City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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BROOMALL — The Philadelphia Catholic League doesn't award a "Sixth Man of the Year" award like the NBA does, but Archbishop Wood's Jalil Bethea would have certainly been a contender for it.

Granted, if the last two games are evidence, his candidacy for such an award might be over with. Bethea has moved from instant-offense guard off the bench to starter in the Vikings' last two contests and on Wednesday, he showed why that move looks to be a good one as he lit up Plymouth Whitemarsh's defense for 23 points in Wood's 77-50 PIAA Class 6A first round win at Cardinal O'Hara.

However he gets on the floor, Bethea knows what he's out there to do.

"I'm still looking for the same kind of shots, it's the same thing starting as if I was coming off the bench," Bethea said. "We always say you can control the pace of the game if you start off strong and we did that in this game."

Bethea only needed 15 seconds to get his first shot up, a 3-pointer assisted by Justin Moore that opened the game. The Colonials would take a 4-3 lead but when Moore found Bethea for another triple, the Vikings took a 6-4 advantage and never looked back.

"Once I see it go in, I get streaky after that," Bethea said. "I just need to see that first one and I feel like it starts to come after that. It could be a layup, it could be a floater, if I see one go in, I'm going to feed off that make."

Coming into the season, Bethea had already established a reputation as an excellent long-range shooter and adding the gravity that he brings to the starting five alongside another ace shooter in Mike Knouse helped open things up around the court offensively. After the sophomore scored eight of the team's first 10 points, PW had to account for him which in turn opened space for Tyson Allen to attack the rim and Carson Howard to operate inside.

Allen had six of his 12 points, which came with a team-best eight rebounds, in the first quarter while Howard controlled the second frame with six of his 10 coming in the period. In total, the Vikings tallied up 35 first half points and only two of them came from Moore on a dunk during an 8-0 second quarter run that helped balloon the lead to 19.

Instead, Moore played facilitator and finished the game with eight assists against five points.

"When we have him on the court, we're able to space the floor more and when he gets out and running, he likes to do what he does when he plays basketball and he's good at putting the ball in the basket," Moore said. "He makes the game easier on me, I can drive and kick and we know he can shoot.

"Once you get him going, no lie, he's automatic. He'll let that thing go so if you look for him early and get him easy shots, it opens it up for everybody else. Then, he's locked in, he's aggressive on defense, he's playing into the game and he plays off the crowd so once that happens, it's hard to stop him and you just want to keep him going."

The sophomore has worked to diversify his offensive repertoire - he had a driving take that kicked off the 8-0 run in the second - adding pump-fakes and dribble moves to make defenders pay for rushing to close out on him and he's also tried to become a better defender so he doesn't have to sub out late in a close game.

Bethea (10) began this season as a sixth man for the Vikings, but has moved into the starting lineup in the district and state playoffs. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

On Wednesday, Bethea shot 8-of-11 overall and 4-of-6 from distance. He scored eight in the first, three in the second, five in the third and finished with a seven-point fourth quarter while  adding a couple steals defensively.

Above all that, he's worked to stay steady regardless of what role he's in or what his shot is doing for him on a given night.

"It's the mental part, I realized I have to keep my head in the game," Bethea said. "I had to keep my confidence up and just keep shooting. As a shooter, you keep shooting. It doesn't matter if you miss 100 times, you have to keep shooting."

Moore also gave props to Bahsil Laster, who went from starter to reserve, for taking the lineup change in stride. Laster was really solid off the bench Wednesday, chipping in six points but also six assists and gives Wood a nice option to plug in some different lineup looks once he comes in with the first group of subs.

Laster can play point guard with Bethea or Moore at the two, all three can play together or the Vikings can go with a defensive lineup of Laster, Josh Reed and Allen.

"He's able to give me a break or allow me to come off the ball," Moore said. "Bahsil's a great defender and he's able to create plays with his length and ability to get downhill. He's another guy that can handle the ball with me and Jalil and when he comes in, we can come off the ball and get open jump shots.

"Everybody has to stay locked in, the starting lineup can change any night depending who we're playing so I told Jalil to always be ready and Bahsil to always be ready."

Moore is off to Drexel next year, but he sees big things for both Bethea and Laster in the coming seasons where both figure to hear their names announced as starters more often than not.

If Wood wants to keep its state playoff run going, which will face a serious roadblock on Saturday with defending state champion and District 3 winner Reading in the way, it will need its whole rotation to contribute. Bethea said he's fine starting or coming off the bench going forward, after all, it's not going to change what he does once he gets on the floor.

"I grew into the game," Bethea said. "When you're younger, everything feels like it's free. Coming into high school, everybody is on you, so I had to pick it up."

By Quarter
Wood: 19  |  16  |  17  |  25  ||  77
P-W:   11  |   8   |  13  |  18  ||  50

Scorers
Wood: Jalil Bethea 23, Tyson Allen  12,  Carson Howard 10, Markus Dixon 10, Mike Knouse 6, Bahsil Laster 6, Justin Moore 5, Josh Reed 3,  Deuce Maxey 2

P-W: Jaden Colzie 17, Qudire Bennett 14, Marshall Baker 12, Trey Jones 3,  Robin Vinsen 2, Najee Moore 2