BOYS' BASKETBALL: Roberson making up for lost time
PENNSAUKEN - Wiley Roberson sat on the bench for 16 games.
It was more than a little frustrating, he was ruled ineligible due to academic issues.
“There were times when it was like ‘is this really what I want to do?” he said. “The coaches told me to get my grades back. You just can’t be an athlete anymore, you need to be a student-athlete.
“I didn’t want to give up this chance. We have a good group of seniors, a good team. I really wanted to be part of this team.”
The 6-foot-4 junior forward made his season debut earlier in the week and capped an outstanding first three games Friday night in the Tri-State Showcase at Bishop Eustace Prep.
Roberson scored nine of his 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter and grabbed seven rebounds as the Cherokee High School boys’ basketball team, No. 10 in the Courier-Post Mean 15, rallied for a 61-55 victory over No. 6 Wildwood Catholic.
“Wiley was outstanding,” first-year coach Eric Cassidy said. “He’s been working his butt off and is a nice addition right now.”
Said Roberson: “Coach Cassidy really believes in me; believes in me driving the ball and getting rebounds.
“That’s three great team wins (this week, including Bishop Eustace and Lenape). This will help us build for March. It was a great one for us. To play against good competition like that builds our confidence.”
Winners of six in a row, the Chiefs (15-4) trailed 50-40 early in the fourth. Cassidy called a timeout, settled his troops a bit and they went to work.
“We had to stay put and grind it out,” Cassidy said. “Our schedule in the Olympic Conference really helped us out because we’ve played some close games. The kids did not panic.”
The result was a 21-5 run to close out the game, including a stretch of 12 unanswered points by Roberson and senior Kevin Brown.
“They hit some big shots for us,” Cassidy said.
Brown hit a 3-pointer with 2:55 left, putting the winners ahead to stay.
“I was wide open,” said Brown, who finished with 14 points. “I knew it was going in as soon as I shot it.
“We came back from something where it didn’t look like we were going to make it.”
“We put ourselves in position to beat a very good team and just weren’t able to finish,” Wildwood Catholic coach Dave DeWeese said.
Zach Rowe had a big game for the winners as well, earning MVP honors after collecting 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Marcus Lewis-Marshall scored 15 points.
Trey Smith led all scorers with 23 points for Wildwood Catholic (12-3). Caleb Fields had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Crusaders came in averaging nearly 82 points per game.
“We took some bad shots. We obviously shot the ball as poorly as we have all season,” DeWeese said. “Down the stretch, there were two or three possessions where we had some easy opportunities that didn’t go in. It just snowballed and we weren’t able to recover.
“We play in these games to get better. The hope is that we learn from the mistakes that we made and the next time we’re in this type of situation we don’t make the same mistakes.”
Cassidy said it came down to senior leadership.
“They’ve been here before and they know it’s a grind,” he said. “I tell them every day that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We’ve been in a lot of close games and we’re doing a good job of closing them out and getting Ws.”
CHEROKEE 61
WILDWOOD CATHOLIC 55
Double trouble: Wiley Roberson and Kevin Brown combined for 25 points and 12 rebounds.
MVP: Cherokee guard Zach Rowe had 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Well said: “We never get down on ourselves. We always have the courage to rally and this was a big team victory.” – Kevin Brown
Kevin Minnick; (856) 486-2424; kminnick@gannettnj.com