SAINTS FALL SHORT
Berks Catholic cuts a 27-point deficit to six before losing 68-61 to Archbishop Carroll in a PIAA Class 4A first-round game
Berks Catholic coach Snip Esterly knew that Archbishop Carroll’s record and seeding were deceiving.
He knew the challenge that the Patriots posed to the Saints in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A boys basketball playoffs.
“They’re very good,” Esterly said. “I think they’re as good as Reading.”
That’s the ultimate compliment in Berks County, and Esterly might have been right.
Sophomore Moses Hipps scored 31 points as Archbishop Carroll held off a furious rally to beat Berks Catholic 68-61 Tuesday night at Wolf Gymnasium.
The Patriots (13-10), the No. 5 seed from District 12, advanced to a second-round game Friday against Mid Valley or Athens.
The Saints (23-5), the District 3 champions, saw their season end. They trailed 54-27 in the middle of the third quarter and then 58-34 near the end before staging a frenetic comeback.
They scored 19 consecutive points during one stretch and trimmed their deficit to six points twice in the fourth quarter.
“That says a lot about these kids,” Esterly said. “It says everything. These guys never quit. That’s why I like them so much. We made a run.
“We had a chance to cut it to three. Ryan (Koch) had an open 3, which he usually buries. It really would have gotten loud in here.”
Dean Coleman-Newsome had 12 points for the Patriots, who didn’t look like they had been idle for 20 days. They led 16-7 after one quarter and 37-18 at halftime behind some great outside shooting and defense with their size and length.
“We executed our plan,” Carroll coach Francis Bowe Jr. said. “We knew they could shoot the snot out of the ball. You saw that in the second half. We thought if we could put pressure on their point guard, Jay Jay (Jordan) — he’s a tremendous ballplayer —
we could get him tired by the third or fourth quarter.
“We just defended well. We made them uncomfortable.”
Jordan scored 21 points despite sitting several minutes in the first half with three fouls. Koch had 18 points and Aidan Sands, one of two Berks Catholic senior starters playing their final high school game, had 11.
“We just came out slow,” Sands said. “I came out slow. We had to get the nerves out and understand that this was our last chance. We fought as hard as we could.”
The 6-4 Hipps, who has already received offers from a couple Big 5 schools, was magnificent in the first three quarters.
He had 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Overall, he made 7-of13 shots from the field and 13-of16 free throws.
“You can’t leave anybody on that team (to help),” Esterly said. “They can all shoot. Hipps … oh my God. If you take one lapse, it’s up and good.”
Coleman-Newsome lowered his head and plowed his way to the basket to give Carroll a 56-32 lead with 1:20 left in the third. Little did anyone in the building expect they would be the Patriots’ last points until ColemanNewsome scored a layup with 2:55 to play.
Jordan and Koch each had eight points during the run, which Sands capped with a three-point play to make it 5851 with 3:07 to go.
Koch drilled a 3 to make it 6054 and then another to cut it to 67-61, but with 8.8 seconds left.
Berks Catholic made only 12-of-26 free throws, including 5-for-13 by Jordan.
“We didn’t hit our shots,” Esterly said. “You gotta make your foul shots to keep it close. If we would have made eight more with that run, it might have been a different story.”
Sands smiled afterwards, even though the Saints had a very difficult first-round draw.
“I realized it could be my last game ever,” he said. “I had to do whatever I could. I got excited and then more excited. We just fell short.”