Archbishop Wood 2019 PIAA 5A State Championship Game (photo by Kathy Leister)
HERSHEY, PA- “He trusted me four years ago and he left here with a Catholic League championship, a state championship, and a runner-up as a state champion. Archbishop Wood, the (rest of the) boys' program has never been here. In his four years, he’s been here twice,” said Wood head coach John Mosco.
“He” is referring to the lone senior of Archbishop Wood’s state runner-up boys’ basketball team. Julius Phillips played his last basketball game for Archbishop Wood Friday night during the PIAA 5A state championship game against Moon at the Giant Center, ending a career that saw the dawn of Wood being a yearly contender for the state crown.
Phillips remained the loan champion from the 2017 squad that helped his team win the Philadelphia Catholic League title and the PIAA 5A state title, both a first for the program. Phillips once again led a talented group of sophomores and juniors to the biggest stage in high school basketball. He has been the cornerstone of this team and has meant a lot to both coach Mosco and his teammates.
“He’s meant the world to me. It’s tough for a senior when you have underclassmen that are good and underclassmen are playing and you have no one else to lean on from your class,” said coach Mosco. “But he took all of them in like little brothers and he showed them the way everyday at practice, before practice, after practice. He means the world to me I love him.”
One of those talented underclassman mentored by Phillips was sophomore, Daeshon Shepherd, whose first thought was on Phillips and the last basketball game of his high school career.
“It’s kind of hard for Julius because we tried to get this game for him since it was his last year,” said Shepherd.
2019 PIAA 5A Wood Championship Highlights by Alec Kostival & Kathy Leister:
PIAA 5A Runner-Up Medal Presentation - video by Alec Kostival:
Though the end result was a 74-64 loss to Moon, Archbishop Wood put up a tough challenge against a team that had only lost twice the entire season.
The first quarter was a slow start for the Vikings. Moon led by as much as seven points and did not let go of the lead, maintaining a five-point spread heading to the second (16-11). With three minutes to go in the second quarter, Moon again pushed their lead to seven. It wouldn’t last for long, as Wood scored five unanswered points to close out the half with a score of 25-23, Moon up by two.
The third quarter was the Vikings' time to shine. With a monstrous alley-oop from Rahsool Diggins to Shepherd, Wood had their first tie of the contest. The Vikings would tie it up again and with 1:42 to go, finding their first lead of the evening, 43-42. Wood went into the fourth quarter with a 51-44 lead coming off a 12-2 run. Shepherd scored 12 points in the third quarter alone.
Then Moon had one of the most complete quarters one would ever see. They scored 30 points in the eight-minute quarter. Senior Connor Ryan scored 17 of his 28 total points. Moon did not miss a single shot outside of free-throws where they still shot 83.3 percent (15-18).
PIAA 5A STATE 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP (photos by Kathy Leister)
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PIAA 5 A State Championship Wood vs. Moon
“I’m at a loss for words. I’m happy of our effort. They didn’t quit. They just kept fighting through everything and kept playing,” said Mosco. “We got to use this as a learning experience. That’s what I told them. It hurts, but life hurts. You just got to fight through it and make us a better team.”
“They’re a senior team (Moon). All their seniors stepped up," said Mosco.
Shepherd led Wood with 22 points and Diggins also cracked the 20-point mark. Phillips led the team in rebounds with nine and added seven points of his own.
In his last game, Phillips’ last comment stressed the character of his Viking team.
“These guys are really good. They work hard. They’re very respectful. They’re just hard workers.”