Roman Catholic finishes strong, edges La Salle for top spot in PCL standings
SPRINGFIELD >> Roman Catholic’s offensive talent is undeniable, but when the Cahillites really lock in on defense, they go to a new level.
Trailing by three early in the fourth quarter Friday night in front of a packed house at La Salle, Roman flipped that switch, made plays with hustle and defense and ripped off a game-changing 10-0 run to take the lead back for good. The Cahillites have been in that spot before, and when they are, they know how to respond to it.
Roman’s strong finish pushed it to a 73-67 win over the Explorers in a PCL thriller, vaulting the Cahillites to sole possession of first place in the league.
“When we went down, it was the end of the third quarter in the huddle we told each other we’ve been through this before,” Roman senior Seth Lundy, who scored his 1,000th point in the win, said. “It was nothing new, it was time to pick it up. In the fourth quarter, that’s what we did, we handled business.”
Lundy was one of the catalysts in an extremely balanced effort by the defending PCL and PIAA 6A champions. The senior wing was one of four players in double figure scoring, but it was his work on the defensive end, which included a couple of key blocks, that helped Roman hold on.
La Salle wasn’t quite up to Roman’s level in the first half, although a strong start by Konrad Kiszka had the Explorers down just 19-17 after the first quarter. Spurred by an aggressive Lynn Greer III and a ruthlessly effective Hakim Hart, Roman sped out to a nine-point halftime lead and forced La Salle to play catch-up in the second half.
“At the end of the day, I think they were tougher for 32 minutes than we were,” La Salle coach Mike McKee said. “We have to really look at why we fell behind and it’s usually loose balls, rebounds, shot selection and turnovers and that’s why the game goes as it does. We have to do a better job getting our guys to understand and it is what got us back in the game.”
Kiszka had 14 of his 18 points in the first half as Roman keyed in on him after the intermission. Instead of leaning solely on the senior forward, La Salle spread the wealth in the third quarter and got itself rolling.
Point guard Allen Powell imposed himself on the game in the quarter, scoring eight points while also leading a resolute defensive effort that held the Cahillities to just eight points in the frame. Roman, which had just one bucket in the final four minutes of the quarter, watched its entire lead evaporate when Jake Timby drilled a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, putting La Salle up 49-48.
“When you have a desire, you’re competitive and you’re just trying to get it done, sometimes it’s a positive and a negative,” McKee said. “You can’t fault the guys for trying to make that big shot or that big play, it wasn’t a matter of effort. Our effort in the first half was adequate, in the second half it was much better but in those moments, sometimes you need more than effort.
“I still think we have a really good team and on a given night, we can beat anybody in the league. And, obviously, that team is very good.”
Hart bookended the Roman run with a pair of 3-pointers, in between Greer and Louie Wild scored as the Cahillities clamped down on defense. The play of the game came with about 4:45 left after Greer missed a shot from the outside.
Wild, a senior guard, chased down the miss and saved it to Lundy while hurling himself out of bounds. Lundy then lobbed it up for a punishing dunk by freshman Jalen Duren and Roman led 59-53.
“We just had to play way harder than we had been playing and come out with more intensity,” Greer said. “We can’t let the game slip out of our hands like that, so we have to continue to get back on defense and keep playing hard. There have been games where we get plays like that, but the other team came back and beat us. We have to make the next play after plays like that.”
Hart led Roman with 21 on 9-of-12 shooting, while Duren scored a career-best 19 points with 12 rebounds. Greer and Lundy each had 14, with Lundy reaching the 1,ooo-point plateau as part of a three-point play with 1:17 left.
After not playing at all his freshman year due to injury, Lundy became the 20th player to score 1,000 points at Roman. Hart, a 1,000-point scorer, played his first two seasons at Kingsway High School in New Jersey but has a chance to hit the 1,000 mark as a Cahillite before the season ends.
“I decided to come to Roman in eighth grade, I came to Philly because I heard it was the best competition in the country,” Lundy, who hails from Paulsboro, New Jersey, said. “I didn’t get to play as a freshman after pulling a muscle in my back and also hurting my hamstring, but I’ve started since I was a sophomore and it’s an honor to get my 1,000th point.”
The effort on both teams was evident. Two or three Roman players dove after every loose ball, La Salle players were sprinting full bore back down the court to try and disrupt Roman’s long outlet passes and break up easy buckets.
As Greer and Lundy noted, it was a big game for a couple reasons and if Roman was going to win, the Cahillites were going to have to do it with a complete effort.
Powell led La Salle with 19 points while Timby had 14, with eight coming in the second quarter. The Explorers are back home Sunday afternoon when they host District 3 power Berks Catholic at 2:30 p.m. in a nonleague tilt before the last week of PCL play.
Roman hosts Cardinal O’Hara on Sunday as it tries to now maintain its one-game edge in the standings. With the league playoffs just around the corner, efforts like Friday nights are going have to become the standard.
“I think if you can play in this type of environment, then you can play anywhere,” Roman coach Matt Griffin said. “I’ve always felt players coming out of the Catholic League have an advantage going to college because they’re able to compete in this type of environment.”
ROMAN CATHOLIC 19 21 8 25 – 73
LA SALLE 17 14 18 18 – 67
RC: Hakim Hart 9 0-2 21, Lynn Greer III 6 2-2 14, Seth Lundy 5 2-2 14, Justice Williams 1 0-0 3, Jalen Duren 9 1-2 19, Louie Wild 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 5-8 73
L: Allen Powell 8 0-2 19, Titus Beard 2 0-0 5, Konrad Kiszka 6 6-6 18, Jake Timby 5 0-0 14, Zach Crisler 3 0-0 7, Khalil Diarrah 1 0-0 2, Emmanuel Freyre 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 6-8 67
3-pointers: RC – Hart 3, Lundy 2, Williams; L – Timby 4, Powell 3, Beard, Diarrah
