It was a familiar script Sunday afternoon for the Archbishop Carroll varsity boys basketball team. Some early stretches of competitive basketball were quickly followed up by the opponent’s offensive runs and Carroll’s defensive lapses, which landed the Pats in a deep hole.
It’s something that has become all too familiar for the Patriots, who fell to 3-4 in the Philadelphia Catholic League following their 96-69 pummeling at the hands of league favorite Archbishop Wood.
Before the season, Carroll was seen as a top six team in the Catholic League behind five teams considered ¨contenders:¨ Roman Catholic, Neumann-Goretti, Archbishop Ryan, St. Joseph’s Prep, and Archbishop Wood. A win against one or more of these top teams could have propelled the Pats into the upper echelon of Catholic League teams,; however, that has not been the case.
Carroll fell to Neumann-Goretti, 84-57, to open the Catholic League season during one of their most anticipated games in years. The Pats then dropped their next two games in succession to Ryan (53-46) and St. Joe´s Prep (84-63) before beating La Salle (49-48), Bonner (66-62), and Devon (69-62).
A three-game win streak, compiled with Wood´s struggles to this point in the year, allowed for some cautious optimism that the Pats would have been able to take down the Vikings. Nonetheless, that was not the case as the Pats took their worst loss of the season thus far.
¨When these veteran teams make runs on us, we´re not playing with poise,” Carroll head coach Francis Bowe said. We just can´t hit the panic button right now.¨
The afternoon began as most do when Carroll takes on a top CL team, with a competitive run through the first period. Carroll kept it tight with the Vikings up until the middle of the second quarter when Wood began to pull away.
That was when the Pats did push the panic button, as the pace of the game sped up along with Wood´s potent offense, which went off for 22 points in the period, holding Carroll to only 15.
At halftime, Wood led the Pats by 12 as Carroll was spurred by a short offensive run as the quarter closed. The second half, however, was no better on either end of the floor.
¨It really just comes down to our hustle against these top five teams,¨ said sophomore forward Luca Foster. ¨They out hustle us in the big moments and that has really been the difference between us and them so far this year when we have faced them.¨
The Pats hustle certainly came into question in the third quarter. With a chance to get back in the game, down by only 12, and coming off a momentum-swinging run at the end of the half, Carroll came out flat. Wood outscored Carroll 24-14 while the Pats struggled to get back on defense and gave up multiple key possessions via turnovers.
As the game moved into the fourth period, not much would go the other way for Carroll. As the period opened with the Pats trailing by 22, the pace slowed down and Wood continued to pour it on.
One bright spot was once again the output of sophomore forward and captain Ian Williams, who finished the day with 18 points, two assists and two rebounds.
¨We haven´t found our identity yet,¨ said Williams. ¨It’s all about realizing that we just need to be better as unit. But moving forward, we´re going to be alright.¨
With the loss, the Pats fall to 3-4 in the Catholic League and 10-6 overall. They will look ahead to a much more tame matchup with Conwell-Egan this Friday at Egan for a 7 pm tip-off.