Roman Catholic’s length wears down Archbishop Wood

WARMINSTER >> Every time Archbishop Wood point guard Tom Funk tried to get into the lane against Roman Catholic on Friday, it was like traversing a forest.

Roman’s half-court defense is as imposing as some team’s full-court pressure and the Cahillites used it to full effect as they stepped into Wood’s gym on Senior Night and left with a 52-37 win. With players ranging between 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-8, Roman creates a wall of arms and bodies for any potential driver.

Fighting length like that, coupled with the Cahillites’ strength, just wears teams out.

“They’re like playing a college team they’re so big and long and physical,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “It’s tough to get into gaps or even find gaps. I thought we had some shots, we didn’t capitalize and it’s a long game, with our guards being so young and small guarding their guys, it wears on you.”

Roman’s Penn State-bound triumvirate of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Nazeer Bostick did a lot of the damage, combining for 38 points and 28 rebounds. Bostick, a grinder, was like a chisel chipping away at the Vikings all night with eight points and 12 boards, seven of them offensive.

Yet, Wood was right in the game through 16 minutes, trailing just 24-18 at the break. Roman typically draws a crowd wherever it goes, and Wood was no exception. The gym was packed nearly to the rafters, with a huge Wood student section that kept the walls rattling until the end.

The problem for Wood in the first half was finishing. The Vikings shot just 8-of-27 from the floor, shooting just 1-of-9 from 3-point range.

“They don’t need to play full-court defense to pressure you like that,” Funk said. “Across the board, they’re 6-foot-3, 6-foot-6, 6-foot-8, so just them sitting in the lane with their arms out is enough to pressure you and make it hard to get in the lane and get shots.”

Funk, the West Point-bound point guard, felt his team defended and competed well on the boards, but it was a battle of attrition against the relentless Cahillites.

“We just needed to stick to shooters and not help so much,” Carr said. “We knew we were bigger than them, so we wanted to hold them to just one shot and that was the game.”

The Vikings felt confident at the break. Carr said Roman didn’t feel like it had gotten away with a lead and added that as long as his team defends, it will be in any game. Coming out for the second half, the game changed in the first few possessions.

Roman got buckets from Bostick on its first two possessions while the Vikings turned the ball over on its first four possessions. Funk said the floor was a bit slippery on Wood’s offensive end of the floor, but also said it wasn’t an excuse. What proved more troublesome was trying to find shots against Roman’s halfcourt defending.

“It takes a lot out of you to move them and get by them,” Funk said. “Once you get by them, there’s another kid waiting for you. It’s tough but it’s something we have to work on, moving the ball, making an extra pass and moving without the ball to get in the lane against a bigger team.”

Stevens took over in the third, scoring eight of his game-high 16 in the frame. Dakquan Davis, who hit a trio of 3-pointers for Roman, found Stevens for an alley-oop with 4:42 left, putting the Cahillites up 30-20 and striking a blow to Wood’s morale. The big wing followed that up with a pair of three-point plays, each answering a Wood bucket.

The Vikings did get a strong showing from sophomore post Seth Pinkney, who posted eight points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. As the sole big man in Wood’s rotation, the still-thin forward was able to disrupt Roman, but also fell victim to the repeated pounding by the Cahillites.

“We kept them down to 52 points, we just didn’t score enough,” Mosco said. “It was a big juncture, they came out a lot more focused than we did in the second half to start. They were defending the perimeter really well.”

Davis hit a 3 with 1:06 left in the third and again with 6:13 to go in the fourth, both assisted by Carr, to push the lead to 44-31. Tyree Pickron answered the second with a trey of his own, but Roman scored the next four and six of eight overall to put the game away.

Wood is back in action quickly, facing another PCL buzzsaw in Archbishop Carroll on Sunday. The Vikings are in the PCL playoffs, which begin next week, but would love a big win over a state title contender to head into the postseason.

“We’ll be back at it (Saturday) for practice and we’ll go over what we have to do for Carroll,” Funk said. “We’re used to this The Catholic League is a grind, we’ve been through it all season. Every team, you can’t take a night off. It’s nothing we’re not used to.”