Roman Catholic’s Palestra experience shows in PCL semifinal win over Archbishop Wood
PHILADELPHIA >> As Jalen Duren rose for a dunk, Lynn Greer III dropped to a crouch near midcourt and let out a yell.
Greer, a senior, has made a habit of winning at the Palestra while Duren and fellow sophomore Justice Williams have also grown fond of the historic gym in just a few visits. While Roman Catholic is used to reaching and winning at the Palestra, Wednesday night was the first experience for Archbishop Wood’s roster of underclassmen.
Roman’s big three did their thing, the No. 5 seed Cahillites’ supporting cast was perfect and another early deficit proved too big for No. 1 Archbishop Wood to overcome in an 83-73 loss in the PCL semifinals.
“I thought we were a little shell-shocked, the ball didn’t go in and we stopped moving around,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “They had a great gameplan, they’re a tough team with a senior who has been here four times and two other main guys that have been here. I thought we settled down and made things happen, the kids kept battling and did everything we asked.”
In the quarterfinals, Wood (19-5) was able to overcome an early 23-9 deficit against Archbishop Carroll and win in overtime, but with Roman’s outside shooters hitting the floor hot and Duren controlling the glass, the Vikings wouldn’t be able to replicate the feat. Duren, the nationally touted big men, left his mark all over the Palestra floor with 20 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocks and a couple steals.
Dealing with Duren fell to Muneer Newton and Rob Jackson. Both Wood juniors gave up height but not heart in trying to tangle with the Roman sophomore and chalked it up to a mindset.
“You have to be physical with him,” Jackson said. “He’s a good player, but he can be stopped. You have to be physical and be tough.
“He’s a big body, but he’s still progressing and trying to add moves.”
The Vikings have gone to Hawai’I this season and played in packed gyms all year, but the Palestra is different and they had to learn it firsthand on Wednesday.
“Don’t take any plays off,” Newton said. “The student sections were crazy, we could barely hear our coaches talking to us. That messed us up with our momentum, we’d stop them, have to call timeout and then just keep going.”
“You can’t blink,” Jackson added. “Everything happens fast, there’s a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, the place is packed and you have to keep going.”
With Williams adding another solid line to his growing game with 25 points and Greer improving his record at the hallowed gym to 5-1 behind 18 points, six rebounds and six assists, Roman (16-8) had the foundation to upset the top seed. The Cahillites still needed a little bit more and on Wednesday, senior Nasir Lett and freshman Xzayvier Brown gave it.
Brown and Lett, not as well versed in the Palestra as their teammates, didn’t miss a shot from the floor or free throw line, combining for 20 points and earning the praise of the big three. Greer said he, Duren and Williams knew the other guys would look to them and Greer has been on them for a couple weeks to try and prep them for the environment at Penn.
“It helps us so much, Nas and Xzayvier know their role and they played great,” Greer said. “When we catch the ball, everybody comes in the paint to stop us three from getting in the lane. If we drive or make an entry pass and kick it out, I know they’re going to make the shot.”
“They made the game so much easier,” Duren said.
Wood junior Rahsool Diggins had a bit of a slow start as well, scoring just one basket in the first as the Vikings fell behind 19-8 but he showed his PCL MVP credentials the rest of the way. Diggins was almost a one-man wrecking crew in the second half and finished the game with 35 points.
The Vikings used a 10-2 run in the second to cut the Roman lead to 26-20 on Marcus Randolph’s 3-pointer but Roman responded with its own 10-2 run capped with a Duren dunk off a full-court pass by Greer. Diggins was able to turn a steal into a layup at the buzzer, but Wood still trailed 36-26 at the break.
Wood stayed within 10 until Roman seemed to break the game open with a Williams and Duren-led 10-0 run through the middle of the third. Williams kicked it off with a three-point play, Duren scored twice and Williams drove and kicked to Brown for three to put the Cahillites up 53-33.
Trailing 55-37 after three, Wood rallied in the fourth quarter. Diggins scored seven straight to cut the lead to 59-44 before Greer found Duren for a dunk that only temporarily slowed the Vikings. Wood closed within 59-51 with 5:48 left as the pace ground to a halt with both teams going to the foul line.
“We settled on the three too much early, we tried to motivate them and get them going to the basket but we didn’t do it enough,” Mosco said. “After the first play of the game, guys stopped moving around.”
Randolph’s bucket with 1:20 left cut Roman’s lead to 76-69 and the Vikings forced a turnover on the next possession, gaining a chance to get within five. It seemed they would until a missed dunk derailed that, leading to Greer scoring on the other end and Roman closing out the win at the foul line.
Wood will regroup to play in the District 12 5A title game next week, then move on to the state tournament where it will look to make a second straight trip to the state final in Hershey.
“We’re a team full of juniors,” Jackson said. “We’ll be good.”
Roman will face Neumann-Goretti in Monday’s PCL final as it tries to win a third straight league title.
“I told these guys to remember the last time we played them (a 2OT loss in the regular season) and remember how we felt going into the locker room after that game,” Greer said. “Remember what they said to us, how they said we were on the wrong side of Broad and Vine and let that fuel our fire.”
ROMAN CATHOLIC 83, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 73
ROMAN CATHOLIC 19 17 19 28 – 83
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 8 18 11 36 – 73
Roman Catholic: Lynn Greer III 7 2-4 18, Xzayvier Brown 3 4-4 12, Justice Williams 7 10-11 25, Jalen Duren 7 6-10 20, Nasir Lett 2 2-2 8. Totals: 26 24-31 83.
Archbishop Wood: Marcus Randolph 5 3-6 15, Rahsool Diggins 12 9-10 35, Jaylen Stinson 1 5-6 7, Muneer Newton 1 4-4 6, Daeshon Shepherd 2 0-0 5, Rob Jackson 2 1-1 5. Totals: 23 22-27 73.
3-pointers: RC – Lett 2, Greer 2, Brown 2, Williams; AW – Randolph 2, Diggins 2, Shepherd.
