SCRANTON \u2014 Before every game, Jimmy Doherty takes a few minutes to himself, prays, and summons strength and guidance from his guardian angel.<\/p>\n
Not far from him, Packy Doherty watches over him as he has for almost seven years.<\/p>\n
Tragedy brought these cousins together, bonded like brothers.<\/p>\n
Lindsay Doherty, a beloved member of the community and Jimmy\u2019s mother, died just after crossing the finish line of the Scranton Half Marathon in 2017. She was only 36 years old.<\/p>\n
Her family, including her husband James and children Jimmy, Kathryn, and Paige, experienced heartbreak. Friends, colleagues and neighbors were devastated by the loss of someone with such a beaming personality, who was so caring and devoted.<\/p>\n
A gifted rising basketball player, the 15-year-old Jimmy carries the sting of that day with him. He is as strong as he can be, but when weakness creeps in, there is Packy, offering a shoulder and encouraging words that carry both through the pain.<\/p>\n
This season, one that Packy, a senior, looked forward to for a long time, the two are teammates for the only time with the Scranton Prep Cavaliers.<\/p>\n
They have cherished the highs and lows, the conquering of adversity, and the joys that come with winning.<\/p>\n
Now, in their final weeks together wearing the same uniform, the Dohertys call upon each other to have a memorable run in the playoffs and beyond.<\/p>\n
Scranton Prep (17-5), the No. 2 seed, plays No. 7 Honesdale (8-14) on Tuesday in the District 2 Class 4A quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look up and let her do all the work for me,\u201d Jimmy, a freshman, said. \u201cI have my skills, but I leave everything up to her. She guides me through every path. Everything that I do, I do for her. When I was young, she was always there for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is all that I play for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n
Jimmy was too young to process what happened to his mother.<\/p>\n
He remembers having her there, raising him, loving him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was an amazing person,\u201d Jimmy said. \u201cIf anything were wrong, she would do so much to make it right. It all hit me at once that she was gone, and I broke down. It was really rough. We got through it, Packy and I together, and we got back to basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Packy, three years older, couldn\u2019t believe the loss either. He struggled with it himself, just as the entire Doherty family did.<\/p>\n
Still, he had the maturity to know that his cousin needed him. He was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very traumatic for us,\u201d Packy said. \u201cWe were so young. I went from seeing her every day next door and getting a big hello from her to her passing. We do everything for her now and remember all the good things that she brought to this world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know she is looking down at us in everything that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jimmy and Packy share similar interests. Basketball, though, is their passion.<\/p>\n
Packy burst upon the scene for Scranton Prep as a sophomore. Jimmy tagged along, admiring his mentor.<\/p>\n
After not scoring a point in a hard-fought 41-39 win over Valley View in the 2024 District 2 Class 4A final, Packy drilled nine 3-pointers and scored 40 points in the first round of the PIAA playoffs in a 79-52 win over Fleetwood, igniting one of the most memorable postseason runs in program history.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2 sharpshooter went on to score 20 points in a win over Overbrook and 20 more in a win over Neumann-Goretti, the No. 1 team in the state. The Cavaliers\u2019 magical March ended in a loss to Archbishop Carroll.<\/p>\n
From there, Packy firmly established himself as one of the premier scorers and leaders in the Lackawanna League.<\/p>\n
His propensity to raise his play in the state playoffs continued as a junior. He scored 25 points in a first-round win over Northwestern Lehigh and had 14 in a loss to Berks Catholic.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Jimmy, a slick 6-foot-1 guard, carved out his own place in basketball lore last winter.<\/p>\n
St. Clare\/St. Paul rolled to an eighth-grade state championship in the Catholic Youth Organization. Jimmy led the way, dazzling the crowds at Marywood University with 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in a dominant 63-23 win over Our Lady of Peace (Erie) in the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, we just took every day seriously in practice,\u201d Jimmy said. \u201cThat\u2019s to my coach, who prepared me. It was great to have such an amazing run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Packy seized the leadership role with the Cavaliers, but more importantly, was there supporting his cousin as he made the transition from playing against opponents his own age to competing against more physically mature varsity athletes.<\/p>\n
Scranton Prep had high expectations, and with Packy leading the way, the Cavaliers have had a successful season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to put our best foot forward,\u201d Packy, 18, said. \u201cI think this team can be remembered. We have a lot of great guys here. We want to continue to do everything that we can to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Packy and Jimmy, who comes off the bench to provide a jolt to the offense and defense, shared in the exciting wins and Packy\u2019s milestone 1,000th career point scored this season, but they also endured some difficult defeats.<\/p>\n
Through the grueling three months, they have been there for each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cPacky has prepared me mentally and physically for this season,\u201d Jimmy said. \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging. We would shoot and play one-on-one in the backyard. He was never easy on me, either. That helped me. We would be together every summer, every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the main part of what I am here playing today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n
Basketball is an escape for Jimmy and Packy.<\/p>\n
They carry Lindsay\u2019s memory and her beaming smile with them each time they take the court.<\/p>\n
Soon, these days will be behind them. Packy is headed to Wesleyan to continue his basketball journey.<\/p>\n
He knows Jimmy will be just fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been awesome,\u201d Packy said. \u201cWith me wrapping up my senior year, I was waiting for this forever. This season has been awesome. We built strong chemistry on the court. We have always had a bond off the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has played in big games and played awesome for us. I think he is ready for districts. All of these games are win-or-go-home. I keep telling him to bring it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his short prayer before each game, Jimmy will look up.<\/p>\n
He knows no matter the outcome, with his cousin right there with him for a few weeks more, everything is going to be all right.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to make this season one of the greatest Scranton Prep has ever had,\u201d Jimmy said. \u201cI want to do what I can to make this memorable for me, but for him especially, for all that he has done for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 Before every game, Jimmy Doherty takes a few minutes to himself, prays, and summons strength and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-115794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}