SPRINGFIELD >> Jalil Bethea sat on the floor, looked at his right hand and counted – one, two, three, four. The Archbishop Wood senior was just fouled while hitting a go-ahead three-pointer and, combined with the ensuing free throw, turned a two-point deficit into a two-point lead with 4:20 remaining in a PIAA-6A first-round state playoff game against Methacton Saurday evening.
It was the first of three and-one baskets by the University of Miami commit. The second and third scores through contact extended one-point Wood leads to four, the final one coming with less than 50 seconds on the clock.
Bethea added two assists during the game-deciding stretch before capping the game with a steal and breakaway dunk. He finished with 31 points in (12-3) Archbishop Wood’s 81-73 win over (1-5) Methacton at Cardinal O’Hara High School.
“Take over the game,” Bethea said of his fourth-quarter mindset. “I feel like we were down, we were losing to a team that we weren’t supposed to be losing to. I felt like I had to take over the game. I feel like the whole game I had to let the game come to me. For the fourth quarter, that’s what I did.”
Bethea, The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media 2022-2023 Boys Basketball Player of the Year, isn’t lucky to see those shots go through the hoop while he’s getting hit. During his pregame routine, he practices shooting while a coach bumps him and moves him off his spot.
“I’ve been doing (that pregame routine) since last year,” Bethea said, “because since I’m the guy on the team, everybody is going to play me in a physical way, so I just have to learn how to score and do other stuff when people are being physical with me.”
His four-point basket took the Vikings (17-8) from down 66-64 to up 68-66 and it started a 10-2 run that took 1:21 and gave Wood a 74-68 lead with 2:59 to play.
After three scoreless possessions, Methacton’s Christian Matos buried a three-pointer. Sal Iemmello grabbed a steal on Wood’s ensuing possession and turned it into a layup, getting the Warriors (19-9) within one, 74-73, with 1:21 to go.
Bethea grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and was fouled on the putback. The three-point play made it a four-point game. After a Methacton miss, Bethea found Josh Reed for a layup and 79-73 advantage. Bethea put the exclamation point on the win with a steal and slam dunk for the game’s final two points.
Methacton gave Archbishop Wood everything it could handle. The Warriors led by two points, 21-19, after the first quarter before falling behind by six, 41-35, at the half. They battled back to within one, 60-59, at the end of the third quarter before taking three leads in the fourth – 61-60, 63-62 and 66-64.
“I told the guys in the locker room,” Methacton coach Pat Lockard said, “the pride that I have when I look at them wearing that Methacton jersey. In the moment it’s really tough for them to do that, but they should hold their heads high. I think everybody who came through the program – there were a lot of alumni in the building today – I think are really proud to say they went to Methacton. The effort our guys put in – there was no give up. No matter how big a lead they got – I know it didn’t get too big – but to have a lead in the fourth quarter against a team like that, man, that’s great, great effort and a hell of a game from everybody out there.”
Matos was a big reason why the Warriors were in position to pull of an upset. He finished with 28 points, including two go-ahead baskets early in the fourth quarter.
“He’s been our leading scorer all season for a reason,” Lockard said. “The guys have a lot of faith in him to be able to pull up when he needs to. He’s always dangerous with the basketball in his hands. For him to be able to step up and really help us compete in this game today, that was a heck of an effort from a sophomore.”
With a 66-64 lead, which Matos gave Methacton converting a three-point play, the sophomore wing picked up his fourth foul and sat with 5:42 to play. The Warriors turned the ball over, had a shot blocked and lost senior Manny Rogriguez, who scored eight points and played strong defense against Bethea, to a lower body injury while Matos was on the bench. Matos returned just over a minute later with the score still 66-64, but 14 seconds later Bethea put Wood ahead for good with his four-point play.
“I thought Manny’s defense on Jalil was as good as you can ask against a guy who is an NBA prospect, future Division I talent,” Lockard said. “I thought Manny gave a great effort with his intensity and length there. Obviously Christian’s scoring ability is a big part of our offense there. We had (Alex Hermann) and Sal (Iemmello) step up and make some plays for us, but not having on the floor guys who you can count on to make big shots, yeah that’s definitely going to affect the offense down there.”
Reed joined Bethea in double figures with 24 points and added 11 rebounds, five on the offensive end, and Deuce Maxey added 10 points.
Iemmello scored 13 points for Methacton while Hermann added 10 and Anthony Daddazio and Wes Robinson each had seven.
Wood advances to the second round of states and will face (1-1) Lower Merion Wednesday.
Archbishop Wood 81, Methacton 73
Methacton 21 14 24 14 – 73
Archbishop Wood 19 22 19 21 – 81
M: Anthony Daddazio 2 0 3-4 7, Mason Conrad 0 0 0-0 0, Sal Iemmello 4 1 2-8 13, Christian Matos 7 4 2-3 28, Alex Hermann 4 0 2-5 10, Manny Rodriguez 1 1 3-4 8, Wes Robinson 3 0 1-1 7, Lucas Leckerman 0 0 0-0 0. Total 21 6 13-25 73.
AW: Jalil Bethea 8 2 9-9 31, Mike Green 0 1 0-0 3, Milan Dean 0 0 7-8 7, Josh Reed 11 0 2-3 24, Deuce Maxey 3 1 1-2 10, Brady MacAdams 0 0 0-0 0, Tahir Howell 3 0 0-0 6, Ihsan Beyah 0 0 0-0 0. Total 25 4 19-22 81.
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