City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)
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The players on Archbishop Carroll’s basketball team know that they have the ability to outrun teams, and speed up the tempo of the game.

With their tall, quick, and sharpshooting guards, along with an athletic big man, the Patriots know they need to get the tempo of the game into their favor to make a run through the state playoffs.

They were able to use these advantages on Friday night, defeating Great Valley 61-48 in the first round of the PIAA 5A state tournament.

“As long as we have ball pressure, we can play to our tempo,” Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said.

Carroll was able to force Great Valley into 20 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half, leading into fast break opportunities at the other end.

Leading the way for the third seed from District 12 was freshman guard A.J. Hoggard with 16 points. Although he is still a freshman, Hoggard assumes the point guard role for Carroll.

A physical 6-foot-3 guard, Hoggard knew what it would take to defeat Great Valley.

“They like to keep the game low scoring, but we want to get out and run,” he said. “They like to slow the game down, but we worked on that in practice and we were fine when it came to the game.”

With his flashy game play, including some big slams on the fast break, Hoggard still felt the nerves of any freshman playing in their first ever state playoff game.

“I usually don’t get nervous before games, but today I had a little bit of butterflies,” he admitted. “Then I got on the court and they all went away.”

Jumping out to a 13-6 first quarter lead and extending it to 30-14 at the half, Carroll was in full control of the game heading into the second half and for parts of the third quarter, until Great Valley started to trim the lead until ultimately giving it back up again.

Even though it came out on top, Carroll knows it will need to make some adjustments looking ahead in the state tournament.

“We need to do a better job of finishing out the game,” Romanczuk said. “We need to keep our foot on the gas and don’t let up.”

Seniors Colin Daly and Khari Williams both added 11 apiece for Carroll.

Another contributor for Carroll was junior guard Justin Anderson. The lefty guard and Division I recruit chipped in 10 points, while being disruptive at the point of the press, and dishing out assists to his teammates.

For Great Valley, junior point guard Matt Porreca led the way with 14 points, and classmate Nate Graeff chipped in 11.

The Patriots had an off night shooting the ball, only going 15-34 from the field.

Carroll was able to focus solely on shutting down Great Valley’s sophomore star Alex Capitano, limiting him to only 10 points, four of which came on free throws.

“Capitano is a great young player,” Romanczuk said. “But we’ve got good perimeter defenders, and we wanted to tire him out.”

Despite their star player being sidelined with a hand injury for most of the year, Great Valley was still able to go 20-8 on the year and finish atop the Ches-Mont American division.

“You know what you’re getting into when playing Carroll,” Great Valley coach Paul Girone said. “They don’t have a lot of weaknesses. But this was one of the most fun teams I’ve ever coached. This is my sixth state appearance, but there is something special about this team. These guys have heart, and I have lots of respect for them.”

Looking forward for Carroll, the Patriots will take on Palmyra in a second round matchup on Tuesday at a time and place to be determined.

The Patriots will be looking to improve on their ninth state trip to the state tournament. Being here before, they know what it takes to survive and advance.

“I wanted to see another game for my seniors,” Hoggard said. “We want to play again next week.”

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CLASS 5A
FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 10
Hershey 51, Penncrest 42
Chester 72, Milton Hershey 53
Abington Heights 67, Lampeter-Strasburg 48
Martin Luther King 43, Bishop Shanahan 33
Mechanicsburg 49, Springfield-Delco 45
Archbishop Wood 92, New Oxford 62
East Stroudsburg North 58, Manheim Central 55
Spring Grove 49, West Scranton 48
Northeastern York 78, Wissahickon 66
Upper Merion 62, Greencastle-Antrim 46
Archbishop Carroll 61, Great Valley 48
Palmyra 58, Pottsville 43
Mars 85, Hampton 81
Erie Cathedral Prep 55, Central Mountain 46
Franklin Regional 52, Moon 51
Meadville 55, Chartiers Valley 45

SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, March 14
Sites and times, TBA
Hershey (3-10, 14-13) vs. Chester (1-5, 21-6)
Abington Heights (2-1, 23-3) vs. Martin Luther King (12-2, 21-9)
Mechanicsburg (3-2, 23-6) vs. Archbishop Wood (12-1, 24-3)
East Stroudsburg North (11-1, 18-10) vs. Spring Grove (3-4, 21-8)
Northeastern York (3-1, 28-2) vs. Upper Merion (1-2, 17-11)
Archbishop Carroll (12-3, 19-8) vs. Palmyra (3-6, 22-5)
Mars (7-4, 16-9) vs. Erie Cathedral Prep (10-2, 14-12)
Franklin Regional (7-5, 14-11) vs. Meadville (10-1, 23-1)