Fans, faculty, students, pundits, and media alike were forced to temper their expectations for Archbishop Carroll’s varsity boys basketball team on Tuesday night.
In Carroll’s East Gym, the Patriots lost their first Philadelphia Catholic League game after beginning their season with seven straight non-conference wins. The Pats fell to the Saints of Neumann-Goretti High School 84-57 in rough fashion as the defending PCL runner-ups showed that they still have a lot in the tank against an up-and-coming Carroll club.
“We were uncharacteristically selfish,” said head coach Francis Bowe. “We came in overconfident or maybe underconfident. That is not the team I’m used to coaching. We’re going to get back to work tomorrow, but it was just really disappointing all and all from start to finish.”
Uncharacteristic was one way to describe the Patriot’s output Tuesday, in the sense that the team struggled to find the groove that they usually find. From the jump, it was plain to see a lack of fluidity on the offensive end with passing lanes being choked off and routine plays ending in turnovers.
Trouble brewed from the outset. Carroll trailed Neumann 19-13 as the Saints went on a big run to end the first period.
Through the second quarter, the Pats were able to hang tight but failed to make any sort of ground up as Neumann continued pelt the defense. The offense, when it was able to get some shots off, wasn’t all too bad, but it failed to maintain possession of the ball.
“I don’t know what team I coached today,” said Bowe regarding the team’s innumerable turnovers.
Heading into the second half, it was all Neumann, with no end in sight to the blitzkrieg of scoring. Even as Carroll got a couple nice shots up in a row at points, the Saints quickly offset the offense with a few big buckets of their own.
By the end of the third period, the gym began to empty as things started looking bleak, with the Pats trailing 61-41.
“We got to play with effort,” said sophomore forward Luca Foster. “Everybody got to wake up because we have to.”
Through the fourth quarter, the Neumann lead just kept growing. The period saw the Pats continue to stumble while the Saints played some knockdown basketball, eventually holding the ball for the final 50 seconds and dribbling it to the buzzer with a 27-point win.
“We have to stay together,” said sophomore guard Ian Williams. “There are definitely some things that I could have done better, and a couple things that me and my teammates could have done better individually and we know that.”
Williams added the team had to keep “a positive mindset because this won’t be the last bump in the road.”