Archbishop Wood throws down a win in home opener
WARMINSTER >> Julius Phillips started Archbishop Wood’s scoring with an emphatic put-back dunk.
The act of rising up and slamming a basketball through the rim would become a recurring theme on the night for Phillips and teammate Daeshon Shepherd. They had to wait around a little longer than expected, but the Vikings gave the fans who stuck around plenty to cheer about Saturday night.
Led by dunk-filled performances from Phillips and Shepherd, Wood topped Bethlehem Catholic 81-73 in the finale of the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout.
“We just played really hard,” Phillips said. “It was our first home game, we wanted to win it and give it everything we’ve got.”
Phillips is finally the elder statesman for Wood (3-0), the only senior in the Vikings’ starting five. Surrounded by sophomores, the forward is regardless enjoying the wealth of athleticism surrounding him in the starting lineup and coming off the bench.
While Phillips, who posted a career-high 23 points, provided the first exclamation point and the last with a thunderous fourth-quarter jam, Shepherd provided just as many highlights as he put up a career night with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
“I felt like we did well offensively and defensively,” Shepherd, who came off the bench last season, said. “We cut to the basket, went up strong and hard.”
Shepherd isn’t the most talkative person, even with his coaches, but his playing style is very loud and attention-drawing. Becahi, a very solid team out of District 11, just had no answer for his athletic ability.
Not only did the sophomore put up numbers, he did it on 12-of-16 shooting and provided some very critical baskets late, none more attention grabbing than the and-1, two-handed monster of a dunk he threw down over Becahi big man Kyle Young off an inbounds play.
“We never gave up and just kept playing,” Shepherd said. “I feel like having the athletes we do will be a strength.”
“Nobody on our team is a true big guy,” Phillips added. “Nobody’s really taller than 6-(foot)-5, so we have to use our athleticism.”
The Hawks wouldn’t go away, even after Wood built a 12-point lead after three quarters. Becahi, behind blistering fourth quarter shooting from Ryan Santana, chipped the lead down to six, five and later four points only to see Wood come back with a response each time.
For such an inexperience group, it was the perfect test early in the season. Outside of Phillips, Shepherd and sophomore point guard Rahsool Diggins, who started last year, the Vikings don’t have a lot of varsity minutes to their credit.
“Tonight tells me a lot about them,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “We have good guards and good wings. They were focused and communicating, they’re growing up in front of my eyes. Like four years ago with those guys, it’s happening again.”
Mosco said he’s enjoying this season so far because he’s been spending a lot of time teaching and working with his young, but very talented, group of players. A similar process of growing and learning paid off in a state title for the group led by now-Villanova point guard Collin Gillespie, who stopped by to check in on the Vikings after he got back from playing at Kansas earlier in the day.
Diggins had a solid game himself, scoring 13 points with five assists and hit a couple of shots late in quarters that ended things on good notes for Wood. Phillips added nine rebounds and Robert Jackson pulled down seven boards while matching muscle with Young inside.
“It’s exciting teaching again, teaching new things and having guys who hadn’t seen or been through it for four years,” Mosco said. “A lot of it’s new, but it’s fun. They follow us and they play hard.”
Phillips and Shepherd both acknowledged having the number of dunks they did on Saturday, which numbered in double-digits, fired them up to get back on defense.
How these young Vikings fare in Catholic League play is still an unknown, but they certainly have the pieces to play with anybody else on the long gauntlet that is PCL play. Wood will be tested early, as they start PCL play on the road Tuesday at Bishop McDevitt and have games with Cardinal O’Hara and Lansdale Catholic before Christmas arrives.
“Our league is going to throw things upside down and that’s what I talked to them about,” Mosco said. “You don’t want to look ahead, we have to forget about this after tonight and be right back at it in practice.”
Saturday marked the second annual Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout, named after coach Mosco’s late wife Diane, who passed in September 2017 following a battle with cancer. The event, like last year, was a hit with six straight games featuring quality competition and most games coming down to the final few minutes.
Mosco, who was in and out of the gym all day making sure things were running smoothly, presented the first six scholarships to female students from Wood and Saint Hubert, his wife’s alma mater, prior to the Vikings’ game with Becahi.
“We’ve gotten so much support from the Wood community,” Mosco said. “All of our parents come out and help with something during the day. A lot of teams want to play in it.”
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 21 18 25 17 – 81
BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 20 11 21 21 – 73
AW: Julius Phillips 9 2-3 23, Rahsool Diggins 4 4-4 13, Jaylen Stinson 2 4-4 8, Daeshon Shepherd 12 4-6 28, Robert Jackson 1 0-2 4, Dominick Borzacchiello 2 0-0 4, Muneer Newton 1 0-2 2, Brennan Kersey 0 1-2 1. Totals: 31 15-23 81.
BC: R Santana 5 3-3 16, B Santana 2 0-0 4, Thomas 4 1-1 9, Justin Paz 8 6-9 25, Kyle Young 5 4-6 14, Caden Giordano 1 0-0 3, TJ Edwards 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 14-19 73.
3-pointers: AW – Phillips 3, Diggins; BC – Paz 3, R Santana 3, Giordano.
