City of Basketball Love

Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)
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With a chance to put the game out of reach, Jalen Snead stepped to the line for two free throws. 

These were the senior’s fifth and sixth free throws in the final frame of the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals. And with under two seconds remaining in regulation, these were unquestionably the biggest shots of the game. 

Snead knocked down both for his ninth and tenth points of the evening; more importantly, it gave No. 6 Archbishop Ryan a four-point lead with 1.4 seconds showing on the clock. 

West Catholic had no timeouts, so when Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui’s last-second heave ricocheted off the top of the backboard, and the final buzzer sounded, Archbishop Ryan had clinched a spot in the PCL championship for the first time since 2008. 

Jalen Snead (11) celebrates Archbishop Ryan's first PCL semifinal win in 14 years. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

“I’m so proud of our kids knocking off two really good teams back to back. They’re so focused and prepared to get these wins,” Archbishop Ryan head coach Joe Zeglinski said. “This was my fifth time [in the semifinals]; I didn’t want to go 0-5.”

After knocking off Archbishop Wood in the quarterfinals, this was Ryan’s fifth semifinal appearance in seven years.

And in the matchup, Snead came up large late in the game, shooting 4-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to close out Ryan’s 59-55 win over West Catholic on Wednesday night. 

Neumann-Goretti beat Roman Catholic 62-60 in the night's first semifinal at the Cathedral of College Basketball.

Ryan’s big man, Thomas Sorber, led the way for the Raiders most of the night. 

After the Burrs took an early 16-14 lead after the first quarter, the Raiders fed West Catholic a steady dose of Sorber. The 6-foot-9 sophomore was dominant in the paint, consistently getting two feet in the restricted area and finishing layups. His height also gave him a rebounding advantage as he was the first one to ball on several misses. 

The first-team All-Catholic selection scored eight of his 17 points in the second quarter. He also added eight rebounds to his final stat line as well. But his most important contribution came later in the game. 

Jalen Snead (right) and Thomas Sorber contest a West Catholic shot. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

To start the second half, it was evident that West Catholic had made a concerted effort to slow down Sorber. And it was working. 

After trailing by three at halftime, led by Zion Stanford (17 points) and Wilbanks-Acqui (12 points), West fought back to tie the game at 40, heading into the fourth. 

In the fourth quarter, the teams traded baskets and mistakes alike.

On one play in particular, Sorber’s inside presence had disrupted West’s defense enough that multiple defenders were following him around off-ball, which allowed Darren Williams to find Michael Paris for an easy baseline layup with 1:30 remaining. 

“He was drawing so much attention…they were switching their guards up top and taking away [the] middle,” Zeglinski said. “So I knew if Thomas rose to the foul line we were going to get that lane…and it was up to the guards to make a good play… and that’s what they did.”

Sorber wasn’t perfect in the final frame, though. With 30 seconds remaining,  Sorber was lackadaisical with the ball at the high post, and Stanford stripped it to start a Burrs transition opportunity. 

“My teammates just told me to relax and get the next one,” Sorber said. “‘Next time you grab the ball have your elbows out, head up and be strong with it.’”

However, West Catholic missed two free throws that came from that transition opportunity, which allowed Ryan to get the ball back with 55-53 lead with under 30 seconds to play. 

West’s free throw woes didn’t stop there. With under five seconds to go Kaseem Watson went to the free-throw line with the Burrs trailing 57-55. The UC-Riverside commit missed the front end of the one-and-one. 

And with 1.4 seconds remaining, Snead iced the game with two free throws. 

“I was mad because of the first two I missed,” Snead said. “Then I was happy, because one of the twins missed… and after [multiple free throws] you know how to make it now.”

Michael Paris celebrates Archbishop Ryan's PCL semifinal win. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Now the Raiders have a chance to do something no other Archbishop Ryan team has ever done: win a PCL championship. 

The task won’t be easy as now the Raiders have to take on perennial powerhouse, Neumann-Goretti on Monday as they look to stand in the way of Carl Arrigale‘s 12th PCL championship. 

“We’re just going to approach it the same way we approached our last two games,” Zeglinski said. “I think these guys are ready to go. They’ll be focused.”

~~~

By Quarter
West Catholic:        16  |   10   | 14  |  15  ||  55
Archbishop Ryan:   14  |   15  |  11  |  19  ||  59

Scoring
West Catholic: Zion Stanford 17, Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui 12, Kaseem Watson 10, Adam Clark 8, Kareem Watson 6, Nasir Griffin 2,

Archbishop Ryan: Thomas Sorber 17, Michael Paris 13 Luke Boyd 10, Jalen Snead 10, Darren Williams 7,  Jaden Murray 2