City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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WARMINSTER - Archbishop Wood entered its game against Archbishop Carroll on Sunday having won eight straight Philadelphia Catholic League contests, but there was one area that coach John Mosco said his team has been working to improve.

“We’ve been starting slow,” Mosco said. “We’ve talked about it in practice. We’ve stressed getting off to a quick start.”

And on Sunday the Vikings got off to the quick start they’ve been working on. Archbishop Wood was terrific in all facets of the game early on, using a 16-0 first-quarter run to take a 22-7 lead after one quarter on its way to a 77-62 victory over Archbishop Carroll before a packed house at Richard “R” Kelly Gymnasium.

The win was the Vikings’ ninth straight in the league as they improved to 14-6 overall and 10-1 in the PCL. The loss dropped the Patriots to 11-9, 7-4. With the regular-season winding down and the PCL playoffs starting on February 11, Archbishop Wood took a step closer to clinching the regular-season title. Archbishop Carroll, meanwhile, is in fifth place and battling to earn a first-round bye. The top 10 finishers in the 14-team PCL make the playoffs, with the top six seeds receiving byes into the quarterfinals.

If the Vikings continue to play like they did on Sunday and have solved their early game troubles, they will be tough to beat come playoff time. The key to the quick start on Sunday was senior Brady MacAdams. The Marist-bound do-it-all guard/forward scored 10 points in the first quarter - including a pair of three-pointers - on his way to another solid all-around effort.

“Staying mentally focused has been a problem for us early in the game,” said MacAdams, who finished with 24 points. “Today we got after it. We got off to a quick start and got the job done.”

The Patriots, after falling behind early, kept battling. The terrific play of senior guards Ian Williams and Nasir Ralls kept Archbishop Carroll in the game. Williams, who finished with a team-high 23 points, and Ralls, who added 20, keyed a first-half comeback that closed the gap to 30-26 midway through the second quarter.

“We knew they would make a run,” Mosco said. “Their guards have been through the wars. They’re really good.”

MacAdams agreed.

“They have a lot of good players, you know, a lot of premier players,” he said. “They’re a great team. They have a great coach.”

Archbishop Wood took a 40-36 lead into halftime. Late in the third quarter, the Patriots pulled to within 46-43 on a three-pointer by Nigel Lambert, but that was as close as they would get.

The Vikings held the ball for the last shot of the third quarter, and MacAdams connected from deep at the buzzer to give Archbishop Wood a 53-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“It was big,” Mosco said. “We executed. We had been giving up points at the end of quarters, so that was big.”

MacAdams credited teammate Dylan Powell with making the extra pass to get him the open look.

“It was a big shot,” MacAdams said. “I trust my guys, and my guys trust me. I shot the ball, and it went in.”

Junior guard Caleb Lundy scored 14 of his game-high 27 points for Archbishop Wood in the fourth quarter, when he made 8-of-10 from the line, to help seal the win that was punctuated by an alley-opp from Brian Donahue to Jaydn Jenkins with less than 90 seconds left.

“We have guys who want to win,” Mosco said. “We have good balance. They all like each other. They stick together. We’ve gotten better since the season started.”

The same can be said about MacAdams since he arrived on campus as a skinny 6-foot freshman.

“He came in as a little guard,” Mosco said. “He’s really worked hard. He can now play inside and outside for us.”

MacAdams said he has gone from a 6-foot, 175-pound freshman to the 6-foot-5, 205-pound senior that he is today. He credits the time he’s spent in the weight room with his dad, who he said is his strength coach, for his transformation.

“I’ve put on a lot of muscle,” MacAdams said. “We’ve really hit the weights hard. We get after it.”

MacAdams, whose versatility was on display on Sunday when he made four three-pointers but also scored in the post and brought the ball up the court against Archbishop Carroll’s pressure, said that he has continued to lift during the season.

“To maintain muscle and strength,” he said. “I feel like that’s given me an edge over other guys who don’t lift in-season.”

MacAdams, who has been in the Archbishop Wood starting lineup since his sophomore year, will play his final regular-season home game on Friday against LaSalle and then at least one home playoff game. He said that it is starting to hit him that the end of his high school career is quickly approaching.

“I’m really trying to stay present,” he said. “Staying present is super important - taking everything in and realizing this is my last year. Playing with these guys every single day is amazing. We really make each other better on a day-to-day basis. We’re planning to win it all. We’re hungry.”

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By Quarter

Archbishop Carroll: 7 | 24 | 13 | 18 || 62
Archbishop Wood: 22 | 16 | 15 | 24 || 77

Scoring
Archbishop Carroll: Ian Williams 23, Nasir Ralls 20, Yasir Turner 7, Nikolai Lugendo 6, Drew Corrao 3, Nigel Lambert 3.

Archbishop Wood: Caleb Lundy 27, Brady MacAdams 24, Dylan Powell 7, Malakhi Warren 7, Jaydn Jenkins 6, Kyiien Strong 4, Brian Donahue 2.