In front of a sellout crowd in the East Gym, Archbishop Carroll fell to Roman Catholic, 71-53.
Issues may lie deeper than the product on the court.
“We’re hurting in more ways than one,” said Patriots head coach Francis Bowe. “We’re hurt as a team physically but we’re hurt mentally. We didn’t expect that result, but kind of hobbling into these games you don’t know what you’re going to get. It’s kind of going back to the drawing board, but also getting the guys we have on the court healthy.”
It was clear as the game moved on that Carroll wasn’t on its ”A” game. As a team that averaged nearly 77 ppg as a team this year, to only come away with 53 is glaring.
Though it was outmatched, the team looked gassed at times in the late going, also allowing simple mental lapses to cost them big buckets and possessions.
“I didn’t feel like we played for each other today,” said Bowe. “I didn’t think we moved the ball well, or moved, or screened well for that matter. The thing that has been biting us in the rear end is just being a little more physical when we go up to finish. We know the contact is coming: we have to face it; we have to embrace it. We have to know and we have to finish through the contact on offense.”
As the story has gone many times this year, the Patriots didn’t struggle at first. On the contrary, they got out to a quick though brief advantage with a 6-0 lead to open the game. The lead came off some big three’s from Christian Matos and Luca Foster.
Nonetheless, Roman came back hard and ran a few buckets in before the two clubs went back and forth for a majority of the quarter. Roman ended up pulling away in the final minutes of the period and by halftime the Cahillites led by nearly 20 with a 42-25 advantage.
In the second half it felt as though Carroll was trying to push through but could never leave the lapses behind for long enough.
Carroll trailed by 16 midway through the period before a nice run by junior Christian Matos made it 54-39 by the end of the third quarter. Matos, who has been automatic on offense since joining Carroll this summer, played one of his best games to date despite the loss. The Methacton transfer had 19 points in his first Catholic League game against the defending champions and supplied a majority of the second half scoring for the Patriots.
“It’s definitely a lot faster paced,” said Matos. “Different players, and high level players, and that’s what you get with the best league in the area. So it’s definitely been a transition but I feel like I’m capable and I did a decent job tonight.”
As the fourth quarter progressed, the Patriots began to tighten the margins once again, and this time they had a legit shot. After a huge three from Matos to close Roman’s lead to 11, and a turnover by Roman, the Pats wasted away a possession as junior Chris Kingkiner passed up a three to run in a layup, which fell off the rim. From then on it was all Roman as the Cahillites ran away with things and put the hopeful Patriots down.
“I think we got to play together,” said Matos. “We have to keep talking together and just stay together as a team. We have to look like we’re a team out there.”
With the loss, Carroll falls to 0-1 on the Catholic League slate and 4-5 on the season. They’ll continue the PCL season with a home matchup against Cardinal O’Hara from the East gym at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
