City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
--

Playing in one of the nation’s most famous basketball arenas for the first time can be more than overwhelming.

Add on to that the fact that a berth in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship is on the line and that there wasn’t an empty seat in the 8,722-seat Palestra, and it makes for an incredible experience.

“It’s definitely special. I’ve been here multiple times but I’ve never been here to play so I think that was the most exciting feeling, walking in knowing I was about to play a game,” Archbishop Wood junior guard Andrew Funk said. “I just tried to take it all in, especially with the gym packed. It was definitely very enjoyable.”

Making the experience even more enjoyable for Funk and the Archbishop Wood Vikings was the fact that they came out on top in this contest, with a 75-66 win over Archbishop Ryan.

“It’s a special feeling,” Archbishop Wood head coach John Mosco said. “We’re just going to enjoy this one tonight. The Catholic League is the best league in the state of Pennsylvania.”

Wednesday night’s clash with Archbishop Ryan was the first time any of the Wood players had played on the historical floor, but with the composure shown by the Vikings from the opening tip, not a soul in attendance would have guessed so.

Coming out of the gates hot, taking a 17-9 lead after one and a 36-25 lead into the half, this experienced Wood bunch showed no signs of letting the big stage get to them.

“We stayed together through the entire game.” Archbishop Wood senior guard Collin Gillespie said. “It’s a crazy environment out there and I think it’s all of our first time so we just had fun tonight and we shared the ball and we got a W.”

Although Wood’s composure on the big stage was the most impressive part of Wednesday night, Archbishop Ryan’s fight, even when the game looked to be all but over in the final quarter, should not go unnoticed.

After Wood (21-3) jumped ahead by double digits in the last frame, Ryan (19-5) wouldn’t go away quietly. In the blink of an eye, the Raiders cut the Vikings lead to a five and wouldn’t let Wood leave the Palestra without working for every ounce of its win.

“It’s just part of being here. You kind of expect everyone to keep coming at you,” Gillespie said. “We know every team is going to keep coming at you whether you’re up or down. Our coaches have full confidence in us to keep playing and keep shooting and that’s what we did. We just continued to battle.”

Continuing to battle proved to play a large role in Wood’s win and who else to lead that battle than Gillespie, the Villanova commit and Catholic League MVP.

Gillespie finished with a double-double of 33 points and 10 rebounds in the win, with 12 of those points coming in the final frame while going 10-of-11 from the free-throw line in that fourth quarter as well.

Aiding Gillespie in the win was a balanced scoring effort from the Vikings, with Funk and Matt Cerruti each chipping in 10 points and Tyree Pickron and Seth Pinkney adding in eight a piece.

“These guys just stick together. Every night they come out, they’re like playing in the playground. They just play,” Mosco said. “The way our players played and stuck together for 32 minutes was an awesome performance. They make me look like a great coach every night.”

Leading Ryan’s scoring charge was the effort of senior guard Izaiah Brockington.

Although the 6-foot-4 slasher fouled out with 3:22 left to play in the contest, the 6-foot-4 NJIT commit still managed to finish with 31 points in the loss and caused problems for the Wood defense from the opening tip.

“Brockington is a great talent,” Mosco said. “Tonight, we tried to make him take those tough shots and he made them.”

“He’s a really tough player to guard because he’s so long and athletic,” Gillespie added. “He gets to the basket, he pulls up, he shoots threes. It was just a matter of staying together on the defensive end and helping and getting stops when we can.”

Up next for Wood is a matchup with Neumann-Goretti (18-6), who has won eight Catholic League titles since 2005 while Wood is yet to add a PCL championship to its resume.

To add to the excitement of playing for a Catholic League title, Mosco also spent a number of years as an assistant at Neumann-Goretti as head coach Carl Arrigale’s right-hand man during N-G’s stretch of PCL success before joining Archbishop Wood four seasons ago.

“It’s going to be a war, but it’s going to be special. We talk every day almost. I talk to him more than I talk to my wife,” Mosco said. “We’re friends, it’s beyond basketball. We grew up together and we had a good run.”

Another matchup to look forward to beyond the head coaches is that between the top two finishers for Catholic League MVP in Gillespie and Neumann-Goretti’s Quade Green.

Although the high-profile matchup between the two guards may draw a lot of attention, Gillespie knows the game goes beyond just two players.

“He’s definitely a really good competitor to play against,” Gillespie said. “He’s going to Kentucky but I’m going to have my guys and he’s going to have his guys.”

While making it to the Philadelphia Catholic League final for the first time in school history would be a joy to look back on for most young men, Gillespie and Co. aren’t satisfied yet, as after topping N-G by a score of 82-72 back on January 26th, there isn’t any reason why Wood can’t come out on top again and this time, they could be hoisting the PCL crown.

“We’re going out to win that game,” Gillespie said. “If we share the ball and play our game, I think we should be fine.”