City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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NORRISTOWN — One facet of Archbishop Ryan’s defense over the last three seasons has been the ability to extend its pressure defense out to the halfcourt line. That comes from the luxury of having 6-foot-9 Georgetown commit Thomas Sorber manning the middle.

Sorber provides a backline rim protector to swat shots in the stands, alter shots when offensive players choose to enter the paint, or even force them to give up the ball without attempting a shot. The defensive prowess of Sorber trickles down the rest of the roster particularly to starting guards in Darren Williams, Rocco Morabito and Matt Johnson, and when the pressure ramps up and leads to turnovers, it feeds the offense and ushers in deep runs. It has served them well during Sorber’s time on Academy Road and it spurred another dominant state tournament win on Friday night.

This was the recipe for success in Archbishop’s Ryan 62-45 victory over Unionville in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals as Sorber cut off the Longhorns high-post cutting offense that went through 6-7 senior big man Nick Diehl at the top of the key and forced the opposition to find other ways to get points. Sorber finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks but from the outset, he was dictating the game by closing off the lane.

Unionville’s first two possessions ended in turnovers as Johnson then Morabito recorded steals then converted at the rim at the other end. Sorber scored his first basket of the night on a power move inside, and the Raiders strung together an 11-3 run to close out the opening quarter and take an 11-point lead.

Sorber, who had eight points in the first eight minutes, understood his assignment was to mark Diehl but more importantly, see how he was reading his teammates on cuts and fades to the corner.

“Coach Joe made a game plan for me to stay back, read all the cuts and try to stop them from cutting and scoring,” Sorber said.

Archbishop Ryan (20-9) received contributions from multiple guards including Morabito, the Gannon University commit who had six points and three steals, and Brandon Russell (seven points) and Ryan Everett (five) who helped control the tempo off the bench. Russell drilled a three-pointer to begin the second quarter then a few possessions later Everett hit one of his own, and the Raiders led, 25-10. Unionville attempted to switch to a zone defense to give Archbishop Ryan a different look, but the result was the same as Jaden Murray worked the elbow and found Sorber who scored the final basket of the half for the Raiders.

Having the 6-6 Murray (seven points, seven rebounds) working alongside Sorber provides a high-low offense few can boast in the state and, as Sorber notes, it’s something the Raiders can lean on when they need a basket to swing the momentum back in their favor.

“That’s our go-to as Jaden and I have that little high-low game that barely anyone else in Pa. has,” Sorber said. “It’s a good skill to have on this team as shooters need to be ready to shoot and help us out.”

Since losing the Philadelphia Catholic League title game in heartbreaking fashion to Roman Catholic, Archbishop Ryan has refocused and won its three state tournament games by 20.3 points per game, and this is not a team having any type of hangover. The Raiders dropped the District 12 title game to Imhotep Charter following that crushing loss in the PCL final and will get another shot at the Panthers in the state semifinals on Monday. 

Zeglinski, who has his team in the state semifinals for the second straight season, felt the Raiders defended as well as they have all year and didn’t allow Unionville (25-3) to find success in its base offense.

“We had three or four games of film and knew they ran some really good stuff,” Zeglinski said. “Our guys were really locked in on the scouting report this week and we took away some of their actions. We made it tough on them every possession. That’s what showed up tonight.”

Williams was limited to only two points in the first half but came out firing to begin the second with a pair of buckets to push the lead to 33-19.  The Longhorns made a push as Ryan Brown scored seven points in the third quarter and James Brenner added five in the frame as Unionville cut the deficit to nine. As Williams did numerous times against Radnor in the second round, a dagger three pushed the lead to 38-26. The Florida Gulf Coast commit poured in 13 of his 15 points after halftime, including three-pointers.

“I’m really proud of Darren because he’s letting the game come to him. He didn’t force anything in the first half and once he hits one, a few more are coming,” Zeglinski said.

The Longhorns offense thrives on its ability to knock down open three-pointers on the wings and corners, specifically when Diehl takes a dribble or two after receiving the ball at the high post but on this night, they only made three shots from behind the arc. Misses began to lead to runouts by the Raiders and 14 Unionville turnovers felt like a lot more.

Unionville head coach Chris Cowles was hoping there were one or two more runs in this team based upon game preparation but it never found its rhythm.

“We didn’t execute defensively to start, and they got pretty comfortable,” Cowles said. “Those guys who don’t usually make shots did make shots. We had some wrinkles put in with what we normally do but the movements were too soft. We got better shots when executing in the second half.”

Diehl was sensational in his final high school game before heading off to play baseball at Tulane. He posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and it was only fitting he hit the final free throw of the night before exiting to a standing ovation from the Unionville faithful. Brown, Diehl, JT Anderson and Charlie Kammeier were integral part of Unionville’s success over the last three seasons, accumulating a 58-31 record including 47-9 in the last two years highlighted by the program’s first district title since 1981 and its deepest state tournament run since that same season when it reached the semifinals.

Cowles didn’t mince words when describing the historic run this 2024 class put together.

“They’re the best group to come out of Unionville, technically,” Cowles said. “I think they have the most wins during the time they were here, and they’ve won a bunch of different championships. We’re forever grateful and a very close team, so it was emotional for everybody. There’s a friendship and closeness with the team and staff that grows throughout the season.”

Sorber and the Raiders have been rolling through the state tournament and now comes the biggest challenge to date in Imhotep. They dropped the last matchup in that district title game and even before that, the one-point loss at the Palestra stayed with them for almost two weeks in anticipation for the state playoffs. Now, they’re back playing their game and enforcing their will on the opposition, and Sorber feels it couldn’t be a better time to be playing that team in this scenario.

“We all know what the outcome of the game should’ve been, but we’re not worried about that anymore,” Sorber said. “We’re only worried about winning the state chip now and that’s what all our minds are on.”

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By Quarter

Archbishop Ryan 17 | 12 | 18 | 15 || 62

Unionville 6 | 13 | 12 | 14 || 45

Scoring

Archbishop Ryan: Thomas Sorber 20, Darren Williams 15, Brandon Russell 7, Jaden Murray 7, Rocco Morabito 6, Ryan Everett 5, Matt Johnson 2.

Unionville: Nick Diehl 17, JT Anderson 8, Ryan Brown 8, James Brenner 7, Charlie Kammeier 3, Jack Robbins 2.

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PIAA 5A Boys

Quarterfinals (Fri., March 15)
12-2 Archbishop Ryan 62, 1-1 Unionville 45
12-1 Imhotep Charter 56, 2-1 Abington Heights 46
7-2 Franklin Regional 63, 7-3 Shaler 51
7-1 Moon 67, 7-6 Bethel Park 51

Semifinals (Mon., March 18)
12-2 Archbishop Ryan vs. 12-1 Imhotep Charter
7-2 Franklin Regional vs. 7-1 Moon

Championship at Giant Center (Fri., March 22)
TBD, 8 p.m.