Reed, Horne lift Roman to crown

All the ghosts were in attendance.

The bad memories against Neumann-Goretti. Against Chester, Lincoln (N.Y.) and Rice (N.Y.). All the big games that Roman Catholic lost this season hovered around the Cahillites yesterday.

For one day at least, Koron Reed and Andre Horne put those setbacks behind them.

The duo's combined 38 points and 24 rebounds carried Roman to a 60-48 win over Southern in the District 12 Class AAAA boys' basketball final at Temple's Liacouras Center.

"We had to prove that we were winners," Reed said. "We have been losing a lot of big games. We had to prove that we could win these big games as far as states or any other big game we are in."

In the process, the 6-foot-6 senior forward showed why he is regarded as a spectacular finisher. Reed's four dunks were the highlights of his 18-point, 12-rebound and 2-blocked-shot performance. He was named the game's MVP.

Horne could just as easily have won that award.

The 6-1 freshman guard made four three-pointers en route to his game-high total of 20 points. He also had 12 rebounds.

"This game was a good experience for us," Horne said. "It gives us the confidence to win it all at states."

The Cahillites (18-8) will get a chance to live out their state-championship-winning dream in the coming weeks.

The Inquirer's 10th-ranked team in Southeastern Pennsylvania earned the district's No. 1 seed with the victory.

Roman will face District 1 eighth-place team, Central Bucks South, in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. first-round state playoff game at Archbishop Ryan. That day, Southern (16-11) will meet District 1 sixth-place team Plymouth Whitemarsh in a 1 p.m. matchup at St. Joseph's Prep.

"We just had to keep our mind-set on what we had to do and play hard," Horne said of yesterday's game.

That was one of the things the Cahillites knew they had to going into this game. They also knew that they needed to win this game to fulfill another preseason goal.

In this, the Philadelphia Catholic League's first season of active membership in the PIAA, Roman expected to win the city's Class AAAA championship game, pitting the classification's top PCL team against the best Public League squad.

Little did they know that their championship would be all but clinched early in the third quarter.

That's when reserve center Anthony Mayo's free throws gave Roman a 37-20 advantage with 5 minutes, 52 seconds left in the quarter. The Cahillites led by as many as 23 points (55-32) with 5:03 remaining in the game.

Junior guard Deshon Minnis led Southern with 19 points and four steals.

Roman senior point guard Maalik Wayns missed his ninth game after suffering a meniscus tear in his right knee Jan. 26. The McDonald's all-American was in uniform for the first time since the injury and participated in the layup line. Wayns, who signed with Villanova, is expected to return Saturday.

Roman Catholic 18 15 11 16 - 60

Southern 8 8 11 21 - 48

RC: Rakeem Brookins 8, Kevin Regan 2, Anthony Mayo 10, Andre Horne 20, Koron Reed 18, Dennis Regan 2.

S: Lamar Speller 7, Deshon Minnis 19, Shaquille Gaskins 5, Shameir Duren 8, Jamir Hanner 9.