skip navigation

West Catholic tops Ryan to keep pace in PCL

02/05/2022, 12:00am EST
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)

Nasir Griffin spent much of the first half on the bench with foul trouble, and minutes into the third quarter West Catholic head coach Miguel Bocachica had a decision to make.

Griffin was called for his third foul during an attempt to defend Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber. Although it was his third foul, Bocachica didn’t take the senior off the floor and trusted him to avoid contact on defense and make plays on the other end.


Nasir Griffin (above) and West Catholic improved to 9-1 by winning at Ryan on Friday night. (Photo: Rob Rose/CoBL)

The Burrs’ senior rewarded his coach with a tremendous performance. Griffin scored 11 points in the third quarter and hit a trio of 3-pointers to hold off a run from Ryan. The 6-foot, 7-inch forward wasn’t always a sniper from beyond the arc, but his daily routine of 200 made 3-pointers paid off in a 53-44 road win for West Catholic on Friday.

“I approach every quarter with a new mindset and I try not to focus on the past,” Griffin said. “I shoot a lot every day, so I just try to just trust myself, trust my jump shot, trust my work and I just try to go out and prove it.”

Between several of his Burrs’ teammates and a few of the Raiders’ sophomores, Friday’s contest included a bunch of NCAA Division I prospects. Griffin, committed to D-II East Stroudsburg, isn’t one of them.

The senior said he and his teammates don’t get caught up in which player is going where once they leave West Catholic and in any given game it could be any Burr that breaks out. Against Ryan in front of a raucous crowd it was the four-year starter Griffin and it didn’t surprise his coach at all.

“Don't get it twisted, Nasir Griffin can play at the D-I level, his situation is just his situation,” Bocachica said. “He's going to a great spot at East Stroudsburg, but he's just as good as a lot of these kids that are gonna go to play D-I basketball, he just made a different decision. He did what made him happy. He went somewhere where he was wanted. For him again, it's just business as usual. He doesn't see a bunch of D-I players on the court, he sees a bunch of players that he's just as good as and he's confident against.”

While Griffin led the team with 15 points, junior Zion Stanford added 12 and senior Kareem Watson scored 10, it was one of the Burrs’ reserves that secured the win for West Catholic.

On a night where it was reported that James Harden could be headed to play for the Philadelphia 76ers by next week, Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui played like the former NBA MVP down the stretch with five points and two assists.

Wearing No. 13, the left-handed Wilbanks-Acqui took over when Archbishop Ryan tied the game with four minutes left. The junior leaped over several players to grab a rebound and finish an and-1 to put the Burrs back ahead. 

A pair of assists and another bucket of his own put the guard at 10 points for the game as West Catholic went on a 9-0 run to seal the victory after Ryan tied it up.

The Raiders shook off a slow start and continued to claw back all game. Ryan continued to go on runs and cut into the Burrs’ lead, but could never pull ahead.

Sorber, the Raiders’ talented big man with a growing list of D-I offers, was held to just four points in the first half, but got involved after halftime and finished with 13. Senior Luke Boyd added 11 with his own trio of 3-pointers, while senior Jalen Snead and sophomore Darren Williams each had eight points.

With the win, West Catholic improved to 9-1 in the PCL, tied with Roman Catholic atop the standings. Ryan dropped down to fifth with a 7-3 league record.

On a team with a ton of talent, the toughness West Catholic showed beating a team that scored 102 points a week ago, impressed Bocachica as they walked off the floor with a big win over a team that beat them by a combined nine points in their last three meetings.

“This league is a gauntlet, there's no there's really no off nights,” Bocachica said. “Every time we played Archbishop Ryan since I've been here it's been a war, but my guys have been in his gym a ton of times. Obviously they went on their runs, but we never gave up our lead. I'm proud of them. It's big for us to come in here and get a 9-point win on the road.”

~~~

By Quarter
West Catholic:        17  |   9   |  15  |  12  ||  53
Archbishop Ryan:   12  |   9   |  17  |   6   ||  44

Scoring
West Catholic: Nasir Griffin 15, Zion Stanford 12, Kareem Watson 10, Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui 10, Adam Clark 6.

Archbishop Ryan:: Thomas Sorber 13, Luke Boyd 11, Darren Williams 8, Jalen Snead 8, Jaden Murray 2, Michael Paris 2.


D-I Coverage:

HS Coverage:

Small-College News:

Tag(s): Home  Boys HS  Catholic League (B)  Archbishop Ryan  West Catholic  High School  Rob Rose