City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Archbishop Wood entered West Catholic’s gym without its senior point guard and biggest on-court leader.

With Army commit Tommy Funk stuck at home nursing an illness, the Vikings struggled a bit offensively in the first half. In the words of their coach, John Mosco, they were pushing a little too hard without their usual primary ballhandler and went to the locker room tied with the Burrs.

After halftime, Wood settled in and made pretty much everything the team shot, including from long distance. With Collin Gillespie running the point and finding open teammate after open teammate, the Vikings scored 49 points in the second half to eventually run away with a 77-55 victory in a Philadelphia Catholic League matchup.

“We settled down and were more patient,” Mosco said after his team moved to 2-0 in the PCL. “I think in the first half we were pushing the ball and weren’t settling the ball and trying to do too much in Tommy’s absence. We settled down, we didn’t care who got the shot and we started to relax and make shots.”

The Vikings went on a rampage to start the third quarter, knocking down five triples in the frame and beginning the quarter on a 21-5 run. Gillespie, a junior guard, had five assists in the quarter – all of them on 3-point plays. His first four dimes in the quarter were assists were all for 3-pointers and his final one was a dish to big man Seth Pinkney, who dunked and completed the and-1 at the foul line.

Gillespie finished with 12 points, half of which came from the foul line, but he also had nine of his team’s 12 assists. And that stat mattered the most without Funk.

“They’re like the same guy. When Tommy is not there, Collin fills in,” said junior Matt Cerruti. “He might not have scored as much today, but he ran the whole offense. He had a lot of assists and could’ve had more if we hit some more shots. But he did a great job running the offense.”

Cerruti was the beneficiary of a few of Gillespie’s helpers, and he finished with a team-high 22 points. Ceruti’s first 10 points came at the foul line or on 2-point field goals, but his last 12 were thanks to four 3-pointers.

Wood’s shooting display was also heavily aided by sophomore Tyree Pickron, who added 21 points and knocked down five treys. Eighteen of Pickron’s points came in the second half, including nine in a row at one point when he battled for a rebound and converted a layup while being fouled then hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

Gillespie also found Andrew Funk (Tommy’s younger brother) on a few occasions. The sophomore ended with 14 points, nine of which came via the long ball.

“It was nice,” Gillespie said of Wood’s second half shooting effort. “They were all confident shooting, so I wasn’t going to go shoot it if they’re making shots.”

Added Cerruti: “We’re all shooters, and in practice we let it fly. So we’re not just going to change anything because they’re not going in.”

For West Catholic, John Herndon led the way with 21 points and had an electric start, scoring six points in the first four minutes. Cyrie Coates added 13 points and a pair of rebounds for the Burrs, who fell to 1-1 in PCL play.

Wood will be back on the court Friday to face St. Joseph’s Prep in another PCL battle. Mosco was not sure if Tommy Funk, who had been dealing with the illness for the past week, would be available. And if he’s not, Mosco is hoping, like Monday, it wouldn’t matter too much.

“What we try to do is not be a one-man team,” Mosco said. “We want to have five guys at once pushing the ball and sharing the ball. Collin played like a great point guard, Andrew Funk gave us a great start. You have to pick your poison against us.”