City of Basketball Love

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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Mike Green had been going through a slump to start the season. Green was getting the looks he wanted, but they weren’t falling. 

The junior said the only way for him to get out of his slump was to keep shooting. Green knew the ball would keep coming to him with players like Josh Reed and Jalil Bethea slashing through the lane and kicking the ball out to him. All Green needed to do was stay ready. 

Green had to wait until the fourth quarter of Archbishop Wood’s 85-69 victory over Father Judge on Tuesday night, but his patience paid off.

Green’s shots finally started falling, as he drained four triples, finishing with 14 points to help Wood knock off Judge in their first Philadelphia Catholic League game of the season. Green’s burst off the bench sparked a 50-point second half from Wood, which ended up cruising to a victory. 

Wood head coach John Mosco said Bethea and the rest of the team trusted Green, and he repaid them by knocking down big shots. And for Green, his teammates' trust was crucial.

“It’s really big because I haven’t been shooting well in the first few games this season,” Green said. “The fact that they kept trusting me seems crazy to me, but like it's good because it just shows how much trust they have in me and it gives me more confidence really to shoot it.”

While Bethea draws multiple eyes everywhere he goes, it opens up looks for everyone else like Green and Reed. Judge implemented a box-and-one defense against Bethea at times, with Reed taking advantage. The Drexel commit scored 12 of his 22 points in the third quarter, helping Wood take control of the game and turning a two-point halftime deficit into a double-digit advantage. 

When the defense started collapsing on Reed in the paint in the fourth quarter, he simply kicked it out to Green for wide open 3-pointers. 

“That's what happens when you have a bunch of other weapons — they forget.” Green said. “We have a bunch of guys, anyone who plays that can go, so it opens up the floor so much for people like me and other players to just shoot it every time.”

Green only attempted two shots through the first three quarters but fired away in the fourth, drilling four of his five attempts from beyond the arc. 

Bethea saw Green struggling to start the season, but watching him every day in practice he knew Green was eventually going to break out of it. 

“It all starts in practice,” the University of Miami commit and five-star recruit said. “I talk to him every day, and I’m just like your time is coming and don’t be frustrated. The reason why he was in that slump was because he was in his head a little bit too much when he was missing. And that was about it.”

It wasn’t the prettiest start offensively for Wood against Judge. The Crusaders came out hot, boosted by LaQuan Byrd (15 points) and Derrick Morton-Rivera (14 points). Judge’s effort on the offensive glass was noticeable, producing plenty of second-chance points that helped build a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Judge led by double digits early in the second quarter, but Bethea caught fire, draining three straight 3-pointers to cut into the deficit. 

Bethea finished with a game-high 25 points, but outside of a couple of thunderous dunks in the fourth quarter, Green led the way down the stretch, scoring more than half of Wood’s points in the final eight minutes. Bethea is well aware of the attention he garners, but knows the importance of trusting his teammates.

“We need five guys moving and playing together,” he said. “You can't be a one-man or two-man team. You got to be able to play off each other and share the ball and cut off each other and go off each other's strengths.”

Wood settled in during the third quarter due to Reed’s aggressiveness on offense. The Vikings finished on a 10-3 run to take a 63-53 lead going into the final eight minutes.

“I saw him being really patient and attacking. He was getting by guys with one move and using the strength after, but they all worked off each other,” Mosco said of Reed’s third quarter. “Josh was able to get downhill because Jalil had a decent first half moving without the ball. Now he's moving and everybody else is moving and we're able to score.”

Reed helped create Wood’s lead in the third before Green closed the door in the fourth as the Vikings ended up cruising to a victory, leading by as much as 21 late on. Green knows Wood’s options almost always give them an edge on the offensive end which gives them confidence to play freely. 

“Offensively, we're a great team,” Green said. “So we know we never really worry about offense. It's really just defense. And when we play good defense, it turns into a great offense because everyone can shoot, drive and pass.”

By Quarter 

Archbishop Wood: 14 | 21 | 28 | 22 || 85 

Archbishop Judge: 21 | 16 | 16 | 11 || 64

Scoring 

Archbishop Wood: Bethea 25, Reed 22, Green 14, Dean 11, McAdams 6, Powell 4, Maxey 3

Archbishop Judge: Byrd 15, Morton-Rivera 14, Kennedy 9, Barnes 8, Lilly 7, Westfield 7, Walden 2, Browning 2, Moshinski 1