PCL Semifinals Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below is a preview of the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinal games which will take place at The Palestra this coming Wednesday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Roman Catholic vs. Devon Prep:</strong> Roman Catholic (11-2), the defending PCL Champs returns to Palestra in 2025 to face Devon Prep (10-3). Wednesday night will be Devon Prep's first appearance at the PCL semifinals in the program's history. Back in late January, Roman defeated Devon Prep 70-67 in double overtime. Roman is led by power forward [player_tooltip player_id='1188620' first='Shareef' last='Jackson'] (13 &amp; 10 per night; Lafayette commit) and his younger brother, wing prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1406768' first='Sammy' last='Jackson'] (14 ppg.). Shareef is an absolute beast in the paint at both ends. Sammy is our No. 8 ranked prospects in the state. Running with the Jacksons is the No. 1 ranked 2027 prospect in Pennsylvania, [player_tooltip player_id='2195052' first='Tyler' last='Sutton'] (13.5 ppg. &amp; 4 apg.). Sutton is a speedy floor general with slick handles who does a fantastic job of balancing his scoring with distributing to his Roman teammates. The upset minded Devon Prep team will present a balanced scoring attack led by 1^st Team All-PCL selection [player_tooltip player_id='1230538' first='Zane' last='Conlon'] (Southeastern Univ. commit). This season Conlon posted 16 points to go along with 9 rebounds per contest. Running with Conlon is double double machine [player_tooltip player_id='1874206' first='Reece' last='Craft'] (14 &amp; 6.5 per game; Swarthmore commit) and combo guard [player_tooltip player_id='1865353' first='Mason' last='Thear'] (12 ppg.). Thear drained threes at a 49% clip in 2024-25. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='2227000' first='Calvin' last='Smith'] (11 ppg.; 43% on 3PA) will also supply accurate long-range shooting for DP. This season Smith popped over 50 triples for DP. <em>Tipoff is at 6:00PM.</em> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Joe's Prep vs. Father Judge:</strong> This is an interesting matchup between a SJP team that rolled to the PCL regular season title with a 12-1 record and a deep FJ squad that dealt St. Joe's their lone PCL defeat. If you enjoy watching outstanding guard play, this is the game for you. SJP features a tremendous five guard lineup that includes seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1197607' first='Jaron' last='McKie'] (17 ppg.; Dayton commit), [player_tooltip player_id='1460800' first='Jordan' last='Ellerbee'] (17 ppg. &amp; 7 rpg.; FGCU commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='1188621' first='Olin' last='Chamberlain'] (10 ppg.) as well as juniors [player_tooltip player_id='1962882' first='Mekhi' last='Robertson'] (12 ppg. &amp; 5 rpg.) and [player_tooltip player_id='2251710' first='Will' last='Lesovitz'] (7.5 ppg.). That group can run an opponent off the floor with transition buckets or play a half-court game and score at every level. College coaches should keep an eye on 2028 small forward prospect [player_tooltip player_id='2563334' first='Julian' last='McKie'] who has made steady contributions for SJP all season. Father Judge will counter with its own elite guard trio of [player_tooltip player_id='1611959' first='Derrick' last='Morton-Rivera'] (18.5 ppg.; No. 2 ranked 2026 prospect), [player_tooltip player_id='1197608' first='Kevair' last='Kennedy'] (14.6 ppg.; Merrimack commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='2525533' first='Rocco' last='Westfield'] (9 ppg. &amp; 41% on 3PA). All three of those talented guards are shooting better than 39% from behind the arc this season. 6'9” Loyola (MD) commit [player_tooltip player_id='1460634' first='Everett' last='Barnes'] will give FJ a significant advantage on the interior. Barnes dominated the interior during Judge's late January upset of SJP as he posted a double double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. <em>Tipoff is at 8:00PM.</em>      </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->