The Archbishop Carroll varsity boys basketball team fell to Father Judge 78-73 in overtime Tuesday night. Senior Blake Deegan led all scorers with 24 points in the loss, while Dean Coleman racked up 18 of his own. 

Just a week out from a conceivable Philadelphia Catholic League playoff appearance, coach Francis Bowe and the Pats were looking to stay confident and put their best foot forward heading into the season’s home stretch. 

Coach Bowe spoke about his team’s playoff aspirations pregame: “We’re riding a high right now. Gotta keep that same confidence we had versus Devon. Just a few days left in the season; we just gotta stay in it.”

Despite the loss, the Pats executed well on Bowe’s pregame message as they came out hot, working a Judge squad that could have been seen as the inferior side coming into play. After a few tic-tac fouls toward the end of the first quarter, the two sides would end the frame at a draw 13-13.

The second quarter would see both sides pick it up on the offensive end. Judge started the period hot, taking advantage of Carroll’s mistakes and capitalizing. After a much-needed timeout, the Pats would remerge in the second half of the period draining a couple of threes while forcing some unwarranted shots from Judge. Soon enough the Pats closed a seven-point deficit, taking a two-score lead into the half. 

The first half flow did not translate well into the third. Judge took a prompt 10-point lead, leaving the Patriots without answers yet again. Though seemingly in serendipity with the first half, coach Bowe called another well-placed timeout and once again lit a spark under his young Patriots squad as Carroll climbed back from a double-digit defect to take another two-point lead into the fourth. 

It became clear early that Judge would never go down easy and that trend continued as the Crusaders idled the Pats for the majority of the fourth quarter before finally tying the contest up with just 13 seconds to go in the game. After a missed layup from Coleman-Newsome followed up by a Blake Deegan prayer at the buzzer,  Carroll headed to OT in a contest where no lesser ending seemed suitable. 

Extra time started with a bang as Deegan slapped the tipoff into the offensive zone, allowing freshman Ian Williams to lay one in for an early Patriot advantage. Though from that point on it was all Crusaders. Judge took a swift lead that it never surrendered all the way to the final whistle. 

While Tuesday’s loss will most likely not affect the Pats’ Catholic League playoff standing, the team never wants to see a loss like this, especially coming down the stretch against such a competitive team like Judge. Coach Bowe acknowledged this postgame. 

“We just never had that same composure we had against Devon,” Bowe said. “it’s a rough loss, obviously, but I’d rather take it now than later.”

Looking down the road, the Pats will now turn their focus to Friday night when they take on the Explorers of LaSalle College High School at 6 p.m. in the East Gym for Senior Night. Be sure to show up for the seniors at the boy’s final regular season home game!