Buddies Jalil Bethea, Xzayvier Brown excel in Archbishop Wood loss to Roman Catholic

BENSALEM — The Archbishop Wood-Roman Catholic game Tuesday night featured two of the best boys basketball players in Pennsylvania.

Wood junior guard Jalil Bethea earned Catholic League Player of the Year honors and is being recruited by the likes of Syracuse and UCLA, while Xzayvier Brown is a high-level senior guard headed to St. Joseph's.

The Vikings were only down by two points to start the fourth quarter when Brown took over, scoring the Cahillites' first 11 points of the period on the way to 15 of his game-high 29 in the fourth during Roman's 66-56 PIAA Class 6A state semifinal victory at Bensalem.

Bethea gave Wood a chance with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the game.

That the two were matched up a fair amount made the evening even more special.

"'X' — that's my guy," said Bethea afterward. "Off the court, me and him are real cool. Once we're on the court, we're not really cool like that, but he's still a good dude and I like playing against him. He's actually like a big brother. When I go against him, I learn stuff from him."

Brown echoed those sentiments.

"It's fun (going against Bethea) because I know him personally," Brown said. "That's my friend. He's a great player. His ceiling is through the roof. ... He can pretty much do everything."

Brown's defensive plan was to stay as close to Bethea as possible because "if you give him space, it's over with."

One of the reasons Wood didn't advance, according to Vikings coach John Mosco, was Roman made sure "it was always crowded against Jalil (when he had the ball)," but Wood didn't crowd Brown as effectively.

The Vikings were upended by Roman 78-65 in the 2022 PIAA state title game, then lost 66-59 in the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra on February 22 after falling 77-56 in the regular season. Brown averaged 23.5 points in the two previous Wood-Roman meetings this season.

Roman (27-3) will face Reading High for the 6A state championship Saturday night (8) at Hershey's Giant Center. Reading outlasted Wood 58-57 in the state title game two years ago.

Boys basketball: Carson Howard playing a big role in Archbishop Wood success

Bethea hit a stepback 3-pointer to open the scoring and help stake Wood to an early 8-2 lead, but Roman responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 11-8. The Cahillites remained in front 15-12 at the end of the quarter.

Wood (19-9) took a 25-21 lead with a 13-4 second-quarter run, capped by a Bethea three-point play. Its edge reached 29-24 on a Carson Howard follow bucket before Robert Cottrell 3-pointer just before the buzzer pulled the Cahillites within two (29-27) at halftime. Bethea and Milan Dean paced the Vikings with 8 points at the break. Brown had 10 for Roman.

After the Cahillites moves ahead 32-29 early in the third period, Bethea tied it up with a 3-pointer and Dean's 3-ball put the Vikings back in front 35-32. Following four straight points by Roman's Anthony Finkley, Bethea drilled a deep 3-pointer to give Wood a 38-36 edge, but Roman scored six of the quarter's final eight points for a 42-40 lead going into the fourth.

Roman senior starters Jermai Stewart-Herring and Erik Oliver-Bush are ineligible for states due to the PIAA transfer rules, forcing coach Chris McNesby to move top subs Cottrell (15 points) and William Felder Jr. into the starting lineup. McNesby only used freshman Bryce Hillman off the bench Tuesday.

Boys basketball: Versatile Josh Reed is excelling in an expanded role for Wood

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Buddies Jalil Bethea, Xzayvier Brown shine in Archbishop Wood loss to Roman