Roman Catholic’s PIAA-6A title adds new chapter to storied legacy
HERSHEY >> The name on the front of the jersey said Roman, but this wasn’t the same group that won a PIAA title two years ago.
The Cahillities won their third state crown in the last four years Wednesday night in as impressive an offensive game as there possibly could be in the Giant Center, but Roman Catholic coach Matt Griffin was careful to note the difference in personnel. The guys who won back-to-back titles are in college now, and to compare this current group would only diminish their accomplishment.
By taking down Lincoln 92-80 in a Class 6A championship game that was much closer than that score, Roman wrote a new chapter in the program’s storied history.
“It was a brand new experience for our guys and that’s what I think people don’t realize,” the Cahillities 28-year-old second-year head coach said. “They say it’s Roman’s third title in four years and it kind of takes away from these guys. In a sense, this is a brand new group but to get back here took so much work and so much sacrifice. These guys gave everything they had.”
The Giant Center’s cavernous interior is known to ruin team’s shooting percentages. If Roman had heard any of those tales or not, it didn’t seem to care once the game started. The Cahillites shot a staggering 33-of-53 (62.5 percent) for the game and 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) in the second half.
Seth Lundy showcased why he’s one of the most alluring prospects in Pennsylvania with a 28-point effort that included more than a few clutch jumpers to lead a sterling night by the Cahillites’ four-headed monster. Hakim Hart capped off a breakout season with 26 points, and made the last 10 shots he took from the floor.
Lynn Greer III notched 20 points as he won his first state title while senior Allen Betrand added 14 in his final high school game before heading to Towson.
“Our coaches always said we never played our best basketball and I think we still haven’t,” Greer said. “If we would have played to our full capacity, I think we would have been scarier than we are now.”
Lundy was on the team two years ago, but didn’t get much time playing behind the likes of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, Nazir Bostick and Paul Newman. What that did do, the 6-foot-6 wing said, was make him better every single day.
He wasn’t a full health Wednesday, gutting it out on an injured ankle but it didn’t stop Lundy from delivering every time the Railsplitters pushed back against Roman. With the game tied 45-45, Lundy buried a 3-pointer to break it, then found Hart on the next possession.
Later in the game, with 3:15 remaining, the junior pulled up from deep on the left wing, hitting nothing but net on a trey that put Roman up 76-72.
“That comes from my teammates, I was missing a couple shots and they told me to keep shooting the ball,” Lundy said. “They trusted me. I had trust in them. That’s just how we are. We’re very selfless and we go out there and play for each other.”
Roman, which started the season 7-5 against a brutal schedule, finished with a tear. The Cahillites won 17 of their last 18 games, won a PCL title and capped it off in Hershey with a bunch of players climbing the hockey wall to celebrate with fellow students.
The only team to beat Roman in the run was the one it faced on Wednesday. Lincoln, a terrific team in its own right, beat the Cahillites in the District 12 title game and then tore their way through the state bracket to set up a rematch.
“We had a chip on our shoulder losing to them in the district game and we came out and showed that,” Greer said. “Our egos were all the way up from winning that Catholic League championship and coming into districts we said ‘we don’t care about this game’ and they skunked us. We wanted to show we were the better team.”
The entire game was two teams trading runs and big time shot after big time shot. Lincoln’s Khalif Meares was fantastic, scoring 24 of his 28 points in the second half, including an incredible third quarter that saw him post 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and two free throws.
At times, it was a different guy carrying the banner for Roman. Greer started hot, Hart scored seven straight late in the second quarter and then closed strong, Betrand battled through foul trouble and Lundy was right there on every clutch make.
“We’ve got great players and I said this game’s not about plays, it’s about players,” Griffin said. “I wanted these guys to go out and play with great confidence and they did. They went out and hit shots that were open. That’s how we win big games, we’ve got great players.”
As Roman reveled in the moment, the players understood the significance of what the win meant for themselves and for their program.
“It’s a big accomplishment, it’s something my dad (former Temple standout Lynn Greer II) didn’t do,” Greer III said with a smirk. “I just want to stay level headed and see where it goes from here.”
Lundy, who talked about the history of the program, the greats it produced, it’s famed cramped gym and how he’s used it to help his progress. Wednesday, he and his teammates put on a performance worthy of being added to that history.
“I kept telling myself my time would come and it did,” Lundy said. “Coming to Roman my freshman year, I knew I wasn’t playing for myself. I was playing for the school, the history, the alumni and all the great players that came for me. I heard all the stories about all the Roman Catholic players and teams before me and I knew I had to play hard.”
ROMAN CATHOLIC 92, LINCOLN 80
ROMAN CATHOLIC 21 18 22 31 – 92
LINCOLN 18 18 23 21 – 80
Roman Catholic: Seth Lundy 8 8-10 28, Allen Betrand 6 2-4 14, Lynn Greer III 5 9-11 20, Hakim Hart 12 1-1 26, John Kelly 1 0-0 2, Louie Wild 1 0-0 2. Nonscoring: Nate Nicholson, Justin Lai, Nasir Lett. Totals: 33 20-26 92
Lincoln: Khalif Meares 12 2-2 28, Morrison 5 4-5 14, Sanheil Day 3 0-0 8, Corbett 2 2-2 6, Randall 2 0-0 4, Charleston 5 0-1 14, Lewis 2 0-0 4, Lucky 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 10-12 80.
3-pointers: RC – Lundy 4, Hart, Greer; L – Charleston 4, Meares 2, Day 2.
