BENSALEM >> In the first round of the PIAA-6A state playoffs, Jalil Bethea and Josh Reed combined for 55 points of (12-3) Archbishop Wood’s 81 in a win over Methacton.
In the second round against (1-1) Lower Merion Wednesday night, the two first team All-Philadelphia Catholic League selections combined for 24 of Wood’s 66 points.
Six Vikings scored between eight and 15 points in a 66-64 win over the Aces at Bensalem High School.
Mike Green led the way with 15 points while Bethea added 13, Reed 11, Deuce Maxey 10, Tahir Howell nine and Milan Dean eight.
“That’s what we talked about,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “We’re not a one-man team or two-man team. They wanted to take Jalil out – boxed and one the whole game and then doubled him. I told him you’re going to have to have 10 assists, 12 assists and he had six. He could have had a few more, but he ended up with six assists. Mike Green stepped up and made some good plays, Deuce Maxey was really solid inbounding the ball against their pressure all game, and Tahir guarding – he was solid rebounding.”
“A lot of guys stepped up,” Green said. “Even if it wasn’t scoring. Tahir, Deuce scored and played great defense. We all won as a team. It was a great team win.”
“I feel like going into this game I already knew that it wasn’t going to be a scoring game,” Bethea said. “I feel like going into this game I just had to remind my teammates. Mike Green came up big today, scoring 15 points.”
It was Green and Bethea who did most of the heavy lifting in the fourth quarter, scoring nine and seven points, respectively, in the final frame. Bethea hit a three-pointer and threw down two dunks in the first 2:33 of the fourth during a 10-2 Wood run to extend a 43-41 lead to 53-43.
“(Bethea is) a lottery pick, maybe, a major Division I player, McDonald’s All American,” Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer said. “We were pressing a lot and he got loose a little bit. He got out in transition and probably had seven or eight points because of the pace and transition of it all.”
Green hit a three during that 10-2 run and two other triples in the fourth.
Green went back-and-forth hitting three-pointers with Lower Merion’s Owen McCabe, who hit threes on four consecutive possessions. He got the Aces within three, 58-55, with less than three minutes to play, but Green answered with a three of his own.
“I’m scoring and next thing I know they already made a three or a basket,” Green said. “I couldn’t even tell half the time who was scoring. It was so fast. That’s where we have to stay calm and not get too high or too low.”
Lower Merion got its deficit to three one more time, 64-61 with 13.3 second left, but they never had possession with a chance to tie.
McCabe hit five threes in the game and matched Jayden Robinson with a team-high 15 points. John Mobley added 14 and Carson Kasmer had 11.
The win sends Archbishop Wood to the state quarterfinals, where it will face (1-9) Spring-Ford Saturday.
Lower Merion’s season ends with a 28-2 record. It’s the fifth straight season the Aces lost in the state playoffs to a school from the Philadelphia Catholic League, losing to Roman Catholic three times and Wood twice.
“We’re not taking anything away from Wood, from Roman, from all these teams,” Downer said. “They’re doing what they’re supposed to do. They’re allowed to recruit and we’re not.
“There’s no disrespect to the Catholic schools. They’re friends of mine – Mosco, (Roman coach Chris) McNesby, (Archbishop Ryan coach Joe) Zeglinski, but the PIAA needs to change it. Letting these teams play in these tournaments, these non-boundary schools, it’s just not fair.”
Archbishop Wood 66, Lower Merion 64
Archbishop Wood 15 16 12 23 – 66
Lower Merion 18 14 9 23 – 64
Archbishop Wood: Deuce Maxey 2 2 0-0 10, Jalil Bethea 3 2 1-2 13, Mike Green 1 4 1-2 15, Milan Dean 2 0 4-4 8, Josh Reed 3 0 5-9 11, Ihsan Beyah 0 0 0-0 0, Tahir Howell 4 0 1-1 9, Brady MacAdams 0 0 0-0 0. Total 15 8 12-18 66.
Lower Merion: Owen McCabe 0 5 0-0 15, John Mobley 3 1 3-5 14, Adam Herrenkohl 1 0 5-6 7, Jayden Robinson 4 1 4-4 15, Justine Mebane 1 0 0-0 2, Carson Kasmer 1 3 0-0 11, Gus Wright 0 0 0-0 0, Tate Perkins 0 0 0-0 0. Total 11 10 12-15 64.
