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BOYS BASKETBALL: Two Philadelphia Catholic League Teams Make Triumphant Return to State Semifinals

By Rich Flanagan - Photos: Kathy Leister & Mike Nance, 03/21/21, 1:00PM EDT

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Archbishop Ryan and Archbishop Wood one step closer to state title

By: Rich Flanagan

Photos: Mike Nance & Kathy Leister

PHILADELPHIA – Prior to its Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 6A Tournament quarterfinal matchup against William Allen on Saturday, it had already been an eventful week for Archbishop Wood.

The Vikings downed Roman Catholic on Monday night in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game at Cardinal O’Hara behind 21 points from James Madison commit Jaylen Stinson and 18 from Richmond commit Marcus Randolph. UConn commit Rahsool Diggins set a league title game record with 12 assists to give Archbishop Wood its second-ever Philadelphia Catholic League crown, four years after its first. Two days later, they claimed the PIAA District 12 6A title with a victory over Abraham Lincoln at La Salle College High School. Muneer Newton led the way with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Randolph chipped in 23 points and 10 rebounds.

For head coach John Mosco, a week of accomplishments helped prepare his group to restart themselves for the next part of the season: the state tournament.

“For everyone throughout the state, it’s been a long year,” Mosco said. “You have to stay mentally tough because you don’t know if you or your opponent is going to get shut down. Marcus brings that vocal toughness and provides the tunnel vision on the task at-hand. Jaylen leads by example as well as Rahsool.”

Having to travel on the road without one of its key starters, the Vikings received contributions from its D-I commits as well as a few role players in downing the Canaries, 70-56 to advance to the PIAA semifinals for the third time in five years. Archbishop Wood (18-0) was without La Salle commit Daeshon Shepherd, who did not travel with the team due to COVID-19 contact tracing. He sat the entire second half against Lincoln and his status for the semifinals, a matchup with Lower Merion on Tuesday, is unknown to this point.

Randolph was spectacular once again with a team-high 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, while Stinson hit three three-pointers on his way to 16 points. The biggest lift, in the absence of Shepherd, came from Newton and 6-foot-4 junior guard Mike Knouse. Newton, who scored 10 points, has been terrific as the fifth starter and Knouse, the team’s sixth man, has begun to showcase his ability dating back to the Philadelphia Catholic League title game.


Wood junior Mike Knouse was a key contributor in Wood's quarterfinal victory vs. William Allen - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister

He hit a big trey late in that game along with a few key rebounds then played much of the second half against the Railsplitters in the district title. He poured in a season-high 10 points, including a three-pointer in the final quarter, on Saturday and has earned the trust of his teammates.

Mosco sees that his confidence is building and the rest of the starters are confident he will continue to perform at a high level.

“He’s been our sixth man all year,” Mosco said. “It’s just hard to take those other guys out. In the league championship game, Muneer got into foul trouble and it was next man up, which was Mike. He has made some shots, which I think is great for his confidence. He showed he belonged.”

Senior Anthony Rondon led William Allen with 17 points, including five three-pointers.

Despite falling to the Vikings in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals, Archbishop Ryan has continued to roll after winning the District 12 Class 5A title, its first city title in program history, over the Academy at Palumbo on Wednesday. On Friday, the Raiders (11-5) dismantled Bangor High School, 68-50 in the PIAA 5A quarterfinals. They will be making their first state semifinal appearance since 2017 when Izaiah Brockington (Penn State) and Matiss Kulackovskis (Bowling Green) put together a memorable run before losing to San Antonio Spurs forward Lonnie Walker and Reading High School.

Aaron Lemon-Warren recorded a double-double with 29 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals and two blocks. The 6-5 senior forward has avg. 23.8 points and 10.5 rebounds over his last four games and has returned to his dominant form. He was leading the league in scoring last season before breaking his right foot in practice. He has had some notable performances but his recent play has the Raiders eyeing their first-ever trip to the state final. Senior point guard Dominic Vazquez had 15 points and seven assists and 6-1 junior guard Luke Boyd had 14 points, which included two makes from behind the arc.

Bangor led by one after the opening quarter but Archbishop Ryan, which will travel to play Chester on Monday, immediately turned things around by outscoring the opposition 36-17 over the next two quarters. Junior guard Jalen Snead continued his strong play at both ends with five assists and five steals. The Slaters were paced by senior CJ Miles, who poured in 18 points, and fellow senior Gabe Zieba, who added 13 points.

The final Philadelphia Catholic League boys representative in the state playoffs, Archbishop Carroll (9-7), appeared ready to blow things open with 29-19 halftime lead over Allentown Central Catholic in the PIAA Class 4A Tournament quarterfinals. 

Anquan Hill dominated with 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals. Unfortunately, the 6-8 senior forward was limited to only four points in the second half. After his two free throws put the Patriots up 37-22 in the third, Allentown Central Catholic turned things, spearheaded by junior guard Tyson Thomas (24 points).

The Patriots freshman guards, Moses Hipps (12 points) and Chase Coleman (four), struggled with the half court trapping pressure of the Vikings and a double-digit lead fell to 49-46 late in the fourth. Allentown Central Catholic finally took the lead when Liam Joyce converted an and-one with 45 seconds remaining. Thomas hit two free throws to close things out as the Vikings outscored the Patriots, 21-8 in the final quarter to advance to the PIAA 4A semifinals.

Archbishop Carroll won the District 12 4A title with an 85-70 win over Martin Luther King.