The Archbishop Carroll Patriots came into Sunday afternoon’s varsity boys basketball matchup against the Cardinal O’Hara Lions as heavy favorites, but they could not sustain momentum gained from an early 13-point lead and left the East Gym defeated. O’Hara bested Carroll in the final minute and left for Springfield with a 67-64 win.
“When you’re up 13, you’re supposed to just keep going and compounding it, but, for some reason, you know, we didn’t continue what got us to the 13-0 lead,” said head coach Francis Bowe.
The 13-point lead came in the first quarter, when Patriots star Luca Foster started off on fire and Carroll looked ready to meet expectations.
“I was finding myself in the three,” Foster said. “They were not closing out, so imma let it fly.”
At the end of the second quarter, Carroll was ahead by nine.
In the third quarter, which featured tons of hard contact from O’Hara, Foster found himself only 10 points away from a career high. Also working his way into the scorebook with a high tally of points, rebounds, and assists in the third quarter was Munir Greig, who has been playing out of position at center for the injured Drew Corrao.
“I was just attacking the basket … going up strong,” Greig said.
With 1:26 left in the game, the Patriots led by five points, but an O’Hara triple cut that lead to two with less than a minute to go. The Patriots inbounded the ball to Christian Matos, who was bumped and stepped on the out-of-bounds line. The momentum shifted and rowdy O’Hara fans who came to cheer their team at the home of their Delco rival gave the Lions everything they needed. The Lions inbounded the ball to Malik Myatt, who drove the lane and got the bucket plus the foul. Myatt made his free throw shot and the Lions went ahead by one. The Patriots drew up a play that ultimately went to Greig, who drove the lane and was unable to draw a foul call. The Patriots fouled intentionally. The Lions made the two foul shots and a last second half court shot by Foster grazed the ceiling and was no good.
Foster finished the game with 23 points and six rebounds. Greig completed the game with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
The Patriots look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 8, against Archbishop Ryan at Carroll.
