Moving forward

Malik Perry can’t help but be a little jealous of his South Philly buddies.

The Roman Catholic senior watched his good friends Earl Pettis, Antonio "Scoop" Jardine and David Burton help Neumann-Goretti crush St. Joseph’s Prep for the Catholic League basketball title on March 5.

To make matters worse, these are the same guys who scored a 20-point win over Perry’s Roman team in the quarterfinals.

Now the 6-foot-4 forward could have a chance at a rematch.

Roman, Neumann-Goretti and the Prep will represent Philadelphia in the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament. The eight-team tournament, featuring top Catholic high-school squads from Philadelphia and Maryland, opens today and concludes Sunday in Cumberland, Md.

If Roman wins tonight’s opening-round match-up against Arlington’s Bishop Denis J. O’Connell – the defending tournament champ – and Neumann-Goretti knocks off Towson Catholic of Maryland, the Philly rivals would meet tomorrow night.

"That would be icing on the cake if we play the team that knocked us out of the playoffs," said Perry, of 12th and Kater streets. "Hopefully, it will be a different scenario this time."

But if Roman is eliminated before the other local teams, the 17-year-old athlete will be a good sport and root for the Philly contingent.

"We have to stick together as a whole," said Perry, who is making his second straight appearance in the regional tournament.

This is a busy week for the All-Catholic forward, who played in Tuesday night’s Catholic League all-star game. Perry, who started playing basketball only five years ago, was hoping his performance would heighten interest from Division I schools.

Perry will have another chance to make dazzling dunks at the All-Star Labor Classic at Saint Joseph’s University on April 3. His team of city all-stars will face the best high-school seniors from the suburbs.

AFTER PLAYING HISfreshman and sophomore seasons at Furness High, Perry transferred to Roman Catholic for the private-school environment. Playing for Roman’s basketball team meant a tougher schedule of daily practices and weekend games, but Perry believes the changes were all beneficial.

"I think I progressed a lot," said the athlete, who averaged 11.1 points per game this season. "Coming into this program, I had to do the little things like pass, improve my free throws and work on my jump shot."

He credits summer coach Marshall Taylor, older brother Dominique Perry and parents Michelle and Charles Perry for helping him develop as a player.

But his mom has been the most steadfast supporter, Perry noted.

"I don’t think I could do it without her," he said. "I don’t think she missed a game this season."

Now Perry is ready to save a seat for his mom at Division I college games. He is drawing attention from Pennsylvania’s St. Francis, Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg and Central Connecticut State. Perry visited St. Francis earlier this year and said he really bonded with members of the team.

The athlete said he feels grateful just for the opportunity to play college ball.

"I’ve only been playing basketball for five years, so I accomplished a lot."

Huskies edged out in states

All talk of the Prep Charter Huskies being Philadelphia’s best hope for a PIAA AA state basketball title ended abruptly in last Wednesday’s 45-43 second-round loss to York Catholic.

The Huskies were one of only three PIAA District XII teams to make it to the second round. Central — which defeated Prep Charter for this year’s Public League title — and Frankford also were eliminated last week. Despite falling short of their championship goals, the Huskies still enjoyed their most successful season ever, finishing 22-6 and going to the playoffs for the first time in their four-year history. The program also became the first at any city charter school to compete for a Public League title. "This is our first year in states," coach Dan Brinkley said. "I would’ve liked to go further to represent District XII, but we didn’t."

Junior Rodney Green led the Huskies with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Markieff Morris tallied eight points and 16 rebounds. The game was decided in the final 1.6 seconds when York Catholic’s Garrett Brown made two free throws. Following the close contest, played at Coatesville High in Chester County, Brinkley compared the Huskies’ inaugural experience in state competition to NBA players’ first trip to the Olympics. It’s all a matter of adjusting to different rules, he said. "In states, it’s one and done," the coach said. "We have to adjust to the style and the officiating."