Roman Catholic Defeats LaSalle College 72-33: Kehler on Hoops

Written by: Dell Jackson on February 5, 2023

Roman Catholic Defeats LaSalle College 72-33

Roman Catholic defeated LaSalle College 72 to 33 on Sunday afternoon in a Philadelphia Catholic League game between two all-boys schools that are in the PIAA Class 6A classification. It was Roman’s home game, and it was played at Thomas Jefferson U., in Philadelphia. The mercy rule was triggered with 4:27 left in the third quarter.

Although LaSalle scored the first four points in the game, they quickly fell behind due to ball security problems. Roman’s defensive pressure in the half court, with two defenders typically double teaming the opponent with the ball, gave LaSalle fits. LaSalle committed five turnovers in the first quarter. With the game tied at 8 in the latter part of the first frame, Roman launched an 11 to 0 run that continued into the second quarter, consisting of a 3-pointer by 6’ 2” senior Xzayvier Brown, a fast break layup by 6’ 4” senior Jermai Stewart-Herring, a fast break layup by Brown, a driving dunk by Stewart-Herring, and a jump shot by Brown. That made it 19 to 8, Roman, and LaSalle never recovered. Roman’s defense held LaSalle to just four field goals in the first half, and Roman ran on offense at every opportunity.

Early in the second quarter, Brown became the 19th Roman Catholic player to score 1000 points in his career. Brown will will play college basketball at St. Joseph’s U. next season. LaSalle had difficulty defending against Roman throughout the game. Roman had terrific ball movement, and they had 17 assists in the game on 26 made field goals. Roman committed just two turnovers in the first half.

For the game, Roman out-rebounded LaSalle 30 to 17. Roman committed eight turnovers, while LaSalle had 10. Roman was a perfect 12 for 12 from the free throw line, while LaSalle was three for four. Each team made six 3-pointers. There were two ties and three lead changes, all in the early going.

Roman Catholic scoring: Xzayvier Brown 28, Shareef Jackson 12, Eric Oliver-Bush 12, Bobby Cottrell 6, Will Felder 4, and Anthony Finkley 2.

Some other Roman Catholic stats of note: the team shot 27 for 46 from the field. 6’ 7” sophomore Shareef Jackson shot six for eight from the field, and he had 10 rebounds. Stewart-Herring had six assists. 6’ 6” senior Anthony Finkley, who also will play college basketball at St. Joseph’s U., had five rebounds and four assists in addition to playing superb defense. 6’ 4” senior Eric Oliver-Bush was five of six from the field and also played great defense.

LaSalle College scoring: Horace Simmons 12, Kasey Fleming 10, Tim Jennings 4, James Bartchak 3, Ryan Warren 2, and Ryan Sorge 2.

LaSalle College 8 5 17 3-33
Roman Catholic 15 20 24 13-72

Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops