Archbishop Ryan finds enough to edge Archbishop Wood in PCL quarterfinal classic

WARMINSTER >> In the beast that is the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs, every little thing matters.

The league’s quarterfinal round has some of the highest stakes of any postseason event anywhere in the state, with the winners granted the opportunity to play on the hallowed hardwood of the Palestra and the losers left to lament what and where that chance slipped away. Games in the PCL playoffs are usually won in the margins and after Friday night, Archbishop Wood’s margins will have a lot of red ink denoting errors the Vikings will have to look back on.

No. 6 Archbishop Ryan compiled more of the little things that can turn a PCL game, using them to get by the No. 3 Vikings 74-73 in an instant classic in the 2021-22 PCL quarterfinals.

“The whole game, it was like up six, down six, up six and both ways,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “We just lost control there at the end, missed a few layups, missed a foul shot. They made the little things, made all the right plays. Joey (Zeglinksi) is a great coach with a great program, it was a Catholic League war.”

A few weeks prior, it was the Raiders who had to find the gaps in the margins after blowing a late lead and losing to Wood 59-52 in the regular season. Every PCL playoff game is a rematch due to the league’s regular season slate but Ryan coach Joe Zeglinski felt the chance to match up with Wood again was one his team was especially game for.

Zeglinski, who celebrated his birthday with the win and the gift of getting to coach his next game in Penn’s fabled arena, could point to a handful of things in all but one of his team’s league losses as where the game got away. To correct the issue, his team and specifically its promising young core, would have to win in the margins on Friday.

“That was the best game I think I’ve been a part of,” Zeglinski said. “These kids, blow for blow, they just countered each other and answered the bell. The last shot, it looked good, man. Credit to Wood’s kids, they have a great team and it was a battle every possession. I’m so proud of our kids, they just stuck with it.”

Friday was a game with enough twists, turns, ebbs and flows for about three games but it was just standard fare in the PCL’s playoff gauntlet. From Wood’s electric 8-0 start spurred by senior Tyson Allen, who was tremendous with 20 points, 12 rebounds and about three players worth of energy on both ends of the floor, to Ryan’s 23-point second quarter capped with Darren Williams’ driving layup to tie it 37-37 at the horn, the first half was merely an appetizer.

Williams, a sophomore, is part of that promising young core and would play an important role in the final frame. In the third, it was his classmate Thomas Sorber — the 6-foot-9 powerhouse center — that dominated early in a 14-7 run that ended with Ryan in front 51-44. Sorber collected 21 points and 13 rebounds, his second double-double against Wood this season.

It wasn’t his scoring, but his passing, that would impact the game in the fourth quarter.

Before that happened, the Vikings got hot again. Moore, who led all scorers with 26 points, found Allen for a bucket then buried a three-ball to start an 11-2 Wood run to end the third quarter with senior Mike Knouse canning a trey with 24 seconds left in the frame for a 55-53 lead. Knouse opened the fourth with another trey and Moore converted three the hard way on the and-one that gave the Vikings a 61-54 advantage with 6:29 left.

“The seniors played great,” Mosco said. “The sophomores think they have another game and the seniors know it could be their last game. We could sit here and go over every ticky-tack foul or whatever but we didn’t do a lot of little things and (Ryan) did a few more of them to win the game.”

A three by Luke Boyd cut Wood’s lead to one then on the next possession, Williams intercepted a kick-out pass from Wood and found Boyd flying down the court for a go-ahead dunk. It was the first of three straight breakaway scores for the Raiders, the other two coming on a dunk and a Euro-step layup by Williams both off long outlet passes by Sorber off Wood misses.

Zeglinksi noted his team was looking for any advantage it could get and knowing Sorber’s post presence and skill rebounding would occupy a lot of attention, told his guys to look for a leak-out. Again, a couple plays in the margins ended up turning into a tide-turning 12-1 run.

“We got caught ball watching and not watching the guys break, which is what hurt us,” Mosco said.

Williams, who scored 10 of his 20 in the fourth quarter, came up clutch when he nailed a wide-open three off a pass from Jalen Snead with 2:13 left for a 72-66 lead.

“It was one of those moments where we could make the better play, but only if you have confidence to make the shot and I had confidence,” Williams said. “No hesitation at all, like I said, confidence and you can’t second-guess what you do best.”

Wood fought back one more time, with Jalil Bethea hitting a clutch three then a Vikings steal leading to Moore scoring the tying bucket. But Snead returned the favor with the go-ahead score on a drive and when Moore got fouled attacking the rim with 4.1 left, the guard left the first short at the line.

Yet, he still ended up with the ball in his hands off a Ryan miss and even managed a good look for a three as time expired but it wasn’t meant to be for Wood, a trip to the Palestra left in the margins of another PCL classic.

“The difference, in the fourth quarter today, we talked about it all week, we had to finish,” Williams said. “We had to stay together, we had to keep doing what was working all game and just come out and finish the game.”

Wood will regroup for a District 12 seeding game before taking on the PIAA 6A tournament, where the Vikings finished as runner-up last year.

Archbishop Ryan 74, Archbishop Wood 73
Archbishop Ryan 14 23 16 21 — 74
Archbishop Wood 18 19 18 18 — 73
Archbishop Ryan: Darren Williams 8 1-2 20, David Wise 0 0-2 0, Luke Boyd 4 1-2 12, Jalen Snead 1 0-1 4, Thomas Sorber 9 3-3 21, Michael Paris 4 0-0 8, Jaden Murray 3 3-7 9. Totals: 30 8-17 74.
Archbishop Wood: Justin Moore 9 4-6 26, Bahsil Laster 1 1-3 3, Tyson Allen 6 8-8 20, Mike Knouse 4 1-2 12, Carson Howard 0 4-6 4, Jalil Bethea 2 2-2 8, Josh Reed 0 0-2 0. Totals: 26 20-29 73.
3-pointers: AR – Williams 3, Boyd 3; AW – Moore 4, Knouse 3, Bethea 2.