Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski once said: “When a leader takes responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, he not only sets a good example, he shows a healthy respect for people on his team.”
That is just what sophomore guard Nasir Ralls did Wednesday night as he led the Archbishop Carroll varsity boys basketball team to a huge 79-42 win over Philadelphia’s Abraham Lincoln High School, posting 25 points along with two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Before tonight’s contest, it was announced that Ralls would be coming off the bench for the first time this season. Ralls, a perennial starter and top scoring threat for the Pats, hadn’t come off the bench for the Pats since last year.
“I was just focused,” said Ralls following the win. “I had a couple of off-court issues and that’s why I didn’t play the first quarter. But it was all cool. I just wanted to come in focused and ready to bring energy. I saw the energy was low [t the end of the first quarter] so I just wanted to get in there and get to work.”
The energy was indeed low for the Pats to begin the night as the club appeared lackadaisical and put up some lazy shots to start the game. The Pats scored only 10 points in the first quarter to Lincoln’s eight.
Carroll head coach Francis Bowe opted to sub in sophomore forward Drew Corrao to the lineup over Ralls, who had been a cornerstone piece of the Patriot offense to this point in the season. It wouldn’t be until the beginning of the second quarter that Ralls would be subbed back in for Corrao, and when he was, he made a splash.
Carroll outscored Lincoln 22-14 in the quarter, much to the credit of Ralls, who didn’t touch the bench from that point on. The guard had a few big-time threes along with some jumpers in the paint to finish the half with 13 points as Carroll led the match by 20 after leading by only two in the first.
Ralls hot play continued into the third quarter as Carroll only grew their lead. The Pats continued to rain down threes on Lincoln while punishing them every time they tried to go down the lane on offense.
As the fourth quarter progressed, Ralls reached 20 points, and after getting a steal off of a Lincoln guard he coasted down the floor and appeared to attempt a layup. In reality, the now humbled guard laid the ball up in front of the rim allowing for sophomore forward Luca Foster to slam it down.
“From past experiences, Nas always keeps his head,” said sophomore captain Ian Williams. “Sometimes there can be ups and downs with him, coming with who he is. But him just understanding that things can go up and down for him, he’s just gotta get back into that straight mindset of being locked in and getting back to who he really is. You know something, you can get overwhelmed in school, because you know everyone loves you in school. But he needed to get back to this. He locked in and he‘s going to be locked in for the rest of the season.”
The Pats would finally welt the Railsplitter’s down in the fourth and come away with the victory to move the club to 6-0 on the year as Ralls finished 25 points in one of the most impressive showings of his high school career.
“I guess my coach’s choice motivated him,” said Bowe following the game.
Following the win, Carroll moves to 6-0 on the season as it looks ahead to their pre-Christmas break before heading to Wildwood to take on Middletown High School in the Boardwalk Basketball Classic. The games tips off at 6 p.m. at the Wildwood Convention Center on Saturday, Dec. 23.