By Joseph Santoliquito
Special to MaxPreps.com
The chemistry is there. The talent is certainly there. Now the only thing keeping Philadelphia’s Central High School away from something it wants, something the Lancers feel they deserve is time.
Central will make a huge leap in competition this Sunday, when the Lancers, the reigning Philadelphia Public League champs, take on national power Cardinal O’Hara for the first-ever Class AAAA (large school) Philadelphia City championship (technically, it’s called the PIAA District 12 Class AAAA title game).
The problem the Lancers face is that not too many people think they can win, when they take the court 11 a.m. at Temple’s Liacouras Center.
What gets lost is that Central comes into the game with an 18-5 overall record, after winning the Philadelphia Public League (PPL) title for the seventh time in the last eight years. What also can’t be forgotten is that the Lancers possess two of the best players in Southeastern Pennsylvania, their fire and ice combination of 5-4 senior shooting guard Renee Deas—the fire—and 6-1 senior center Janaa Pickard, the ice, who’s headed to George Mason on a scholarship.
Central feels it has a little surprise for the Lions, who are recovering from being knocked out of the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) playoffs, in a 50-42 loss to eventual PCL champion Archbishop Carroll on Feb. 17 (even though O’Hara lost in the PCL playoffs, the Lions advance to the city title game as the top Class AAAA school from the Catholic League).
At stake is a little more than just a game, though, at least the way the Lancers are looking at it. Central will be carrying the banner for the Public League, or the “The Pub,” as it’s referred to among high school sports fans in Philadelphia.
“We do know what’s at stake here,” said Deas, who is receiving Division II and high Division III attention. “This game is important to us, because some people think we can’t hang with the Catholic League teams. They think they’re more disciplined, but we want to show we can play as hard and play as well as they can. I think, overall, the area does view us with some respect, but we don’t obviously get as much respect as the Catholic League. There are some good players in the Philadelphia Public League. We have a few on this team.”
It is—finally—a team. The Lancers were upset last year by Engineering and Science in the Philadelphia Public League title game, but Central left no doubt this season, behind an amazing performance by the smooth Pickard, who finished with 11 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in a 53-42 victory over Prep Charter on February 20.
“The big difference between this year and last year is that we’re playing as a team,” Deas said. “Selfishness was a problem we had and that was a problem that carried over into the beginning of this year. But we solved it.”
Case in point: Pickard gave up big chunks of her offensive game in the title game to focus on rebounding and defense. She scored just 5 points with two minutes remaining in a close contest, before going 6-for-6 from the line in finishing with 11 points, but more importantly enabling the Lancers to create some distance and win going away.
“We know what people think,” said Pickard, who is averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds a game, not to mention she’s also fluent in Spanish and will be named Public League Player of the Year by the prestigious Markward Club. “Over the last couple of years, people have doubted what we could do. We haven’t played as well outside of the Public League, and I’m not saying we couldn’t, we just haven’t yet. Everyone on our team has been talking about winning the city title.
“I think I can speak for everyone on this team, and that we do deserve some kind of respect outside of the public league. That’s why this game is so important to us.”
A few years ago, Central was considered the No. 1 team in Southeastern Pennsylvania. This year, despite Central’s ongoing success, the Lancers somehow seemed to get lost. But that’s okay with Lancers’ coach Frank Greco.
“I think it’s true the suburban teams receive more respect that us,” Greco said. “But we have some talent in the city, and I have two special players in Renee and Janaa. We know we’re going up against a great team. O’Hara has a little motivation after losing to Carroll in the Catholic semifinals. They have a great program, a great coach and a great team. But my kids aren’t scared. They respect O’Hara, though they sure as heck would like to beat them. We’ll carry a quiet confidence that we can compete.”
Maybe a little more than that.
“This is a senior-laden team that realizes this is it together,” Pickard said. “It begins Sunday. Our hearts are involved with this.”
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
