City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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NEWTOWN SQUARE -- Archbishop Ryan’s holiday break lasted about 45 minutes longer than it should have.

Going up against an Episcopal Academy squad missing its standout senior, the Raiders mostly sleepwalked through the opening half, allowing the Churchmen to control the tempo and the scoreboard.

Suddenly, an unblemished start to the season was very much in danger for the No. 2 team in CoBL’s latest Class 6A rankings.

“When we went into the locker room at halftime, before coach came in, we had to calm each other down,” senior guard Izaiah Brockington said. “Everybody was anxious, because when you’re 6-0, you have everything to lose.”

Brockington and the rest of the Raiders turned up the intensity in the second half, and though the Churchmen held the lead most of the way, a Brockington jumper with a minute left was enough to lift the visitors to a 44-43 win.

Down nine at the half and 11 after three quarters, Archbishop Ryan’s full-court press eventually turned the tide.

Episcopal (7-5) was without Nick Alikakos, as the 6-7 Navy commit was sidelined with a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the mooth; also absent from the Churchman lineup was senior forward Jack O'Connell (back spasms).

Despite the best efforts of EA senior guard Conner Delaney, who had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead his team in all categories, the Churchmen couldn’t often enough break the Raiders’ trap defense -- and when they did, several turnovers in the half-court didn’t help matters at all.

With 6-foot-8 Fred Taylor and 6-7 Matiss Kulacovskis on the floor, plus speedy sophomores Amin Bryant and Ja’Quill Stone, the Raiders have the necessary ingredients to really bother opponents for 96 feet on occasion.

And when they started getting turnovers, the whole team's attitude immediately changed. A group that had been too patient early became ultra-aggressive and confident, and even as the score still favored Episcopal it was clear that the Ryan push was on.

"We were driving, we were kicking, we were finding the open man, on defense we were scrambling around, we tried to speed them up every since the second quarter," Ryan head coach Joe Zeglinski said. "They were handling it pretty well, the kid Delaney’s a good player, but our guys never stopped fighting in the second half and we gutted out a tough win.”

The full-court look is something that’s worked for Ryan (7-0) before this season, leading the team to a come-from-behind win over Penn Charter in its second game of the year.

“I like to change it up, definitely have that change of pace,” Zeglinski said. “I like to stick to our principles no matter what because to win the Catholic League, I don’t know if you can run with Neumann, I don’t know if you can run with some of the other teams, and our depth isn’t quite there yet that we can do that full court man-to-man the whole game.”

But when they do bring it out, it’s certainly effective.

It was a seven-point game with under five minutes to play when Brockington, bound for NJIT, slashed through the EA defense for a left-handed layup. The bouncy 6-4 guard immediately leapt into the passing lanes on the full-court trap, coming away with a steal just beyond the 3-point arc.

As he attacked the rim again, he spotted Chris Palantino, who was scrambling to go from defensive mode to find a spot in the corner. A pass found the 6-1 senior wide open.

“You have to know right after (Izaiah) gets that steal, you’ve got to be looking to get on offense real quick,” Palantino said, “and coming into the shot you’ve got to catch, 1, 2, rise into the shot and make it.”

That he did, to bring Ryan within two points.

Brockington hit the game-winner, a jumper from straightaway, just inside the 3-point arc with slightly over a minute to play.

Episcopal was unable to connect on a 3-pointer on the next possession, and had one more go with four seconds remaining but couldn’t get a shot off.

“Credit to the kids, they really toughed this one out,” Zeglinski said. “Our defense has been our staple all year, we haven’t given up over 50 points yet, knock on wood.”