Gillespie, shooting propel Archbishop Wood past Scranton Prep

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WARMINSTER >> The ball is faster than the defender.

It’s something coaches preach to keep the ball moving and in turn get open shots. In the third quarter Saturday night against Scranton Prep, Archbishop Wood’s boys basketball team made the ball look like a blur as they swung it around and knocked down shot after shot.

It’s what the Vikings do well, both move the ball and shoot it, so it was little surprise they made it look easy.

Led by senior point guard Collin Gillespie and his band of snipers, the Vikings ran roughshod over the Cavaliers in a 86-65 win to cap off their Coaches vs Cancer showcase Saturday night.

“Our goal was to jump out on them early and then stay on top,” Gillespie said. “Once we get going, we have a lot of guys who can shoot and our bigs are developing and getting a lot better. Our bench brings energy every night, we played well all together tonight.”

Early on it was Gillespie willing his team through a slow start. The senior guard, who is drawing Division I interest, finished with 27 points, seven assists and eight rebounds, playing that fine game of finding others and scoring when it was right.

In the second quarter, the rest of the Vikings (3-2) caught up to their floor leader and things really took off. Ty Pickron got going and Matt Cerruti re-ignited after a quick start, giving Wood three guys locked in and ready to let fly.

That is a very dangerous sight for whoever happens to be playing defense that night.

“We preached at halftime to stay on top of them because they are a good team,” Gillespie said. “(Coach John Mosco) wanted us to shoot and keep playing. We wanted to not hold back anything and put them away in the third quarter.”

The third quarter was more like a shooting gallery for Wood, which made its first four 3-pointers of the frame and five of their first six as Gillespie, Pickron and Cerruti all connected at least once. Pickron finished with a game-high 28 points and was especially hot in the third, nailing a trio of 3-pointers and scoring 11 points in the frame.

It seemed like every shot Wood took was the best one it could get on that possession, not always an easy thing to say about any basketball offense. This group has excellent chemistry and enjoy playing together, so that certainly helps the ball move a little faster and with a little more ease.

Of course when the guy tasked with running the offense is always looking for the most open man, that helps quite a bit too.

“Collin has really matured a lot,” Mosco said. “He knows what to do on the court. He’s relaxed, let’s the game come to him, gets guys involved and knows where guys like the ball. He is a calming influence, when they were pressing us and trapping us, he knew where to be, how to get the ball and it starts with him making the extra pass.”

Gillespie has fully settled in at point after replacing the graduated Tommy Funk, now starting at Army and has his teammate’s trust.

After starting the season off in some high-level showcase games in Washington, DC then facing Abington at Arcadia, Wood was finally playing a game on its home floor Saturday. With a good student section out in support, the Vikings took full advantage and shot the lights out.

Wood isn’t just a bunch of shooting specialists. Both Gillespie and Pickron can take a defender off the bounce, Cerruti has nice touch in midrange and the team’s big guys, though not high-scoring on Saturday, are an energetic group.

To illustrate just how effective the shooting was, Wood’s 6-foot-11 center Seth Pinkney had a huge size advantage and didn’t score a point. What he did do was contribute seven blocks and altered a number of other shots to make a mark on the game.

“I have five or six guys who can shoot,” Gillespie said. “Six of our guys are getting looked at as Division I players. When I’m not going, I find them and they make plays for me. We mesh well together, so once we’re hitting shots and getting going, we’re not going to miss a lot. If I find people, they’re going to knock down shots.”

The road doesn’t get easier for Wood, which plays in an All City Clasic showcase Friday, then heads to Delaware for the Slam Dunk to the Beach premier showcase between Christmas and the new year. Then, it’s right into the teeth of the Philadelphia Catholic League.

“I come from Neumann-Goretti where they’d just schedule anybody,” Mosco said. “We went down to D.C., came out of it 1-2 and some people were saying maybe we’re not that good so I told (the players) you just have to keep earning respect. The Catholic League is going to be a war every night, so you have to be tested. I’m not worried about my record, because if we’re starting 9-0 and don’t get to the Palestra, then we’re not successful.”

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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