Brown delivers a big night as La Salle tops Archbishop Carroll

RADNOR >> Sam Brown caught the basketball, isolated his man behind the 3-point line and waited for the lane to clear.

In the first two games of the Explorers’ season, the junior guard felt like he hadn’t been aggressive enough but he wasn’t going to let it become a three-game trend. Going right, he took his man off the bounce, got to the rim, drew contact and finished to start the second half Monday night.

Brown’s aggression led to a 28-point night and the Explorers were efficient on both ends as they picked up their first win of the season, topping host Archbishop Carroll 65-49.

“My athleticism helps me a lot and I think I’m good getting to the basket, but the first two games, I wasn’t being that aggressive,” Brown said. “My coaches told me from here on out to be more aggressive, so I wanted to start that tonight.”

It wasn’t quite the start La Salle (1-2 PCL) wanted for its first road game when sophomore Horace Simmons picked up two fouls in less than a minute, but Brown scored his team’s first five points to set the theme of the game. Carroll, paced by senior Anquan Hill, built a 13-12 lead after the first quarter and led 18-14 before Brown and La Salle got going.

A 7-0 run capped by Jackson Conroy’s corner 3-pointer gave La Salle a 21-18 lead with 5:55 left in the first half, an advantage the Explorers would carry the rest of the way. Brown had a take, then assisted a Nix Varano trey to kick off a 10-0 run that put La Salle ahead 32-22 late in the second quarter.

After dropping their season-opener against Neumann-Goretti at the buzzer, the Explorers couldn’t match Archbishop Wood’s pace in a loss last Thursday. Monday night, the visitors were much more focused on keeping things at their pace.

“They’re going to want us to play their game but if we can play our game, it’s tough to guard us,” La Salle senior guard Charles Ireland said. “If we’re up, they have to beat us. We don’t have to score; we can keep the ball with no shot clock and keep working through our offense.”

While La Salle’s offense had it going in the middle two quarters with the Explorers going 13-of-22 from the floor, the Patriots (1-3 PCL) could not get some needed shots to fall. Hill had 16 points, but all came in the first half and La Salle’s 2-3 zone did its job most of the night.

Carroll hit just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first three quarters and finished 6-of-26 behind the line for the game, but the hosts were able to create open looks. Cold shooting hurt the Patriots on Saturday against Devon Prep and they couldn’t ignite their offense on Monday.

“It’s out of character for us, but it’s really difficult to overcome it,” Patriots coach Francis Bowe said. “In the game of basketball, you have to make shots and take care of the ball. We made a couple runs, we had where we’re looking for the dagger to make them call a timeout and couldn’t knock it down.

“I can’t fault the effort from our kids.”

Brown, who is also a standout running back for La Salle’s football team, was extremely efficient on Monday, shooting 10-of-12 from the floor, 7-of-9 at the foul line and added five rebounds and a pair of assists. Part of his success was due to the Explorers’ spacing, with La Salle usually playing three or four shooters on the floor that gave Brown room to drive.

He scored 10 points in the second quarter and started the third with the driving and-one as part of a seven-point frame. While the junior has plenty of strength, he doesn’t just barrel into the lane and showed good body control to avoid picking up charges and finishing around defenders much like he hits the hole and goes with a football in his hands.

“It’s something I work on, I’ve been playing basketball since I was little, so I’m used to it,” Brown said. “It’s all the positioning of your body; it can throw off a bigger or taller defender.”

La Salle stretched its lead out to 53-34 with 6:44 left and were in no hurry to put any shots after that. The Patriots didn’t take that as an invitation to call it a night and were able to put together a 10-0 run that included a couple deep threes by freshman Moses Hipps and a steal turned layup by Tyler Seward that cut the lead to 53-44 with 3:48 left.

Hipp scored nine of his 15 points in the final quarter, but the Patriots couldn’t get closer than nine points before La Salle answered at the foul line. Carroll’s first classification game in the PCL is up on Friday, which is pivotal for the Patriots’ hopes of making the PIAA tournament.

“That’s our focus now, there’s still a chance to play in March,” Bowe said. “They’ve really embraced the younger guys and understand they’re going to make mistakes but also know they have skills we need on this team. I have seven seniors, not all of them play major minutes but they’re all bought into each other and foster that support.”

Outside of Brown, the Explorers got good balance. Varano scored 13, Ireland added eight while Simmons and Conroy each chipped in six. Three players had six rebounds, Brown and Varano both drew charges and the ball rarely stuck in one spot.

“We shared the ball well, trust our offense and let the offense get us our baskets,” Ireland said. “We can create so many opportunities and each guy knows when that opportunity comes, they can take it.”

Brown put an exclamation point on the win and his own standout performance in the final minute. After attacking a crowded lane all night, a long outlet pass found the junior all alone heading toward the rim, so Brown rewarded himself with a powerful dunk.

“I’ve been waiting to get one of those,” Brown said. “Honestly it felt good. It felt really good.”

LA SALLE 65, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 49
LA SALLE 12 20 17 16 – 65
ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 13 11 8 17 – 49
La Salle: Sam Brown 10 7-9 28, Jackson Conroy 2 0-1 6, Nix Varano 4 1-2 13, Charles Ireland 3 2-2 8, Horace Simmons 1 4-4 6, Connor Donahue 2 0-0 4. Totals: 22 15-18 65.
Archbishop Carroll: Moses Hipps 5 0-0 15, Chase Coleman 3 0-0 7, Tyler Seward 3 3-3 9, Caleb Carter 1 0-0 2, Anquan Hill 7 2-4 16. Totals: 19 5-7 49.
3-pointers: L – Varano 3, Conroy 2, Brown; AC – Hipps 5, Coleman.