City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@owen.mccue)
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RADNOR — Brandon Russell was a complimentary piece in his first year in Northeast Philly. 

The 6-foot-5 guard, who started his high school career at the Pennington School (N.J.), was deep in the rotation on an Archbishop Ryan team filled with seniors, including a pair of Division I-bound stars.

When Ryan’s season ended in the state semifinals last season, coach Joe Zeglinski let Russell know the Raiders would be his team during his senior campaign in 2024-25.

Facing a 22-point halftime deficit and a potential 0-3 start in the Catholic League on Wednesday night at Archbishop Carroll, the Raiders needed their leader and Russell rose to the occasion.

While he got plenty of help from his teammates, Russell’s 36-point effort paved the way in an 84-79 comeback overtime win Ryan hopes can fuel a run in PCL play.

“We’ve been waiting for Russ to kind of do that,” Zeglinski said. “We knew it was there all along. We watched some film together, and he really stepped up when we needed him. That’s what a leader does and that’s what he did tonight. I’m really proud of him, really proud of the guys for fighting so hard, never giving up. Down 20 in the fourth quarter, crazy game. Not much else to say. We needed that one.”

Wednesday’s tilt was an important contest for both the Raiders (6-6, 1-2 PCL) and Patriots (4-7, 0-3) as they both entered winless in Catholic League play and hoping not to fall any further behind the rest of the pack. Carroll stormed out to a 40-15 lead as junior Luca Foster had 20 of his 34 points in the first half.

Ryan didn’t have much success withering down the Patriots’ 44-22 halftime lead in the third as it still trailed by 17 points, 64-47, heading to the final period of play. Spearheaded by sophomore Semaj Stone, the Raiders’ defense ratcheted up the pressure on Carroll in the fourth, finally chipping away as a four-point play by sophomore guard Seth Gaye pulled Ryan within single digits, 67-58, with 5:28 left.

Gaye had nine of his 13 in the fourth. After Russell reeled off a personal 5-0 run to tie the game with 3:56 left and take the lead at the 2:51 mark, Gaye’s free throws with 1:43 left capped a 23-3 Ryan run that gave the Raiders a 70-67 advantage.

“It means a lot to me honestly,” said Gaye, who came off the bench in the win. “The fact that Coach Joe trusted me as a sophomore to play big minutes, in a big-time game, a must-need win, I gotta step up a lot. And honestly, I didn’t really think it was going to be like this. I’m kind of new to it, but I’m getting used to it.”

Carroll junior Christian Matos (18 points) sent the game into overtime with a take to the basket with 12.6 seconds left in regulation. The Raiders struck first in overtime after Stone came up with a steal and assisted on a Russell score. Russell netted 11 of Ryan’s 13 points in the extra period, including the first nine.

The biggest bucket came with 1:03 to play following a long, patient Ryan possession. Russell sized up the defense and then got to the cup for an and-one that extended the Raiders’ lead to 78-73.

“I seen that it was 1 on 2 and I was like, he’s not going to get over in time, so I was like I might as well finish it,” Russell said. “I saw it go in, and it was a moment of relief. We went up five, and I was like, I think we can put this away for good. … All credit to the coaching staff and my teammates for putting the ball in my hands. I love these guys, man.”

“That was actually sick,” Gaye added. “That was a sick and-one.”

Ryan had a lot of firepower and a nucleus that was together for three years last season when the Raiders finished as the PCL runner-up before their deep state run. Thomas Sorber (Georgetown) and Darren Williams (Florida Gulf Coast) were two stars who left big shoes to fill and others like Jaden Murray (East Stroudsburg), Rocco Morabito (Gannon) and Ryan Everett (Delaware Valley) were not much easier to replace.

Russell and junior Matt Johnson, who took a key charge in overtime Wednesday, both started games last season, but this year’s Ryan group is mostly learning on the fly with newcomers Malik Hughes (11 points) and Keyshawn Franklin, and senior Mark Gallagher and Stone playing new roles.

Russell averaged 14.5 ppg as a sophomore at Pennington (N.J.) school, so he didn’t have any worries about his ability to put the ball through the hoop despite averaging just 3.5 ppg in 2023-24 for the Raiders. Bringing along the rest of his teammates was going to be the newest challenge.

“No Darren, no Thomas, but they set a blueprint,” Russell said. “They set a plan to follow, so it’s an easy transition. I knew I was built for it. I knew I could make the shots and all that stuff. I’m just trying to get better as a leader, lead the young guys to what they need to do and what it takes to get back to the Palestra. I’m just learning every game, and just getting better and improving like you’ve seen today.”

Russell has a Division I offer from Saint Francis (Pa.) and said he’s heard from UMass-Lowell and St. Peter’s. His full arsenal of what’s attractive to college coaches — shot making, finishing, rebounding, defending — was on display in Wednesday’s win.

Knowing what he’s capable of, Russell’s teammates are ready to follow him as far as he can lead them.

“We need him to be big this year,” Gaye said. “We need him a lot. If he can get going, that’s how we're gonna win. Every game that’s exactly how it’s gonna be.”

Archbishop Ryan 84, Archbishop Carroll 79 (OT)

Archbishop Ryan 12 | 10 | 25 | 24 |13 || 84
Archbishop Carroll 24 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 8 || 79

Archbishop Ryan: Brandon Russell 36, Seth Gaye 13, Malik Hughes 11, Semaj Stone 11, Keyshawn Franklin 7, Matt Johnson 6

Archbishop Carroll: Luca Foster 34, Christian Matos 18, Munir Greig 14, Yasir Turner 5, Nasir Ralls 4, Chris Kingkiner 4.