City of Basketball Love

By Kevin Gamlin (@gamlinkev)
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Archbishop Carroll lifted a state championship trophy in 2009, the first year Philadelphia Catholic League programs were allowed to compete in the PIAA tournament.

The players on Carroll’s current roster likely don’t remember that one. The group of all freshmen and sophomores were 2 years old or younger back then. 

The Patriots head to Hershey on Thursday night for the PIAA Class 4A championship game at 8 p.m. against District 7 champ Lincoln Park looking to hoist the trophy for Carroll again.

“The guys are thrilled,” Patriots coach Francis Bowe said. “They’re so young but I think they understand this moment, they’re realizing what they’re achieving is rare.” “They’re starting to embrace it now, and they’re really excited for Thursday night.”

Carroll (21-8) has five sophomores and two freshmen at the top of the rotation. It’s an inexperienced team reaching heights they shouldn’t at such an early part of their high school careers. 

Freshman guard Munir Greig (20 points) and sophomore guard Ian Williams (17 points) led the team in a quarterfinal win over Scranton Prep. Sophomore wing Luca Foster, freshman Darrell Davis and sophomore Nasir Ralls are also budding talents and solid contributors on the offensive end with 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Drew Corrao patrolling the paint. Sophomore guard Nate Rusike rounds out the rotation.

They’ve taken Carroll to its first state championship game since 2015, when Derrick Jones, Ernest Aflakpui, Josh Sharkey and Ryan Daly led the Patriots to Hershey.

“I always have confidence in my guys, I love ‘em and they work hard,” Bowe said. “I told them we could accomplish so much if we play together. I knew we could probably do something like this. “

The Patriots started their state tournament run with a 66-59 win over District 3 runner-up Big Spring. They faced District 11 champion Allentown Central Catholic in the second round, earning a 66-59 win over the reigning state semifinalist.

They knocked off District 12 runner-up Engineering & Sciences, 60-42, in the quarterfinal before completing their run to Hershey with a 66-56 win over District 2 champion Scranton Prep, which knocked off Neumann-Goretti in the quarterfinals. 

Up next for Carroll is the biggest challenge yet — defending state champion Lincoln Park. 

“They’re the real deal, they have (Meleek) Thomas who has interest from Duke, and (Brandin) Cummings who’s going to Pitt, also, they have another really good guard, and great players that surround those three,” Bowe said.

The Tigers (26-3) went through four other District 7 teams in order to reach another state championship game, dispatching Hampton 74-53 in the semifinal in a rematch of the District 7 title game.

Head coach Mike Bariski has a core with postseason experience, reaching the second round in 2021-22 before a 2022-23 state title run. He has a pair of Division I players Meleek Thomas and Brandin Cummings. 

Cummings, a 6-3 senior guard committed to Pittsburgh has been on a tear as of late, scoring 27 and 30 points in his last two games. Thomas, a 5-star recruit, is a 6-4 junior guard who holds offers from the likes of Auburn, Kentucky, UConn. He’s gone for 27 and 18 in the team’s last two wins.

Senior 6-foot-5 forward Dontay Green and senior 6-foot-2 forward Dorian McGhee started alongside Thomas and Cummings last season in the state title game.

Lincoln Park is a fast-paced team that likes to get up and down the floor. Bowe doesn’t mind that and hopes his team can put up a lot of points as well. The main job will be trying to slow down Thomas and Cummings. 

“Let’s not try to slow them down, they wanna get in the 80s and 90s,” Bowe said of Carroll’s plan. “We will try and throw some stuff at them.” “We hope our defense gets them to miss some shots and we make more shots then they do.”

Carroll will likely be the youngest team suiting up in Hershey this weekend. 

They’ve gone through the rigors of the Philadelphia Catholic League and some tough tests already in states, but stepping onto the Giant Center floor is another unique experience neither the young Patriots nor their coach have faced before.

“I have never coached in a state championship game before,” Bowe said. “Two years ago we lost in the semifinals to Quaker Valley, this is the furthest I’ve ever gotten.”

“I think there will be some butterflies and some nerves but we’ve played in packed gyms and big gyms.”

 “I think the guys are ready for this moment.”