City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@dan arkans)
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As surprising as it sounds, a Saturday afternoon defeat in the Iverson Classic has changed the complexion of the Archbishop Carroll’s boys basketball season.

The loss was a 61-50 decision to super power and current unbeaten St. Joseph of Metuchen (N.J.) in Paramus, NJ. That defeat proved to the Patriots how close they were to any team in the Delaware Valley.

This week was the proof with three consecutive Catholic League victories, culminating in a 66-57 upset of Bonner-Prendergast on Friday night.

“We played a really tough nonconference game against St. Joe’s,” Archbishop Carroll Head Coach Francis Bowe said. “They are tremendous. We ended the game and I said to my staff you know we really played well. I hope this doesn’t bite us when we play our stretch this week. As crazy as it sounded it sparked us from La Salle to Egan to tonight we just kept getting better. Four games in seven days is not easy. That matchup did a lot for us.”

Seniors Ian Williams, Drew Corrao, Nasir Ralls and Nigel Lambert have led the way during this three-game win streak and really all season. It was no different on Friday with Williams finishing with 14 points, including a key 3-pointer in the victory. Nick Lugendo and Yasir Turner also scored 14 for the Patriots.

“Having the seniors we have, they believe they can win every game if we are playing in the Bahamas or playing Lansdale Catholic or Devon Prep,” Bowe said. “The mindset is let’s go make some memories and have a good season.”

The week which ended with its fourth game in seven days was downright special. Carroll began with a 59-48 victory over La Salle and followed that with a 66-56 victory over Egan. The icing on the cake was the upset and statement win over Bonner, which will have the attention of the entire league.

Through six PCL games, the Patriots are one of three two-loss teams along with Bonner, Judge and Roman (3-2). Neumann-Goretti is 5-0, with Archbishop Wood the only one-loss team at 5-1.

“It’s a big win,” Bowe said. “It’s been a crazy week, coming out with three straight wins is huge. When you're playing teams that are picked to be the favorites and you come out on top it’s a great feeling.”

The start also did a lot for the Patriots with a 19-9 burst that caught Bonner off guard. Turner scored six of his 14 points during the run but all five starters reached the scoring column. That led Archbishop Carroll into the half with a 34-23 advantage.

Bonner came out punching in the third quarter with a 22-point outburst and even briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter. Williams quieted them with a 3-pointer and Carroll made all the right plays down the stretch to complete a perfect week of basketball in the PCL.

“We gotta get right back to work,” Bowe said. “I put a lot of trust in those four seniors. I thought they were prepared. It can be anyone’s night or it can be everyone’s night. If you get hit in the mouth you just gotta make sure you come back with something stronger. Tonight we outlasted them. That fast start and finishing strong took care of business.” 

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In other games around the Delaware Valley: 

HS Boys: Archbishop Wood 88, Archbishop Ryan 76, OT

It was just another night in the Philadelphia Catholic League with these two needing the extra session to decide it. Wood finished with a furious 15-5 run to post its fourth consecutive PCL victory. Leading the way was Caleb Lundy with 29 points, while Brady Macadams added 23. Dylan Powell chipped in with 17 and Malakhi Warren had 11. Ryan was led by Malik Hughes with 24 points, while Isaiah Gore added 18. 

HS Boys: Lansdale Catholic 68, Devon Prep 56
The streak is over. The Crusaders hadn't won a Catholic League game since a 44-43 win over Conwell Egan to open the shortened 2021 season -- a run of 67 straight losses finally snapped. (That streak doesn't include a win against N-G via forfeiture that year due to the COVID pandemic).

They'd almost done it a couple times already this year, losing by 10 at Carroll and by just two at West Catholic on Wednesday. They finally got it done against Devon Prep thanks to 23 points from junior guard Brayden Martin, 21 points from sophomore forward Ayden Lewis and 17 from sophomore wing Chase Stevens.

"It's been alluded to me here," second-year head coach Torre Harrison said. "We had a couple close ones. [...] It feels great, I'm happy for the kids, because they're working hard for it, and the Lansdale community, give something they haven't had in five or six years. Now the focus is, let's go get the next one."

HS Boys: La Salle 40, Cardinal O’Hara 36

The Explorers put the clamps down on O’Hara and evened their PCL record at 3-3 with the win on Friday night. La Salle held O’Hara to 10 second-half points in a defensive slugfest. Max Oxebata was the only player in double figures with 10 points while Nick Neri hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch for La Salle. Kaleb Hargrave led O’Hara with nine points.

HS Boys: Malvern Prep 76, Episcopal Academy 48

Malvern rebounded from a one-point loss to The Haverford School with a near flawless performance on Friday night. It was a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures led by 20 points from Logan Chwastyk. Collin Romanczuk added 12 points, including two 3-pointers, while Nick Harken and Marvin Reed both scored 11 points. Timmy Dennis paced EA with 14 points.

HS Girls: CB East 52, Upper Dublin 48

A heavyweight Suburban One League contest did not disappoint. The Cards were too tough down the stretch with a 30-18 run in the second half. Megan Ngo paced Upper Dublin with 18 points, while Tamia Clark and Emilia Coleman each scored 11 points. Hailey Moran paced East with 18 points, while Natalie Berndt added 10. Jess Lockwood chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds.

HS Boys: West Catholic 71, Conwell-Egan 64

WC trailed 54-49 entering the fourth quarter before finishing with a flourish and a PCL victory. Kingston Wheatley paced the Burrs with 22 points, while Eric Scott Jr. added 18. Rakim Johnson chipped in with 13. Myles Moore scored 20 points for Egan, while Justin Bobb added 16.

HS Boys: CB South 59, Hatboro-Horsham 46

The Titans ran out to a 34-15 halftime advantage and coasted to the SOL crossover victory on Friday night. Brett Barrett set the stage with 14 points, including three 3-pointers. Kayode Adebayo and Chase Ross each added 11 for the Titans. Jaden Thompson paced the Hatters with 17 points.