Boys Basketball: Loss to Roman a passing nightmare for Bonner & Prendergast

PHILADELPHIA — In its all-conquering epoch as a PIAA power, you’ve come to expect the Division I skill and top-line depth of Roman Catholic. But the difference between being reliably good and consistently great, in the Catholic League and beyond, shows through on days like Sunday.

It’s one thing to have an array of Division I talents. It’s another to share the ball as zealously as in a 66-39 victory over Bonner & Prendergast, all those talents harmonizing in an offense that can be just about undefendable.

“Every day in practice, we go through stuff like that, sharing the ball,” senior wing Anthony Finkley said. “If you’re sharing the ball, everybody’s going to be happy.”

The quality of basketball certainly looked joyous at times in this game at Holy Family University. All five Roman starters had at least eight points, the team shot 60 percent from the field (27-for-45) and dished 17 assists. While the Friars (8-2, 1-2 PCL) pushed them early, the Cahillites erupted for a 17-2 run between the first and second quarters to have the game about done and dusted at half, leading by 17.

Finkley was the prime beneficiary of the passing symphony. He tallied 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists. He was 7-for-9 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3. His fellow St. Joe’s signee Xzavier Brown was the catalyst with six assists, including four in the first half, to augment 10 points. A few were absolute dimes through traffic when he drove the lane, always looking for teammates.

It creates some healthy competition among the Cahillites, always wanting to be the one to make the extra pass and facilitate for a teammate.

“It’s a confidence-giver,” Finkley said of Brown. “He’s one of the best point guards I’ve played with.”

This first week of the Catholic League slate has been an eye-opener for Bonner & Prendie, which went 7-0 in its nonleague schedule. But the Friars have opened with the murderer’s row: at Neumann-Goretti, La Salle, away to Roman. A midweek win over the Explorers salvaged a result between the league’s presiding powers. But for a team that returned only two significant contributors from last season, integrating a raft of transfers under first-year coach Billy Cassidy, the opening gauntlet has been illuminating.

“It’s definitely a lot more competitive,” said one of those arrivals, Nelson Lamizana. “I’ve got to be on my game more, all the time. As a team, I think we had to work harder in practice, so it translates to the game. We kind of just coast around.”

Sunday offered a crash course in what happens when you don’t rebound. Roman held a 32-18 edge on the boards. Lamizanna had 12 of the Friars’ boards, to go with 12 points, an indictment of the rebounding effort among the others wearing green jerseys.

The Friars forced mistakes early, a lengthy 3-2 zone enticing Roman into lower-percentage jump shots. But after the first quarter, Roman adjusted, getting into soft areas of the zone until Bonner & Prendie  abandoned it, then moving well off-ball to get open.

“They were sagging off our shooters, so we were shooting,” Finkley said. “But if we can get downhill, they’ve got to force down. It led to open shots.”

Shareef Jackson dominated in the post with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Jermai Stewart-Herring added nine points, and Eric Oliver-Bush paired eight points with four assists.

For B&P, Kevin Rucker scored 12 points but shot just 4-for-17 from the field. Deuce Ketner scored all seven of his points in the first quarter, shooting 3-for-12 for the game. The Friars were just 4-for-19 from 3-point range (two of the makes were by Jamal Hicks off the bench). Brady Eagan was held scoreless on just two shot attempts. As the parade of one-and-dones piled up, so did the deficit.

Finkley hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, then Roman took the air out of the ball in the fourth, the game well in hand at 58-32 after three.

Given the youth on the Friars – and they won only 11 times last season – there’s still plenty of time to use games like Sunday’s to learn.

“We’ve just got to be on our A game,” Lamizana said. “We need to do a lot more talking, we need to be more physical, take our individual matchups personal, just all around get stronger as a team and play harder.”