City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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When the ball left Izaiah Brockington’s hand right before the third-quarter buzzer sounded, it seemed destined to find the bottom of the net.

Brockington had led a huge second-half charge for Archbishop Ryan against La Salle, so much so that the fourth quarter would not make a difference. Even before Brockington’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer, which he said he had no doubt would go in, Ryan knew where it was heading next Wednesday.

With a 67-49 romp over La Salle, the Raiders are on their way to the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals, getting a game at the Palestra for the first time since 2008. Brockington put on a show for the five seed, scoring 11 of his game-best 27 points in the third quarter when Ryan stretched its 11-point halftime lead into a 26-point dismantling of the home Explorers.

“We went into halftime really hype, but we knew we had to play another half,” Brockington said. “Our mindset was that it was 0-0. We came back out with the same intensity and we really wanted to put this game out of reach.”

That is precisely what the Raiders did, outscoring La Salle, 28-13 in the third period and ending it on a 27-9 run in the final six minutes.

Brockington was on all game, but shined in the third. He made tough layups, pull up jumpers, had a few assists and the lefty capped it all off with that buzzer-beating triple, which splashed through the net, giving the Ryan students who made the trip even more reason to go crazy.

“When he gets going, it’s tough to stay in front of him,” first-year Ryan head coach Joe Zeglinski said of his star junior wing. “He has the quickest first step I’ve seen in a while. I don’t think anyone in this league gets to the rim better than him. Once he’s going, he might miss a shot, but you have to just let him play because he’ll figure it out. He’s close to unstoppable.”

Brockington ended up going 8-for-12 from the field, added another 10 points from the foul line and dished out four assists, but he also got some help from teammates. Senior guard Austin Slawter had 12 points, forward Austin Chabot added 11 and Freddie Killian added eight points and seven rebounds.

What really got the Raiders going early, though, was defense.

With four players in their starting lineup 6-foot-4 or taller, they extended a 1-3-1 zone, and never let the Explorers get comfortable in the first half. La Salle was taking contested jumpers, turning the ball over and by halftime, the team had just 11 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

“Everyone knew where the shooters were,” Zeglinski said. “Everyone knew where the drivers were, and you can’t play it much better than we did.”

La Salle – which beat Ryan 57-37 in its Catholic League opener on Dec. 22 – bounced back offensively in the second half, but it was too late to make any difference. Senior Ryan McTamney led the Explorers with 14 points, while Dan Remolde added eight points and five boards.

The Explorers’ season came to an end with the loss, and they finished the year 17-6 overall after going 9-4 in regular season league play.

The Raiders, on the other hand, improved to 17-7 on the season and greatly bettered their chances to secure a spot in the Class AAAA PIAA Tournament, though that is still to be determined. But Ryan’s next focus will be on doing what no PCL team has done this season: Stopping top-seeded Neumann-Goretti. Ryan will have its hands full with the high-paced Saints, who have not lost a PCL game all season (Roman Catholic will face Archbishop Carroll in the other semifinal).

Their attentions weren’t quite turned to the next task, though, as the team celebrated its victory in the locker room Friday night. Even under a coach in his first season, the trip to one of basketball’s most storied arenas has been a long time coming.

“All week, I saw the focus, I even saw it before the Lansdale game that they were itching to get to the playoffs,” Zeglinski said. “On Tuesday, I showed up and I haven’t seen that focus all year. We had a goal to get to the Palestra. From the seniors down, 22 guys were all in the scout, we knew all the plays La Salle was running. It’s a credit to these guys.”

Carroll holds off Ryan in Double OT

Archbishop Carroll is heading back to the Catholic League semifinals, but it had to earn its way there Friday night.

The second-seeded Patriots needed two overtimes to eventually get away from No. 9 seed Archbishop Wood, 77-70. Ryan Daly scored a game-high 30 points for Carroll and Josh Sharkey added 17, setting up the team for another venture to the Palestra next Wednesday.

Wood, which beat eighth-seeded Father Judge in the first round, certainly did not go down without a fight. The Vikings outscored Carroll, 20-14, in the fourth quarter to force overtime and got a combined 30 points from Tommy Funk and Tyree Pickron.

It was the second meeting between the two teams in a week, as Carroll narrowly beat Wood, 67-65, on Sunday in the final day of regular season PCL play. The Patriots will face Roman Catholic – which topped St. Joe’s Prep – in the semifinals, a repeat matchup from last year.