Father Judge coaches, who starred on the 1998 PCL title-winning team, look to bring back a crown

Divine intervention might be an unreliable predictor if you’re seeking an inkling of how Sunday’s Catholic League championship game between Father Judge and Roman Catholic might conclude at the Palestra.

Folks at Father Judge, however, might argue that signs seem to abound in the Crusaders’ favor.

Familiar themes, familial dreams, meaningful numbers, fortuitous birthdays, and a burgeoning program on the precipice of glory, Judge coaches hope, will help the Crusaders win their first PCL crown since members of the coaching staff won it as players in 1998.

“On a team nobody thought could get there,” said Judge assistant coach Jimmy Reeves, who starred on the ‘98 squad. “Nobody thought seven neighborhood kids from the four surrounding parishes could win a Catholic League championship.”

When Chris Roantree was hired at Judge in 2021, he brought Reeves, his former teammate, to resuscitate a program that went 2-12 in league play the previous year.

Perhaps it also was to infuse the current crop with what made the ‘98 squad successful.

“We just went down there and played our game and we had fun doing it,” Reeves said of the ‘98 win. “I tell these guys, it’s something you’ll be talking about 25 years down the line.”

If the speed, savvy, and precision passing of senior point guard Kevair Kennedy isn’t enough, perhaps Rocco Westfield’s smooth jumper will be.

Kennedy is the two-time first-team all-Catholic selection, who’s committed to Merrimack. He had a triple-double [17 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists] when Judge ousted St. Joseph’s Prep in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Westfield is the junior guard who hit seven three-pointers.

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Judge can also rely on junior wing Derrick Morton-Rivera, whose father, D.J. Rivera, won two PCL titles at Neumann Goretti before playing at St. Joe’s and Binghamton University.

Senior center Everett Barnes, a 6-foot-9 Loyola pledge, patrols the paint, where Reeves once wreaked havoc in 1998.

If Judge needs a cosmic push, perhaps it could help that Sunday is Reeves’ birthday. If that isn’t enough, 27 years have passed since Coach Bill Fox led Judge to the ‘98 title.

The No. 27 has been etched indelibly within the school’s fabric since 1968. It represents the 27 graduates who, “selflessly gave their lives in the Vietnam War,” according to the memorial wall inscribed with each name on the front lawn of the school.

Annual events commemorate and celebrate the group of 27 names, whose legacy every new student is taught about.

Judge fans in the market for good omens might also smile at knowing the ‘98 squad also won on a Sunday.

One more?

“Everyone was doubting us,” Reeves said of his ‘98 team. “To be honest with you, it’s a lot like our team now. People doubt us and we just keep winning.”

Reeves’ squad shocked the city when Judge beat Roman in the ‘98 semifinals.

Still, because Eddie Griffin didn’t play for disciplinary reasons, Reeves, then a 6-6 forward, said some assumed the Crusaders would get crushed in the finals by Cardinal O’Hara and its 7-footer, Alex Sazonov. Reeves finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the championship.

» READ MORE: Roman Catholic is back in the Catholic League final. Tyler Sutton is a big reason why.

“I remember Jimmy basically playing point guard as an adjustment that [Coach Fox] made to pull Sazanoff away from the basket,” Roantree said. “Jimmy just made plays. It was a great experience.”

Roantree, a junior in ‘98, said he didn’t play much that season and didn’t consider a coaching career until after he finished playing college football at Lycoming College.

“I just fell in love with [basketball] and continue to fall in love with it,” Roantree said. “You know to this day it’s something I’m just as passionate about.”

It seems Fox, who died in 2021, about a year after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, shaped that passion. Perhaps he still does.

“I think we all have sayings that you picked up from him,” Roantree said. “There’s always things that come out of your mouth that are him.”

“I think it’s great to keep his memory alive,” added Roantree, who is “best friends” with one of Fox’s sons, Brian. “He’s the greatest to ever do it here.”

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If you’d still like to cajole the cosmos, perhaps a pre-game pizza purchase from Reeves’ former routine spot on Frankford Avenue and Aldine Street will help.

If all else fails, Reeves has more trick up his sleeves. His son, 11-year-old Brady, will be wearing his dad’s old uniform at Sunday’s game.

“Nobody thought Judge could do it then,” Reeves said, “and now nobody thinks we can do it now. So a lot of similarities. I just wish we had a 6-9 kid [like Barnes] back then.”