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Ryan outworks Judge, advances to second straight PCL semifinals

02/17/2017, 11:45pm EST
By Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)

Izaiah Brockington (above, in Dec.) and Archbishop Ryan are going back to the Palestra for the second straight year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Rich Flanagan (@RichFlanagan33)
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Joe Zeglinski knew the storylines and local intrigue coming in.

His Archbishop Ryan Raiders against their neighborhood rival, the Father Judge Crusaders on the biggest stage in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs.

Players on both sides who had played with or against each other since grade school, particularly former teammates in Ryan’s Izaiah Brockington and Judge’s Marc Rodriguez (Resurrection of Our Lord). For the Raiders, they were looking to advance to their second straight PCL semifinal appearance and the Crusaders were looking to make their first appearance in the final four since 1999.

Zeglinski knew too much can be made of a game of this magnitude before it even tipped off and he continually spoke with his group about that.

“Everyone had been talking about a Northeast Philly rivalry for the last week. I tried to keep our guys poised and knew we had been in the quarterfinals last year,” said Zeglinski, who was a member of the Raiders the last time they played the Crusaders in the quarterfinals (2006).

In front of a raucous home crowd, the Raiders led by double digits for the entire second half and defeated the Crusaders 68-55 to advance the PCL semifinals for the second time in back-to-back seasons in school history-first since 2001 and 2002. Archbishop Ryan knew Judge’s biggest player in its starting lineup was 6-foot-2 forward Drew Riley and they attacked him early and often.

Senior forward and West Chester commit Fred Taylor tallied 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and five blocks and All-Catholic First Team forward Matiss Kulackovskis, who received an offer from Bowling Green on Feb. 12, posted a team-high 25 points.

One of Taylor’s blocks ignited a fast-break as Brockington found Kulackovskis, who was fouled and hit two free throws to push the Raiders lead to 17-12 with 5:58 left before halftime. Brockington (14 points, two steals, two blocks) then scored five straight points and Kulackovskis followed that up with two more free throws to give Archbishop Ryan (19-4) a nine-point lead three minutes later.

Father Judge head coach Sean Tait, PCL co-Coach of the Year with Archbishop Wood’s John Mosco, said Ryan took advantage of his team’s lack of size and it was the primary reason they began to pull away in the second half.

“We don’t have a guy over 6-foot-2," he said. "I knew that was an issue trying to keep them off the glass. We tried our best. It was those little things like foul shots and layups that keep you closer to give you an opportunity in the fourth quarter.”

With Brockington dealing with foul trouble (he played much of the second half with four), Taylor and Kulackovskis imposed their will. Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to put the Raiders up by ten then recorded a block on the ensuing possession. Later in the third, Brockington stole the ball from Judge’s Matt O’Connor and found Taylor in transition for a two-handed dunk, increasing the Raiders’ lead to 43-27.

Kulackovskis scored 16 points in the second half and seemed to have an answer every time Father Judge (16-7) cut into the deficit. Taylor feels having two skilled big men like he and Kulackovskis allows the Raiders to slow the pace down and control tempo.

“Matiss and I are definitely post players but he plays more on the outside. He can shoot, rebounds and makes good moves in the post,” Taylor said. “If he doesn’t make it, I’m there to clean it up and get the offensive rebound. I do whatever I can to help the team win on offense.”

While Taylor and Kulackovskis dominated into for Archbishop Ryan, Rodriguez, the school’s first 1,000-point scorer and an All-Catholic First Team selection, was keeping the Crusaders within striking distance. He had 32 points including 20 in the second half on 9-11 shooting from the field. He scored the first bucket of the game on one of his six three-pointers. His left-handed layup with 5:35 left cut the deficit to 54-44 but that’s as close as the Crusaders would get. Rodriguez got some help as O’Connor (13 points) hit four shots of his own from behind the arc but that’s where scoring dropped off.

Father Judge had their chances to come back by missed layups by senior Mike Power (seven points) and sophomore Shane Dooley (two) didn’t help their cause in the second half. Tait had noted those missed opportunities, notably foul shots (12-20), but said one poor showing shouldn’t diminish what his team had accomplished, particularly the seniors.

“Guys like Marc, Mike and Matt really set the tone in their freshman year. Mike and Matt played JV while Marc started varsity,” Tait said. “We made that playoffs then won a playoff game the year after. This was like a crescendo on their four years finishing the way that we did.”

The Raiders advance to play No. 1 seed Wood, a team they fell to in the regular season, 63-34, in the semifinals at the Palestra. Zeglinski felt advancing to the semifinals in his first year at the helm was a success but also put his team in a position they had never been before and may not have been able to handle. He feels things will be different this time around.

“We were there last year so we know that feeling. Last year, I think we were a little overwhelmed and we came out against Neumann-Goretti [a little flat,]” Zeglinski said. “We didn’t have the right energy but we have fought through that. I think we’re playing really well. Everyone is playing their role the right way.”

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In other Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinal action:

Archbishop Wood 65, Bonner-Prendergast 43 >> Collin Gillespie scored 21 points including 11 in the second half to go along with six assists to lift the Vikings over the Friars. The Vikings took a 31-20 lead into the locker room at halftime and rolled to their first PCL semifinal appearance since 2005. Junior center Seth Pinkney added 10 points, senior guard Matt Cerutti had four points, seven rebound and four assists, and junior combo guard Tyree Pickron had eight points and six boards.

Roman Catholic 56, St. Joseph's Prep 55

Recap coming soon

Neumann-Goretti 73, Archbishop Carroll 55

Recap coming soon


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