Roman rallies, tops Allderdice for state title

HERSHEY >> As the ball popped off the rim, Lamar Stevens soared up over two other players and slammed it through the rim with ferocity.
It was late in the third quarter and Roman Catholic’s PIAA Class AAAA state title game against Taylor Allderdice was still very much in question. That was until Stevens threw down back-to-back dunks, the follow coming second to spark Roman to a resounding finish.
Behind 27 points from Stevens, 15 from Nazeer Bostick and 13 from Tony Carr, the Cahillites won their second straight state title with a 73-62 win over the powerhouse from Pittsburgh Saturday night at the Giant Center.
“I’m blessed to be able to play with a great group of guys, great coaches and it’s been an amazing ride,” Stevens said minutes after Roman accepted the trophy.
The forward transferred to Roman before the school year to play with Carr and Bostick, then ended up committing to Penn State with the other two to form the nucleus of a highly-touted class. Roman stumbled a few times along the way, but righted itself by the postseason, winning the PCL title then going on another roll through the state tournament.
However, Allderdice also had designs on the state title, coming in at 29-1. The Dragons roared out to a 10-0 start, putting Roman on its heels early in the contest. But the Cahillites, as battle-tested a team as there is in the state, weren’t going to let a slow start derail them.
“We stayed true to ourselves,” Stevens said. “We went back and started defending. They came out really hot so we started defending and that started leading to easy buckets and we got everybody involved. It was early jitters playing in our last high school game.”
Dakquan Davis was also a huge part of Roman getting back in the contest, knocking down a couple of needed 3-pointers in the first half. Roman trailed 17-10 after one but battled back and tied it 24-24 when Carr knocked down a pair of free throws. The senior guard then forced a steal and fed Stevens for a layup for the team’s first lead.
Carr’s late floater gave Roman a 33-30 lead at the break and things were going in the Cahillites favor if they could keep the momentum.
“We had to keep defending,” Stevens said. “We have great defenders in Nazeer and D’Andre (Vilmar) who we can stick on their players who can really score the ball.”
With his future college coach, Pat Chambers sitting on the baseline under Roman’s basket in the second half, Stevens put on a show. His first dunk was in traffic, putting it down over a Dragon defender then following that with his huge put-back.
Aside from the points, it was a big mental boost for Roman.
“Every time I get a dunk, the guys love it,” Stevens said. “They always get riled up. I felt like that propelled us to the win, it was also a bunch of plays by a bunch of people, it wasn’t just that dunk. It was one special part about the game.”
Stevens knew his future coach was watching but didn’t look for a reaction, instead keeping his focus on getting back and playing defense.
On offense, the 6-foot-7 wing just kept coming, throwing down another slam off a baseline drive with 31 seconds left in the third.
To Allderdice’s credit, the Dragons never quit or went away, but Roman just seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Eventually, Allderdice’s tough defending and crisp rotations broke down and Roman’s lethal transition game got into top gear.
Stevens had one last hammer left, a vicious one-handed slam that shot up into the air after screaming through the rim and getting flicked back by the recoiling net.
Roman’s Big Three is off for new things, but they way they went out will be one talked about for some time.
“It was my last game, I was trying to impose my will,” Stevens said. “I was lucky that I have great players to set me up. They just made it so easy for me. It was my last game and I wanted to leave my mark. Hopefully I did.”