END OF THE ROAD

Roman’s balance too much for CB West

BENSALEM » Lynn Greer III drove into the lane, rose up with purpose and put down a one-handed slam early in the fourth quarter.

It was an exclamation point not only on the day for the sophomore point guard but for the rest of his Roman Catholic teammates. The Cahillites started hot, weathered an injury to Seth Lundy and never let up as they faced a red-hot CB West team in the state quarterfinals on Saturday at Bensalem.

Hakim Hart and Allen Betrand combined for 47 points while Greer nearly had a triple-double as Roman won 75-56 to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals.

“It was a good game for us because we played as a team,” Greer, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, said. “I think we had like 15 assists in the first half. It’s always fun when we’re playing together like that.”

Roman scored the first seven points of the game and after the Bucks got their feet under them, closed the quarter strong to take a 17-8 lead. Then, Betrand and Lunday, the standout junior forward, collided while trying to contest a shot that left both players shaken up.

Betrand was able to walk off the floor with a clear limp while Lundy stayed down and eventually had to be helped to the back. Roman coach Matt Griffin said it was a left ankle injury and if absolutely needed, Lundy probably could have gone back into the game. As it was, the 6-foot-6 wing was able to keep his seat on the bench and watch his teammates do the rest.

“Our strategy was to apply pressure without giving up layups so we needed great weakside help and I thought we did that,” Griffin said. “We just bothered them with our length. We committed to the defensive end. They run really good offense but we just tried to contest all their shots on the perimeter.”

West ends its season at 23-8

JIM TRYON/FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA CB West’s Jake Reichwein goes up for a bucket in between Roman Catholic defenders Saturday.