Transition, defensive effort send Archbishop Wood past La Salle

SPRINGFIELD >> Jaylen Stinson’s first move after securing a rebound was to look up and fire a pass about 70 feet to Marcus Randolph in stride, who then took one dribble and drilled a 3-pointer.

The whole sequence took about two seconds and netted Archbishop Wood three points, a common pattern for the Vikings on Thursday as the mixed quick hands on defense with a potent transition game on offense. It wasn’t the pace La Salle wanted to play at, but Wood has a way of making teams play its style.

An important early PCL clash went to Archbishop Wood as the Vikings ran out to a 78-50 win over the host Explorers.

“One of our main goals was to push the ball and keep our tempo because we feel as though nobody can run with us in the league,” Randolph, who scored a game-best 22 points, said. “If we keep running our tempo, then nobody should be able to stop us.”

La Salle was coming off a strong showing its first game, a 67-65 loss to defending Catholic League champion Neumann-Goretti at the buzzer last Friday, a result that definitely caught the Vikings’ attention. With their own game against the Saints postponed from Monday to Saturday due to this week’s snow, the Vikings weren’t overlooking the Explorers.

“It made us feel like this was a statement game because they went down to the wire with (Neumann-Goretti),” Randolph said. “We had to come out and make a statement and not look past them.”

The storm’s impact showed in the first quarter when both teams slogged out of the gate, each turning the ball over five times and missing a fair amount of shots. Wood used an 8-0 run during the heart of the frame to take a lead, but La Salle trailed just 11-7 after eight minutes.

Wood’s objective defensively was to make the Explorers uncomfortable when they caught the ball, but La Salle showed what it could when it ran a set, getting a Horace Simmons three to pull within 11-10 to start the second quarter.

“When they’re set and running their offense, they get comfortable and can really score,” Wood coach John Mosco said. “We tried to pressure the ball, be in the passing lanes and challenge every shot. We’re also playing a lot faster, so we’re always looking to push the ball, I have all these seniors, so I’m lucky.”

From there, the Vikings got out and started running. Randolph found Mike Knouse for a 3-pointer to ignite a 17-0 run that saw the Richmond recruit score eight of those points, including the three in transition off Stinson’s rebound and outlet pass as Wood jumped to a 28-10 advantage.

A 0-of-5 cold spell by La Salle coupled with a few turnovers allowed Wood to keep feeding and Stinson turned a steal into a layup to finish the big run. The senior guard, a James Madison recruit, gave the Vikings a 32-15 lead at the half when he and Randolph switched roles to turn another long outlet pass off a miss into a hoop.

“We felt like we could have won PCLs last year, but we defend well enough so it’s coming full circle to where we want to defend as well as we can play offensively,” Wood point guard Rahsool Diggins said. “We’ve been playing together since before high school, we all like to run and get out in transition, so that makes things easy for everybody.”

La Salle, fueled by Charles Ireland, opened the third on a 7-3 run but their momentum was short-lived as Diggins took over the quarter. The UConn-bound senior recorded two assists, four steals and 10 points in the quarter, including an emphatic dunk off a swipe that gave the Vikings a 57-32 edge going to the final period.

Diggins pointed to communication as a big factor in his team’s defensive play on Thursday. The senior noted La Salle has some quality shooters and Wood caught a couple breaks when they missed open shots, something the Vikings wanted to capitalize on.

“We’re treating everybody as a contender,” Diggins said. “Even if they finished at the bottom of the league, we’re playing like we’re all playing for a spot on the roster. That means playing hard the whole 32 minutes and not taking any plays off.”

Stinson had solid two-way game with 10 points and four steals, Diggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals while Daeshon Shepherd scored 15 points on just nine shots. Mosco pointed to the way his players have shared the ball as a standout positive through their first two outings.

Randolph also earned a nod from his coach for his aggressive play to start the season. The 6-foot-5 senior shot 8-of-10, including a 5-of-6 effort from behind the 3-point line and chipped in five rebounds, four assists and a block.

“Our guards controlled the game,” Randolph said. “We know where each other is going to be at, but we also stay on top of each other not to take plays off. I think we’re going to come out focused each and every game, just because of how we went out last year. We’re hungry.”

The Explorers will try to pick up their first win on Monday when they visit Archbishop Carroll. La Salle starts just one senior but has a good amount of talented young players that are looking to build off each game.

Nix Varano led the hosts with 11 points on Thursday with four steals, while Sam Brown battled his way to eight points and five assists. Ireland and Simmons each scored seven and combined for 11 rebounds for La Salle, which was hurt by 18 team turnovers.

With the delayed start to the season, the PCL is only sending the top two finishers in the league to the title game, so each date on the schedule has extra importance. On top of that, Wood has moved up to Class 6A this year, so Thursday was an important contest for state playoff purposes with only team from each district advancing to the PIAA tournament.

“I think we can still defend better,” Diggins said. “Everybody is happy for each other, we’re not just excited for dunks, it’s layups, shots, great defensive stops. Even if there’s a turnover, we’re not getting down on each other, it’s just on to the next play.”

ARCHBISHOP WOOD 78, LA SALLE 50
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 11 21 25 21 – 78
LA SALLE 7 8 17 18 – 50
Archbishop Wood: Marcus Randolph 8 1-3 22, Rahsool Diggins 5 1-2 12, Jaylen Stinson 5 0-0 10, Muneer Newton 4 0-0 8, Daeshon Shepherd 5 3-4 15, Mike Knouse 2 0-0 6, Robert Jackson 1 0-0 2, Tyson Allen 0 1-2 1, John Donohue 0 2-2 2, Markus Dixon 0 1-2 1. Totals: 30 9-14 78
La Sale: Sam Brown 4 0-2 8, Nix Varano 4 0-0 11, Charles Ireland 3 0-0 7, Horace Simmons 3 0-2 7, Caleb Bryant 1 1-6 3, Jackson Conroy 1 0-0 3, Connor Donohue 1 0-0 3, Chris Williams 2 2-2 6, James Bartchak 0 2-2 2. Totals: 15 5-14 50.
3-pointers: AW – Randolph 5, Shepherd 2, Knouse 2, Diggins; L – Varano 3, Ireland, Simmons, Conroy, Donohue.