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Kulackovskis goes off as Ryan runs past Penn Charter

12/13/2016, 11:45pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Matiss Kulackovskis (above) went for 30 points and 12 rebounds as Ryan downed Penn Charter. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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At halftime of a game against Penn Charter, Archbishop Ryan was down five.

Eight minutes later, it was all but over -- except in the Raiders’ favor.

Matiss Kulackovskis capped off a terrific third quarter with a 3-pointer right in front of his own bench to beat the third quarter buzzer, putting his team up by a dozen as he was mobbed by his teammates.

“That was a huge shot,” Archbishop Ryan coach Joe Zeglinski said. “He knew it was in when he left his hand.”

Kulackovskis went one step further: “That was the point that ended the game,” he said. “That’s what I think."

The senior forward out of Latvia wasn’t wrong -- Ryan rode that momentum to take in a 57-43 win over Penn Charter, controlling the game the rest of the way.

The win came on the back of a monster performance by Kulackovskis, who dropped a career-best 30 points, 23 of which came in the second half. A 6-foot-7 combo forward, he had a distinct size advantage over a Penn Charter lineup whose tallest starter is 6-3 wing Mason Williams, but wasn’t able to put that to use early.

But after the Raiders clamped down defensively on the Quakers’ 3-point shooters and started forcing turnovers, Kulackovskis started getting run-out baskets and took advantage. He had 15 in the third quarter alone, including back-to-back triples to close out the frame.

After missing much of the fall with a sprained ankle suffered in September, Kulackovskis is clearly back at full health. He attacked the bucket off the bounce on several occasions, knocked down those two 3s and even threw down a big-time slam to make it a 15-point game late in the fourth quarter.

“Matiss, that’s a guy we saw all summer so we were waiting for that to come out,” Zeglinski said. “That’s the kind of player he is, inside-out. When his shot’s going, he’s going to be really tough to guard. If he plays like that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

It certainly didn’t look like Ryan (2-0) would be heading to victory over the opening 16 minutes, which saw the Quakers (3-2) control tempo and momentum thanks to six 3-pointers, including three by senior guard Mike Hnatowski (12 points).

But the insertion of sophomore Ja’Quill Stone into the lineup to open the second half did wonders for the Raiders on that end of the floor. The 5-10 guard pestered Penn Charter and came away with five steals, helping flip the momentum switch in a big way.

“It was mostly a defensive move, wanted to shut down their shooters,” Zeglinski said. “(We) wanted to get up and down the court a little bit more because I know they’re falling back in zone, wanted to score early on them, we weren’t hitting shots except Matiss.”

Ryan senior Izaiah Brockington, the only Division I commit in the game -- he’s headed to NJIT next fall -- contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, knocking down three 3-pointers in the second quarter to help his team keep up with the sharp-shooting Quakers.

Considering this is a Ryan team that’s replacing several seniors from a year ago, the more scoring that Zeglinski and Brockington can get from the surrounding pieces, the better they’ll be in the always-competitive Catholic League.

“(Izaiah) probably needs some nights off, [where he can] just pass the ball,” Kulackovskis said. “And I think it’s great that I score a lot because now he can relax for a couple of minutes, take his breath, see the game differently, so I think that’s great.”

The game was a return of sorts for Zeglinski, who attended Penn Charter and actually played under Quakers coach Jim “Flipper” Phillips as an eighth grader. His older brother Zack and younger brother Sam were both four-year standouts for Phillips at PC; Sam went on to play at Virginia from 2007-12.

Expect to see this game on a regular basis between the two long-time friends, though it makes for some interesting feelings between brothers.

“I hope they were rooting for me, but I don’t know,” Zeglinski said. “I’m sure they were texting with Flip, and they were texting me earlier.”

Phillips had indeed been texting, with Zack: “He certainly didn’t say good luck.”

“I’ll get my chops busted on this one for quite a while,” he added, “but I’ll have to deal with it.”


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