed to believe. That’s still incredible. Neumann is a great program.

“Now that the win is behind us, it’s all about winning the Catholic League title. Nobody is giving us a shot and that is okay, but as long as we believe that we can do it, we can do anything.”

Just as it was for the Hawks on February 11 in a 77-71 loss in the regular-season finale, defeating the Cahiliites will be quite a chore. Outside of dropping two games against Bonner-Prendergast and Neumann-Goretti by two points each – the B-P loss in overtime – Roman Catholic has played flawless basketball.

In their 56-46 victory over La Salle at Community College of Philadelphia, however, it appeared as though the Cahillites were headed for a shocking setback.

The sixth-seed Explorers led 35-20 early in the third quarter and 41-29 heading into the fourth, but torrid defense and clutch free-throw shooting turned the game around. Roman (17-5), with four players producing all of their offense, outscored La Salle by 24-5 in the fourth. Junior Seth Lundy contributed 22 points. Sophomore Lynn Greer III scored 15 and connected on seven of eight free throws in the final quarter. Junior Hakim Hart scored 10 and senior Allen Betrand added nine for the Cahillites; Konrad Kiszka’s 16 paced the Explorers (15-8).

“The mood definitely wasn’t the most hyped up we have been,” said Roman senior John Kelly. “But in the beginning of the game, Coach Matt told us to go out and play like we were down 10. He believes our best basketball is played with our backs against the wall.

“Once we started getting stops and going on runs, we started to get into it more. We never doubted that we were going to win that game, but we just had to grind it out until the end.”

Expect more of the same in both Catholic League semifinal clashes.

Roman vs. La Salle - PSD Game Photos by Mike Gray

Roman junior Seth Lundy #23 led the Cahillites in scoring with 22 points in quarterfinal victory over La Salle - PSD Photo by Mike Gray

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

PCL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:
The PCL Semifinals will take place on Wednesday, February 21 at the Palestra starting at 6:30p.m.

The Finals are set for Monday, February 26 at the Palestra at the Palestra. The girls’ final will begin at 6:30p.m. with the boys’ final following at 8:30p.m.

To purchase tickets for the PCL semifinals/finals at the Palestra, click here.