City of Basketball Love

By Greg Levinsky
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jalil Bethea stepped to the free-throw line in a tie game with 3.8 seconds left and nailed the first. Deep breath. One dribble. Release.

He nailed the second too, giving the Archbishop Wood senior guard an even 40 points to lift the Vikings to a 73-71 win over Corona Centennial (California) Saturday night at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. Bethea, ESPN’s No. 7 ranked senior headed to the University of Miami, went a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe and added eight rebounds and four assists to perhaps the crown jewel performance of the five-day tournament in front of a bevy of NBA scouts. 

“This means a lot because there were a lot of eyes on me today,” Bethea said. “This is a bigger platform than what I’ve played on this year. 

“There were a lot of words going around that I’m not this, I’m not that, but I just came out here, played basketball and proved a lot of people wrong.”

The Vikings (6-7) went up early, fell behind and came back to top Corona Centennial (15-8) in the third Hoophall Classic appearance in program history. 

“We just stayed poised,” coach John Mosco said. “Sometimes we get too emotional, me included, so the message was to play with emotion, not emotionally.” 

Eric Freeny, a UCLA commit, led Corona Centennial with 34 points. Arizona commit Carter Bryant, a 6-foot-8 senior forward ranked No. 10 in the country per ESPN added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Archbishop Wood had 14 bench points. Corona Centennial had zero. 

Archbishop Wood followed the top team in the country on the visitors' bench at Blake Arena on the Campus of Springfield College, looking the part of their predecessors, Montverde Academy.

Pinpoint offensive execution. Causing turnovers. Easy transition buckets. But only for eight minutes. 

The Vikings followed their near-flawless first quarter with a dud in the second, falling behind at halftime. They looked lost until Bethea willed the Vikings back and Mike Green (12 points) hit two key fourth quarter 3-pointers. 

“We need Mike Green on the floor with him scoring like that,” Bethea said. “I’m just glad he was able to have his big boy pants on and make some shots.” 

Archbishop Wood scored the game’s first five points on a Bethea layup and a 3-pointer by Brady MacAdams (8 points, 6 rebounds). Bethea had all the answers early, scoring 10 of his points in the first quarter, including a right-wing 3-pointer near the Corona Centennial bench, which he followed with a gesture in the opponent’s direction.

Senior guard Josh Reed (6 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) stuffed the stat sheet, wreaking havoc defensively – swiping steals and blocking shots – and the Drexel commit served as an assist-making secondary playmaker in the Vikings’ high-octane offense. The Vikings don’t have a traditional big, so they play a five-out motion offense. It’s incumbent on everyone filling their role properly. 

“Mainly, I’m the glue guy,” Reed said. “I move the ball, get rebounds, play inside and outside, really do anything for the team. I did that tonight.” 

Archbishop Wood extended its lead to as large as nine late in the first quarter, but Corona Centennial climbed all the way back to take a 30-27 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Isaiah Rogers. Archbishop Wood missed 11 of its last 12 first half field goal attempts, scoring just six second quarter points. 

Corona Centennial shot under 30% from the floor in the first half, shooting better from 3-point distance than inside the arc. They made up for it by crashing the offensive glass, scoring 12 second chance points in the first half. 

Corona Centennial started the second half with a 5-0 spurt of its own, holding a narrow lead until. At one point midway through the third quarter, after an Archbishop Wood turnover, Bethea slowly jogged back on defense, visibly frustrated. 

But he turned it around, nailing a leaner from the right elbow to tie it at 52 with 3:53 remaining in regulation. Fouled on the play, Bethea sank the free-throw to give the Vikings their first lead of the half.

The teams traded buckets before Green hit the go ahead 3-pointer with 2:03 to play and another with 70 seconds left. Corona Centennial tied it on a 3-pointer by Bryant with 22 seconds left. Bethea got fouled, hit the free-throws and Reed came up with a steal to seal the victory. 

“The difference at the end was we settled down,” Mosco said. “Mike Green settled down and made some threes. Jalil does what he does, taking over at the end and Josh Reed also contributed.”

By Quarter
Archbishop Wood:    21  |   6   |  11  |  35  ||  73
Corona Centennial:  14  |  16  |  16  |  25  ||  71

Shooting
Archbishop Wood: 23-59 FG (15-37 3PT), 12-13 FT
Corona Centennial: 24-66 FG (7-25 3PT), 16-22 FT

Scoring
Archbishop Wood: Jalil Bethea 40, Mike Green 12, Brady MacAdams 8, Josh Reed 6, Milan Dean 3, Deuce Maxey 2, Tahir Howell 2

Corona Centennial: Eric Freeny 34, Carter Bryant 16, Isaiah Rogers 10, CJ Richardson 7, Markee White Jr. 4