City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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RADNOR -- Throughout his tenure at Archbishop Carroll, Francis Bowe has had his fair share of talented guards who can facilitate offense or go through sets with such ease and pace that things just appear easy to the naked eye.

Luke House. John Camden. Moses Hipps. Dean Coleman-Newsome. Purveyors of the Philadelphia Catholic League knows those names well, and what they accomplished during their tenure on Matsonford Road.

However, when watching one of Bowe’s signature sets where Yasir Turner turns the corner and converts a tough layup or Nasir Ralls catches and drills a three-pointer from the corner, the action actually starts with the Patriots forwards who create just enough of a window on the pick-and-roll for Bowe’s multifaceted guards to get those opportunities.

It’s not simply the screening but how their ability to pass out of the high post or finish through contact that makes Bowe’s offense hum.

Bowe has perhaps the best big men tandem in the Philadelphia Catholic League in 6-7 junior forward Nick Lugendo and 6-9 senior big Drew Corrao. They’re complementing each other incredibly well and it’s been a focal reason why Archbishop Carroll is having a sensational season.

Lugendo and Corrao combined for 28 points and controlled things inside at both ends as Archbishop Carroll took down Neumann-Goretti, 59-52 on Friday night. The victory marked the first for the Patriots over the Saints since the two teams met in the 2009 PIAA Class 3A Tournament quarterfinals as Archbishop Carroll went on to become the first Philadelphia Catholic League boys program to ever win a state basketball title. Furthermore, the Patriots secured their first Philadelphia Catholic League regular season win over Neumann-Goretti since Feb. 9, 2001.

Bowe receives well-deserved credit for his track record on guard development but his attention to detail with bigs who possess raw potential like Corrao, a four-year player, and a newcomer like Lugendo is an underappreciated aspect of his coaching acumen.

“Taking the time and being very meticulous,” says Bowe of his work with forwards. “I’m very hard on them. The second the game is over, my arm is raised high over their shoulders. A lot of other kids would fold but for some reason, this big-man unit, along with others I’ve had before, and I have developed a rapport.

“I tell them this is going to be hard and it will be tough because you didn’t learn a lot of this in elementary school because we live in this world where everyone needs to be a guard. There’s going to be a lot of tears and frustration but just know I believe in you. It’s a culture thing and I pride myself in that because it’s a lot of effort.”

Lugendo had his way down low with 20 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. He scored the opening basket of the game on a putback then later in the first quarter, he sprinted down and got ahead of the Neumann-Goretti defense for an easy two as the Patriots ran out to a 15-6 lead. The Haverford High transfer scored 14 points in that opening quarter, including the final 10 with two and-one conversions to give Archbishop Carroll (11-8, 7-3 Philadelphia Catholic League) a 23-11 advantage after one. Lugendo does the dirty work inside and on the glass. Even more so, he relishes the opportunity to play through contact on his way to the basket.

“It’s really nice having a 6-7 and 6-9 guy together,” Lugendo said. “We both know our strong suits. I can finish at the rim and he can shoot. He’s always around the perimeter and we can get what we want.”

As Lugendo battles with the likes of Shippensburg commit Alassan N’Diaye and 6-6 junior Marquise Newson, Corrao is free to handle things around the foul line or top of the key for straightaway jumpers or even take his defender to the rim off the dribble. After suffering a broken foot last year, Corrao is healthy and putting the finishing touches on a solid senior season. He had knocked down 32 three-pointers entering Friday’s matchup and his improved shooting numbers have added another dimension to an ever-evolving offense that has found great success, even with the departure of so many key pieces from a year ago.

Corrao followed Lugendo’s opening basket and his next one didn’t come until he slammed home a two-handed dunk to make it 33-27. Corrao was a starter on the 2024 team that lost to Lincoln Park in the PIAA 4A title game and three starters in Darrell Davis, Luca Foster, and Munir Greig have moved on. Only Ralls and Corrao remain with Ralls having recently surpassed 1,000 career points, the first Patriots player to reach that mark since Derrick Jones Jr. in 2015. Meanwhile, losing a Gonzaga commit in Foster and the No. 36 ranked prospect in the class of 2027 (according to 247 Sports) in Greig can truly set a program back. Corrao and this group haven’t allowed that to happen and once again, much of the credit goes to Bowe.

Drew Corrao added eight points to help Carroll beat N-G (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL).

“We wanted to work with what we had,” Corrao said. “We knew we were talented, and we’ve been trying to fit in the new pieces. We brought in Nick and he can be a rebounding guy while helping me find my perimeter game. We had a good group even without those guys.”

Yasir Turner scored 14 points, and the sophomore guard has taken on an expanded role with increased minutes which has led to greater production. Turner has scored in double figures in every league game so far this season, and he took it upon himself to turn screens from Lugendo and Corrao into scoring opportunities for himself and others. 

Learning from Ralls and Williams has certainly helped his maturation and seeing him patiently draw a foul then calmly sinking two free throws displays he is following in the footsteps of those impressive guards who paved the way. He sank six free throws in the second half with the final four locking up the win over the final 38 seconds. He also found Lugendo for his third and-one earlier in the fourth to give the Patriots a 48-40 lead with 3:17 remaining.

Bowe may not necessarily have the individual talent he possessed of the past two seasons, but he has been able to harness and get the most out of this current group. That speaks volumes to his response to recent departures and looking at the bigger picture with this current iteration of Patriots.

“I haven’t had a senior night in three years and I’m going to have five seniors who will graduate,” Bowe said. “That was a special run two years ago. I had all sophomores and Darrell. This has been a really special season because Nasir and Ian have been with me since day one. They could’ve gone to Neumann, Wood or anywhere else and they came here. They’re thriving, leading and coachable. They’ll run through a wall for me, and I’ll take that any day.”

Neumann-Goretti (13-4, 6-3) was without starting point guard and Towson commit Stephon Ashley-Wright and in his absence, sophomore EJ Stanton stepped in with 10 points. Newson posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds while N’Diaye, who was bothered by Lugendo and Corrao’s length, struggled with six points on 3-10 shooting. DeShawn Yates also struggled, going 2-5 and failing to create space.

Having lost Christian Matos, Greig, Foster and Davis over the last two seasons, it may be surprising to some to see how well Bowe has Archbishop Carroll playing to this point in the season. Yet, with a vaunted front line of Lugendo and Corrao playing off each other while creating high-low opportunities and closing defenses in to create opening shots for Ralls, Turner and Williams, it’s easy to see why the Patriots have been so successful and have greater aspirations with a shockingly veteran group.

Bowe keeps this group’s gaze on what comes next and has taken complacency out of the equation as the regular season winds down.

“We’ve never had a practice after a game like this where we’ve been settled with things,” Bowe said. “They come in and we do the same routine. We’re going to do the same thing tomorrow. It has to do with seniors who have been here for four years and know what the Catholic League is like. You can’t take a day off. That’s also part of the reason we’ve had success because we can’t look ahead.”

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By Quarter
Neumann-Goretti    11 | 9 | 17 | 15 || 52
Archbishop Carroll  23 | 6 | 13 | 17 || 59

Scoring
Neumann-Goretti: Marquis Newson 18, EJ Stanton 10, London Collins 7, Alassan N’Diaye 6, Kody Colson 6, DeShawn Yates 5.

Archbishop Carroll: Nick Lugendo 20, Yasir Turner 14, Drew Corrao 8, Nasir Ralls 8, Ian Williams 7, Nigel Lambert 2