City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Just seconds before tipoff in their Philadelphia Catholic League semifinal, Neumann-Goretti’s Larenzo Jerkins and Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber shared a fist bump, a brief chat and a smile. 

“I was just saying welcome to the Palestra, honestly, because last year he didn’t get to play,” Sorber said. “I was just saying, ‘Welcome to the Palestra, let’s have fun.’”

As it turns out, it was Sorber who had the most fun in the battle of talented big men, as his Raiders squad shut down Jerkins’ Saints in the second half, coming up with a 48-43 win to advance to Monday night’s Catholic League championship. 

It’ll be Ryan’s second trip to the PCL title game in three years as Joe Zeglinski’s side aims to bring home a Catholic League trophy for the first time in program history.

“I’ve been looking for this ‘chip since I was in high school,” said Zeglinski, a 2006 Ryan grad who’s been head coach of his alma mater since 2015. “It means a lot to me, but it means even more to our school and our alumni to get it done with these guys. This group is so special.”

“It would definitely mean a lot for our school, for our program,” senior point guard and Florida Golf Coast commit Darren Williams said. “Me personally, I definitely want to get it done for Coach Joe — all the time he put into our team all the time, the hours, the hard work, staying up late nights, early mornings, definitely want to get that for him.”

Sorber came into the evening the most heralded player on the court, the future Georgetown big man with an imposing 6-foot-10 frame of muscle and athleticism. Jerkins, who stands four inches shorter but doesn’t have any disadvantage in the strength and energy categories, didn’t back down initially, scoring 13 points in the first half as Neumann-Goretti took a 28-22 lead into the break. Sorber picking up his third foul midway through the second quarter.

After halftime was a different story.

The Raiders (17-7) limited the Saints (21-3) to just 15 second-half points, only six in the fourth quarter. Sorber didn’t pick up his fourth foul until there were just two minutes remaining, staying on the court the entire closing 16 minutes. He finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a terrific all-around performance.

Jerkins, headed to West Chester University next year, didn’t score a point in the second half. Sorber’s composure under pressure, including a block of a Jerkins attempt in the game’s final minute, was a major reason why.

“It was very difficult, not jumping, going for blocks that I really wanted to go to, and stuff like that,” Sorber said. “My teammates and coaches just told me to keep my composure and not jump, not get my fourth foul.”

The talented post player is looking forward to another opportunity in the Catholic League championship game, his body much more ready for the hot environment in a packed Palestra. He’s down about 30 pounds over the last two years, and it’s that fact which allows him to be as strong at the end of games as he is at the beginning.

“Compared to two years ago, I’m in the best shape of my life,” he said. “I just want to thank Coach Joe, he’s been pushing me hard in practices, workouts, all summer workouts, everything. I just want to thank him the most for losing all this weight, honestly.”

Without star point guard Khaafiq Myers, who’s done for the season after suffering a knee injury last month, Neumann-Goretti shot just 2-of-20 from 3-point range for the game, only 7-of-27 from the floor in the second half. It turned the ball over only five times, but there were too many bad shots and not enough shot-making that’s become a hallmark of Carl Arrigale’s tenure at Neumann-Goretti. 

“We just stopped moving the ball (in the second half),” said Arrigale, the Catholic League’s all-time winner in championships with 12. “We didn’t help each other. In this building, the way these go, you gotta help each other. … I admire their attitudes, I guess a little bit, that they wanted to try and do it, but our inexperience really showed up in the second half and we kind of went about it the wrong way, and hopefully they learn from it.”

Williams led the way for Ryan with 13 points, getting all of those in the second half. Senior wing Jaden Murray added 11 for the Raiders, who also got three 3-pointers from senior guard Ryan Everett, each one coming at a critical time. 

Everett’s last triple of the night was the final lead change, putting Ryan up 41-39 with 5:45 remaining. That was part of a critical 7-0 run for Ryan that included a Sorber tip of a missed shot to Williams for a layup and a bucket by sophomore Matt Johnson that had it at 45-39 with 3:45 left. 

“They were big shots, big key shots, he stepped up in big moments and most importantly he was confident,” Williams said of Everett’s triples. “He knows we believe in him, he knows we trust him to shoot the ball — we tell him to let it fly, don’t think about it.”

Ryan gave Neumann-Goretti an opening late, going 3-of-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and missing seven straight at one point, though Neumann-Goretti wasn’t able to make any headway.

It was Williams who dribbled out the final 10 seconds, the sizeable Ryan student section under their bucket roaring as the Raiders celebrated another chance to make school history. 

“We’ve been working for this for four years now together, and we’ve been grinding out a lot of wins,” Zeglinski said. “These guys, they always seem to step up in the moment, and I trust these guys."

Though Ryan came in as the No. 6 seed in perhaps the most wide-open year in the Catholic League in recent memory, the Raiders know they have a chance to win it all. They beat their title game opponent Roman Catholic 64-57 on Feb. 11 in the regular-season finale, though the Cahillites were without starting forward Shareef Jackson — who went for 20 points and 13 rebounds in the first game of the doubleheader — in that one.

“Sophomore year we got bounced out in the championship, that hurt us a lot, it hurt me a lot, mentally, too,” Sorber said. “Coming in Monday, [we’ve] just got to keep working and try to take home that PCL chip.”

By Quarter
NG:  12  |  16  |   9   |   6   ||  43
AR:  16  |   6   |  16  |  10  ||  48

Shooting
NG: 17-54 FG (2-20 3PT), 7-12 FT
AR: 19-43 FG (6-12 3PT), 4-12 FT

Scoring
NG: Larenzo Jerkins 13, Stephon Ashley-Wright 11, DeShawn Yates 10, Amir Williams 5, Torrey Brooks 4

AR: Darren Williams 13, Thomas Sorber 11, Jaden Murray 11, Ryan Everett 9, Matt Johnson 4