Lynn Greer, Roman Catholic advance to PIAA basketball state semifinals

Lynn Greer III is certainly living up to the considerable hype that surrounded him when he arrived at Broad and Vine streets two years ago.

While only a sophomore, the son of Lynn Greer II, who starred at Temple and went on to have a 13-year professional career, is an incredibly poised floor general for Roman Catholic.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder is a dangerous scorer, solid penetrator, gifted passer, and high-leaping rebounder. "He's 15 years old," coach Matt Griffin said Saturday. "The sky is the limit for what he can accomplish."

Displaying his usual savvy and natural instincts, Greer produced 10 points, eight rebounds (two on offense), and seven assists, as the Cahillites easily downed Central Bucks West, 75-56, in Saturday afternoon's PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal at Bensalem.

People often compare Greer to his well-known father, who was a standout at Engineering & Science (class of 1997) and averaged 23.2 points at Temple.

"Most people mention the difference in offensive styles," the younger Greer said. "My dad was a pure scorer. I'm more of a get-to-the-basket, pull-up jumper type of player."

After overcoming a 15-point deficit to stun Plymouth Whitemarsh, 75-71, in Wednesday's second-round thriller at Bensalem, Greer and company sprinted to 22-8 advantage against C.B. West and cruised from there.

"We were sore after that game against PW," Greer said. "But we were back in the gym the next day. We had to work on our offense and defense."

Next for Roman (22-6) is a semifinal game against District 7's Pine-Richland (23-6) on Tuesday at a neutral site and time to be determined. Pine-Richland advanced with Saturday's 52-50 win over District 8's Allderdice.

Nasir Lett's layup off a feed from fellow reserve guard Louie Wild gave the Cahillites a 30-14 advantage on C.B. West with 2 1/2 minutes before the half.

A 9-0, third-quarter run that began with Greer's two free throws and was capped by Allen Betrand's fastbreak layup widened the gap to 47-27.

Of his impressive all-around game, Greer said, "You can't just be a scorer. You have to be able to contribute in different ways. That's what separates you from other players."

Hakim Hart led the Catholic League champs in scoring with 24 points, including three first-half treys, and Betrand, who went 11 for 13 from the line, had 23.

Collin MacAdams paced C.B. West with 20 points, including four putbacks, and 12 rebounds. The Bucks (22-7) shot a miserable 3 for 22 from beyond the arc.

Seth Lundy, a 6-6 junior wing and Roman's leading scorer, did not play after suffering a left ankle injury at the end of the first quarter. "He could have returned, but we thought it was best to keep him out and have him rest," Griffin said.

Roman Catholic          17    17     18    23  –   75

Central Bucks West      8    12     14    22  –   56

RC: Lynn Greer 10, Allen Betrand 23, Hakim Hart 24, Seth Lundy 4, Louie Wild 6, Nasir Lett 4, Nick Tolomeo 2, Michael Anderson 2.

CBW: Jack Mulhearn 3, Mike Munari 4, Collin MacAdams 20, Jake Reichwein 10, Shane McCusker 12, Jack Neri 5, Connor Briece 2.