By John Knebels • Posted February 21, 2025

The balance of the Philadelphia Catholic League’s regular season and quarterfinals portended two riveting battles in the semifinals.

Never happened.

Despite what appeared on paper to potentially be two memorable contests among the Final Four on Feb. 19 at a boisterous Palestra, Roman Catholic and Father Judge respectively dominated their opponents while securing a spot in the PCL championship 2:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23 again at the Palestra.

After two-seed Roman Catholic defeated upstart three-seed Devon Prep in the opener, 66-42, four-seed Father Judge followed with an 89-61 romp past top-seed St. Joseph’s Prep.

“It’s a blessing,” said Roman Catholic senior Shareef Jackson. “Anytime you win a game on this stage, for everything that’s on the line, you can’t overlook it. You have to remember, there were a lot of teams that wanted to have this chance. I’m grateful that we took advantage of the opportunity.”

Although the two-time defending champion Cahillites scored an impressive 66 points, it was their defense that stole the show.

Behind several different zones and aggressive man-to-man, Roman Catholic held the Tide, who were playing in the semis for the first time ever, to only 20 points in the second half.

While Jackson collected game-highs in scoring (19 points) and rebounds (13), major offensive contributions came from Jackson’s junior brother, Sammy Jackson (17 points, five rebounds), senior CJ Miller (10 points), senior Sebastian Edwards (eight points, five rebounds), and sophomore Tyler Sutton (seven points).

“There was a lot of talk about how anything can happen and how there’s really no favorite,” added Jackson. “It definitely gave us more incentive to prove people wrong.”

In order to capture the program’s 35th league title, Roman needs to find an answer for Father Judge.

Fueled by one of the most impressive start-to-finish playoff performances in recent memory, the Crusaders completely overwhelmed a senior-laden St. Joseph’s Prep squad that had only lost one PCL game.

But after Father Judge’s misleadingly tight 22-18 first-quarter advantage, the Crusaders out-everythinged the Hawks the rest of the way, especially during a 24-9 run in the second quarter.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these players,” said Father Judge coach and 1999 alum Chris Roantree, who was a member of the Crusaders’ last PCL title in 1998. “They keep getting better, and they play together.”

After placing six players in double figures in their quarterfinal win over five-seed Neumann-Goretti, the Crusaders received double-digit outputs from “only” five this time.

Leading the way was senior Kevair Kennedy, who posted an exceedingly rare triple-double with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. Junior Rocco Westfield drilled six three pointers en route to 20 points. Junior Derrick Morton-Rivera tallied 17.

In addition to stellar defense inside, senior Everett Barnes finished with 14 points. Adding even more potency, sophomore Nazir Tyler chipped in with 12 more.

“Hitting those shots and hearing the crowd felt amazing,” said Westfield, a product of Philadelphia’s Christ the King Catholic School. “It was definitely a team win, and seeing our score grow and grow just made us think that we are getting one step closer to the main goal, which is to win a championship.”

Making Westfield’s starring role more memorable, relatives in the sold-out crowd included his parents, four siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

“It is definitely a little nerve-wracking,” said Westfield. “But once you step onto the court, it’s basketball. You have to just stick to what the team and myself have been doing the whole season.

“The team and I had a good feeling going into the game. We had a good week of practice and we were focused. We just stuck together and played for each other.”

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Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnknebels.