West Catholic Stakes Its Claim Alongside State Powerhouses In Dominant 36-Point Opening Round Victory Over Columbia As Burrs Advance Onward In PIAA-3A Tournament
Written by: Andy Herr on March 12, 2023
While the logic of it all may seem a little bit unconventional at least on the surface, sometimes the best medicine that a team can find for itself is getting firmly pushed up against the metaphorical ropes while tasked with having only two options– to either sink or swim. And if ever there was a team, much less a town, that would figure to thrive best when placed into such a situation, it would figure to be Columbia. At least that’s certainly what the Crimson Tide and their ever-present backers hoped would be the case come Saturday night in West Philadelphia.
For it wasn’t all that long ago –say just a few weeks ago to be exact– that a potential Columbia and Philadelphia West Catholic matchup found inside the PIAA-3A bracket figured to be not all that far distant from Hershey’s Giant Center and the eventual state championship, if not there outright regardless. However, even while the Tide’s potential upside continues to remain incredibly high inside this 2023 tournament but beyond as well, their overall resume this season understandably took a bit of a hit from the night of February 8th onward.
For it was on that night where the Tide dropped a puzzling 73-46 decision at the hands of their foremost divisional rival, Lancaster Mennonite, for a loss that would morph into two more in quick succession following early exits from both the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 3 tournaments after setbacks to Cedar Crest and Delone Catholic respectively. From there, with that aspect of their sparkling 2022-23 season tallied up until that point potentially being washed away in a do-or-die game against Oley Valley, the Crimson Tide would indeed respond to the challenge at hand by circling the wagons to come up 69-57 victory against the Lynx which awarded Columbia with the final spot in the PIAA-3A field.
Their prize waiting for them in the opening round of states? Oh, just one of the foremost players from within arguably the best conference locate within the mid-Atlantic, the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Think what you will of their unassuming 15-10 overall record coming into this weekend, but West Catholic is undeniably one of the best teams that the entire state of Pennsylvania can boast. Easy to say that of course when the Burrs are found right at, if not at the very top, of the 3A state rankings at every passing turn it has seemed. Not only that, but if you are a team in the famed Catholic League that has the opportunity to compete at The Palestra for that league’s Final Four, you automatically come with the upmost amount of credibility. And yes, while West Catholic would end up coming up 13-points shy against another PA superpower, Neumann-Goretti, on that semifinal night, they had nonetheless looked the Saints squarely in the eye earlier in the season as evidenced by their narrow 57-56 loss against N-G in early January.
And speaking of the Burrs’ 2022-23 resume, it is quite literally a Who’s Who of local high school basketball.
Sure, while you have the Catholic League giants such as Archbishop Wood, Roman Catholic, Devon Prep, Archbishop Ryan, and Archbishop Ryan to name just a few already baked in –a stretch of games which saw West Catholic prevail by a combined 4-2 record against those goliaths no less – there was also a litany of out-of-state competition found on the Burrs’ schedule this season, certainly not the least of which included New Jersey’s Camden High, a team that has the undisputed #1 player in country found in the form of one DJ Wagner.
Needless to say, for a school that only has a 3A boys’ enrollment at its disposal of which to utilize, even the most elementary of observers had to rightly acknowledge that West Catholic has done quite well for itself when you consider the star-power of which the Burrs have already tested themselves against before entering this opening round of state competition.
Even still, while most teams lacking in mental moxie would’ve easily started to quiver and quake after hearing of the battles of which their opening round of PIAA competition has already seen up until this point, you certainly had to assume that Columbia did not fit such a description. If anything, the Crimson Tide figured to relish the opportunity of sticking their chests out proudly and proving themselves against one of the foremost power brokers found residing within the eastern seaboard this winter. After all, if you know anything about the town itself, that is something already hardwired in their collective DNA whether you’re talking about basketball, much less life itself.
In the end though, while Columbia would indeed take their swing at an imposing beast, West Catholic was about to demonstrate without much in the way of pushback as to why this is arguably the best high school basketball found in Pennsylvania this winter, regardless of your classification level of choosing.
That said, it would be the Crimson Tide who would deliver the first shot in both a literal and figurative sense as a dead-eye triple knocked down in the corner by 5’10 junior guard Artie Poindexter got Columbia out to the early 3-0 advantage inside of the opening few minutes of play on Saturday night.
However, from that point forward, the Burrs proceeded to display their utter dominance and never look back.
In fact, following a bucket from Coppin State-bound senior point guard, Adam “Budd” Clark, that made it a 6-5 lead in West Catholic’s favor at the 5:50 mark of the opening quarter, the lead would never change hands for the remainder of the evening.
Not only that, but the West Catholic’s lead would only swell upward in size and stature as the opening frame progressed.
For that, following a 3-ball knocked down via the efforts of another senior standout in the West Catholic lineup, Zion Stanford, the West Catholic lead had grown out to a 9-5 difference with Stanford having scored seven of the Burrs’ first nine points. From there, in the aftermath of two more West Catholic trifectas that were splashed in courtesy of Budd Clark and Amyr Walker respectively, it was suddenly an 18-7 contest with Columbia being forced into calling timeout with 3:22 left to play in the opening stanza.
And if the Burrs weren’t seen knocking down shots from the perimeter, they clearly had no issues whatsoever when it came to taking their collective act inside the arc either seeing as how a fast-break alley-oop dunk from Clark to Stanford upped the West Catholic lead to 23-7 with two minutes still left to tick off the first quarter clock.
Finally, and surely not a moment too soon as far as their contingent had to be concerned, a timely Poindexter bucket stopped the bleeding somewhat from Columbia’s perspective despite it coming at point in time when it was a 25-9 West Catholic lead before the Burrs would then be able to tally two more onto their already commanding early buffer as the school located just three blocks down Chestnut Street clearly felt right at home as evidenced by their 27-9 lead possessed after the opening eight minutes.
In the second quarter, the West Catholic just kept coming head-on in Columbia’s direction.
Sure enough, it would soon become a 33-9 West Catholic advantage following a theft and finish by way of 6’2 senior guard Amyr Walker with just a hair over two minutes having ticked off the second quarter clock by that point.
That said, if there was a member of the Crimson Tide who was able to carry the mail throughout a majority of the opening half on Saturday, it was most certainly Artie Poindexter.
Case in point, following an old-fashioned three-point play near the halfway mark of the period, a 3-ball of the more traditional variety was then tallied by the talented junior guard, despite the difference standing at 20, 37-17 in West Catholic’s favor. On the night, while he was the one who had predominately stirred the drink for Columbia throughout the first 16 minutes, Poindexter would have his efforts spill over into the second half as well by virtue of his team-high 15-point outing once the dust had finally settled.
Yet while Columbia would continue to have their moments, something seen in a put-back follow at the cup thanks to the gritty work of 6’3 senior forward Aiden Miller underneath that got the Tide back inside of 20 at 37-19, it was a nonetheless strong opening statement authored by West Catholic throughout the opening half as the Burrs took the 37-21 halftime lead with them into the intermission.
But even if somehow there was a shred of doubt lingering as to whether or not West Catholic would slip up and open the door for Columbia once second half got underway, rest assured those premonitions were quickly laid to rest.
In fact, the Burrs couldn’t have started the third frame off much better considering how a triple knocked down on their opening possession thanks to freshman guard Jasir Tyler helped raise the curtain to get West Catholic into a rhythm. Not only that, but the pep in their step continued to remain alive and well following another trey, this one via Zion Stanford, making it a 45-21 West Catholic lead not even two minutes into the half.
And while Columbia would counter back with a 3-ball of its own dialed up by 5’9 sophomore guard Ladarian Miller which made it a 47-27 contest, a pair of trifectas cashed in from Budd Clark in quick succession served as not only an impromptu six-point addition to what would end up being his game-high scoring effort in posting a 19-point night’s worth of work, but it also more importantly allowed West Catholic to flirt with the mercy-rule given their 54-29 advantage with 3:30 left in the third quarter by that point.
Those aspirations of a running clock only continued to pick up steam not long afterwards following a dipsy-do bucket at the tin from Tyler which then made it a 59-32 count before an equally impressive Crimson Tide deuce, this coming in the form of a reverse finish from 6’0 sophomore guard Dominic Diaz-Ellis, made it a 61-39 ballgame which is precisely where things would remain once the final few seconds evaporated off the third quarter clock.
Yet as is the case with stellar teams, it is frequently a four-quarter display that lasts from tip to final gun. And never more was that on display than with West Catholic on this night, yes, even inside the fourth quarter as well.
Sure enough, the Burrs would remain just as lethal from beyond the arc inside the final eight minutes as they had been up until that point as evidenced by a pair of treys knocked in by way of Isreal Cole and Jasir Tyler respectively, making it a 71-39 West Catholic lead with six minutes still yet to go. And if you’re wondering as to just how potent West Catholic was able to be when it came to pouring it in from bonus distance against the Crimson Tide on Saturday evening, the feat of knocking down what would amount to an even dozen, 12 3-balls, speaks for itself without much in the way of further explanation required.
But even with their 36 points tallied from outside of the semicircle pushed to the side for just a moment, perhaps the highlight of West Catholic’s entire evening came once 6’0 senior Michael Singleton checked himself into the contest before promptly coming up with a hard-earned bucket inside, a deuce that received the loudest of ovations and celebrations from the Burrs’ bench heard all evening long, making it a 73-39 count with time winding down.
In the end, while 6’1 sophomore guard Darius Diaz-Ellis would be bestowed the honors of being the one to register the Crimson Tide’s final points of the 2022-23 campaign with a take to the rack with inside of two minutes left to go, Columbia’s incredibly tall task of having to take down of the Philadelphia Catholic League’s fastest-rising powers proved itself by virtue of the final 79-43 score that went in West Catholic’s favor being emblazoned high above on the scoreboard’s neon lights once the buzzer sounded and the handshake lines had concluded.
Needless to say, for someone who always tries to look under every possible rock both near and far when it comes to testing his teams with the toughest of nonconference games that he can find at his disposal, Columbia head coach Kerry Glover wasn’t one to mince words of the team who had just knocked his squad out of the postseason on this night.
“As soon as we knew we were playing in this game, I drove up here last Friday night and saw their game against Math, Civics, and Science taking in the whole environment and just seeing them in-person,” Glover said of watching West Catholic live a week ago in the 3A city championship. “From what I’ve seen, I don’t care if it’s 1A up to 6A, this is a top five team in the state easily without question,” he remarked of the Burrs.
“It’s an uphill battle,” he surmised. “Some things we were able to identify and see on film and with me being there in-person, but when you’re just not used to seeing it, it’s just so much different from when you’re there in that moment. Like, I had my son (Kerry “Hov” Glover), (Robert) Footman, (J’Von) Collazo, (Matt) McCleary, in practice this last week and a half. But at the end of the day, they’re all 6’1, 6’0, 6’2, and it’s such a difference when you add five inches and 20 pounds of muscle onto it,” Glover remarked when relying on the efforts of some recently departed and talented members of Crimson Tide teams over the last couple of seasons in a scout-team effort in prepping for the Burrs. “Just getting adjusted to that, getting used to that level of physicality, it was different. By the time we adjusted to it, we were already down by 18, 19 points. But I liked the way we fought, how we competed, and just didn’t give up.”
And while this defeat could understandably leave a bitter final note on their season in totality, after a lengthy postgame chat back in the locker room afterwards, Columbia’s head man wasn’t about to let his team sulk with heads down walking out the doors of West Philadelphia High.
“I just told our guys, ‘We were 20-6 and not to let this loss overshadow what we’ve been able to do. Nobody gave you guys a chance coming into the year. You guys used that as motivation,’” Glover remarked. “It’s a different crew. We lost 85% of our scoring from last year, 85% of our rebounding from last year, and pretty much all our leadership from last year,” he went on to elaborate. “They used all that drive them, but they got kind of content, and we didn’t keep our foot on the gas,” he candidly added when asked to try and encapsulate this entire season in the moment. “Honestly though, the other side of it too is fatigue. These guys got gassed,” Glover continued. “It’s different when you have to be the leader. You can wait for someone else to make something happen. It has to be you.”
And that right there, the leadership aspect, will undoubtedly be the key catalyst as to whether or not Columbia, a team with a bevy of talent entering the fray once again next season, can not only make it back to the state tournament, but advance onward for years and years to come as well.
“This group understands how good they can be, but the consistent work ethic is different,” said Glover of his core cast due to return. “The last week and a half, two weeks, we’ve been in the gym at 5:30 in the morning. That opportunity has been there for them since last season ended. We hit that little funk at the end of the season and now guys are asking, ‘Coach, can we get in the gym?’ We could’ve been doing that all summer, all fall, all winter. I don’t mind coming in at 5:30 morning, going home to get ready for school, and then practicing later that day. Two-a-days are not uncommon, but it’s an uncommon thing at a small school like this where guys can get burnt out and have a lot going on. But at the end of the day, that’s what you signed up for being a student athlete,” he stated. “It’s a great group of kids though. I see some fire behind them.”
A fire that burns hot like some of these most recent Columbia teams no doubt.
“It was kind of what we went through two years ago losing that COVID year district championship game over at Lancaster Catholic,” Glover said going back in memory. “I didn’t have to tell those guys. I told them, ‘The Breakfast Club still exists, but I’m not showing at 5:30, Coach Coop isn’t showing up at 5:30 unless you guys say you want to come. It’s an open invitation.’ We lost to Catholic that time and it drove Footman, my son, and those guys. It lit a fire under their asses. Last year they were like, ‘Someone has to pay. We know how it felt.’”
But as is the case when competing alongside the smaller rank and file inside the PIAA classification system, inevitably running into teams such as this Philadelphia West Catholic bunch are just part of the nature that comes with the territory. Even still, so long as Glover remains at the helm up on “The Hill,” Columbia won’t be found ducking anybody who wants to square off with them before reaching the postseason.
“It’s tough because on one side of it, I try to reach out to a lot of 5A, 6A schools, and a lot of them just won’t play us,” the Crimson Tide boss explained. “Then, when we do schedule a couple of bigger schools like this year, they weren’t as good as they normally are traditionally, so that was different…We know the battle that we’re facing. We aren’t going to see anybody in our section like (West Catholic). Honestly, they’re built like an old Harrisburg High or an old McCaskey team,” he described off the Burrs which will surely capture the attention of the local audience in particular. “We aren’t seeing anyone like them in the L-L League, York-Adams League, or Mid-Penn. Honestly, our best opportunity to see a team like that is playing Reading High,” he said with a light-hearted laugh.
“It’s always a challenge and a task that I’m up for,” Glover said in closing. “At the end of the day, we are who we are. We can’t change that. We can’t just magically grow five, six inches overnight. I wish we could. We can’t, so we just have to take what we got and go battle.”
And for a team that oozes the very fiber of its town arguably better than any other found around the mid-state, worrying about Columbia bringing the fight to a challenge at-hand isn’t something that anyone be worried about no matter the physical nor metaphorical size of the opposition in front of them. After all, it already comes hardwired in your DNA if you’re a member of the Crimson Tide.
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