Challenging season spurs growth in Roman's Taylor

Seldom does fouling out of a basketball game earn you a standing ovation.

When it does happen, it can have the feel of a curtain call: a senior serenaded in his last game - usually in defeat - by an appreciative yet melancholy faithful.

However, when Manny Taylor exited the Catholic League semifinals Wednesday night at the Palestra after fouling out, the chorus he heard was anything but sad.

"It's just a blue-collar city," head coach Chris McNesby said. "I think all these people just appreciate effort. They saw a senior give everything he had."

It was a great moment for a guy adjusting to an up-and-down season fraught with injuries, a new role off the bench, and a conflict with an official football recruiting visit.

The 6-foot-6, 270-pound forward brought much-needed physicality Wednesday to a Roman squad challenged down low by the high-flying Derrick Jones. The 6-foot-7 jumping bean for Archbishop Carroll had 11 points, eight rebounds, and a monster tip-dunk in the first half. He finished with 23 points and 13 boards.

"Being down low in the post, rebounding, scoring, and getting stops - that's all a personal thing," Taylor said. "That's just big-versus-big; who's stronger, who's a bigger man, and who's better. So, I took it personal when Derrick Jones was getting tip-dunks."

Taylor's 10-point, 10-rebound performance off the bench helped the Cahillites set up a Catholic League title rematch against Neumann-Goretti on Monday. Roman fell to the six-time defending champs, 53-48, in last season's final.

Taylor was a starter then, and adjusting to his new role as a reserve hasn't been easy.

"As a senior, being told that you won't start, your psyche can take a hit," said Taylor, who was an all-Catholic selection by league coaches the last three seasons.

McNesby said it took Taylor's body time to transition from the bumps and bruises of football season. A two-way lineman, Taylor will play at Rutgers next season.

McNesby also thought that gaining early experience for junior forward Paul Newman, who started in Taylor's place, could pay dividends come playoff time.

Though it wasn't exactly smooth, that plan worked in a 61-58 victory over Carroll.

Newman hit two free throws with five seconds left to give Roman a three-point lead.

"Those two free throws were the biggest of the game," Taylor said. "That takes poise and maturity. I think that if Paul hadn't started throughout the season he might not have had that."

"It was pretty difficult because my whole high-school career, I started," Taylor said of his reaction earlier this season. "So, to hear I was coming off the bench for any reason was hard to accept, but I think it takes someone with maturity to understand the decision was for the betterment of the team."

The Abington resident had to adjust again when his official recruiting visit to Rutgers conflicted with Roman's Jan. 30 game against St. Joseph's Prep. Roman won, 53-39, in Taylor's absence.

The trip had already been planned and coordinated between the Rutgers and Roman coaching staffs. Taylor was supposed to go to the visit after the game.

Instead, Taylor said he and his mother had second thoughts, and he decided to spend the whole weekend at Rutgers.

"I only get one official visit, and this was my first time having [one]," he said. "I would have missed the whole first day's [events]."

As penance, Taylor sat out the first half of Roman's next game, an 81-50 win over Bonner-Prendergast. McNesby said the discipline was for the unexpected change in plan, and that Taylor responded well afterward.

Win or lose in the final Monday, it seems Taylor has learned plenty during his senior season.

"It's gotten me prepared because, hey, next year [at Rutgers] I won't be a starter," he said. "I'll have to fight for a position. and every day I'll have to fight for that position because somebody will try to take my job. So I've learned a lot from this season."

"This season has been about ups and downs. It's definitely had some high points and low points, but this has also been a season I can take into life, because life isn't always going to be smooth."