Girls’ senior night left a valuable impression on Davis, Carroll boys
BETHLEHEM » The realization set in for Archbishop Carroll guard Darrell Davis once the families lined up and the carnations came out.
It was Senior Night at Archbishop Carroll last month for the Patriots’ 2023 state champion girls team. Davis, the freshman point guard on the boys team, got a glimpse of the time difference between Carroll’s girls and his team.
“When our girls had a senior night, we looked like, man, we’re not going to have a senior night for two more years,” Davis said. “Us having sophomores as our leaders, that’s pretty big for them. It’s something big on their shoulders that they’re got to carry.”
Carroll’s roster may look very different, but it has achieved what the girls team did a year ago: A trip to Hershey for a state final.
Carroll’s young roster is looking to complete an unlikely state title run Thursday night, taking on District 7’s Lincoln Park in the Class 4A final at the Giant Center. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
The Patriots’ roster is composed of six sophomores and three freshmen. The latter group includes Davis, who led the way with 18 points in the quarterfinal win over Carver Engineering and Sciences, and Munir Greig, whose 20 points paced the semifinal victory over Scranton Prep.
All season, it’s been a case of talent over experience. Now that they’ve gained toughness from a season of Catholic League basketball, Carroll has been hardened for the postseason tests.
Monday’s 66-56 decision over Scranton Prep was a perfect example. Carroll made the adjustments in a game that was tied at halftime to beat an objectively less talented but stronger and wiser team. They coped better with Scranton Prep’s ball movement, defended the 3-point line (the Cavaliers were 5-for-9 from deep in the first half and 2-for-14 in the second) and hung on late at the line. Most importantly, they showed poise when things got ragged in the fourth, like a stretch of three turnovers and two missed free throws, that they didn’t let drag them down.
“Just taking it all the way back to the beginning of the year, if we were in the fourth quarter and we had a couple of turnovers, we would probably get down on each other or get to arguing,” wily sophomore guard Ian Williams said. “In the fourth quarter (Monday), we didn’t do that. We stuck together and played together to get to Hershey. It was all one goal.”
Carroll is in the state final for the fourth time since the Catholic League joined the PIAA for the 2008-09 season. It beat Greensburg Salem for the AAA title in 2009 and lost the 2013 final to Imhotep Charter and the 2015 crown to NeumannGoretti. It’s the first Delaware County boys team to make it to Hershey since Bonner & Prendergast in 2019.
Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School is in its seventh state final, having won the Class 4A title last year over NeumannGoretti. The Leopards (263) have three PIAA crowns, the first in 2014 in Class A. The school is the spiritual heir to five-time state champion Midland.
Its roster is packed with talent, including arguably the best backcourt in the state. Senior Brandin Cummings is bound for Pitt. Junior Meleek Thomas is a five-star recruit with his pick of top programs. The Leopards haven’t lost since a Jan. 6 setback to Neumann-Goretti. That’s Lincoln Park’s only loss to a Pennsylvania team this year. They’ve won 18 straight games since.
There was never any denying Carroll’s talent, and coach Francis Bowe has had little choice but to let it grow. Williams and fellow sophomore Nasir Rawls started from Day 1 as freshmen last year. Luca Foster played a significant role before a massive summer led to Division I offers.
Carroll lost two key senior contributors in Dean Coleman-Newsome and Blake Deegan last year. Both were part of Carroll’s run to the state semifinal in 2022, losing to Quaker Valley. But the transfer of Jake West to Penn Charter and Su’Meer Alleyne to Friends Central (where he reclassified to the class of 2025) meant the freshmen had to contribute.
Carroll started 7-0 before five straight losses, including
three to start the Catholic League, opening with the gauntlet of NeumannGoretti, at Archbishop Ryan and at St. Joseph’s Prep. After losing to NeumannGoretti by 27 in early January, Carroll improved to
stick within six points of the Saints six weeks later in the Catholic League playoffs. Carroll went 8-5 in the Catholic League to finish seventh.
They’ve lived all season by the notion that if you’re
good enough, you’re old enough. It’s gotten them this far.
“All you’ve got to do is put the work in every day, feel good, (have) confidence in yourself and go in the gym and work,” Greig said.