PHILADELPHIA –The year was 2017 and Pa. boasted two of the premiere players in the country across two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) classifications. Villanova commit Collin Gillespie and Archbishop Wood had downed Meadville in the PIAA Class 5A Tournament championship game to secure the program’s first state title. San Antonio Spurs forward Lonnie Walker IV and the Reading Red Knights beat Archbishop Ryan in the semifinals then outlasted Pine Richland in the Class 6A final.
Four years later, the Vikings and the Red Knights will meet in the Class 6A title on Saturday night at the GIANT Center in Hershey. After his team won the 2017 state title, Archbishop Wood head coach John Mosco had his team hang around for the 6A final on Saturday and he noticed something very distinct about Reading’s fan base and what to expect when they faceoff.
“I think that’s going to be a home game the way Reading travels,” Mosco said. “The last time we won a state title, they also won it with Lonnie Walker and they sold the place out. It will feel like another road game for us, but everybody knows we’re at the finish line. There’s one game left and you have to leave everything on the floor.”
Mosco leads Archbishop Wood (19-0) into its third state title game in five seasons. Two years ago, they lost in the 5A title and last year the tournament was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Gillespie was the star on that team, players like Tyree Pickron, Matt Cerruti, Seth Pinkney and Keith Otto made significant contributions but this year’s Vikings team has plenty of star power. Two-time Philadelphia Catholic League MVP and UConn commit Rahsool Diggins, James Madison commit Jaylen Stinson, Richmond commit Marcus Randolph and athletic forward Muneer Newton lead the Vikings attack.
Diggins, the 6-foot-3 point guard and four-year starter, is averaging 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game this season. Stinson, the 6-foot sharpshooter, is avg. 13.7 points and has hit 33 three-pointers.
Two-time Philadelphia Catholic League MVP, Rahsool Diggins, has been averaging 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game this season - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
Randolph, the 6-4 lefty, leads the team with 16.9 points to go along with 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Newton, who has blossomed as a senior, is avg. 11.5 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds.
Diggins, Stinson, Newton and Daeshon Shepherd (14.8 ppg), the La Salle commit, were all members of the rotation when the Vikings lost to Moon in the 5A title in 2019. Shepherd has missed the first two games of the state tournament due to contract tracing and his status for Saturday is unknown at this point. His absence was felt in the state semifinals against Lower Merion.
The Vikings trailed in the first quarter by as many as 11 points and struggled to answer the Aces’ early runs. Stinson finally tied the game at 34-34 in the second but, just as Lower Merion did for much of the night, it answered and eventually took a five-point lead into the locker room. Randolph responded with 18 of his 24 points in the second half, including a clutch three-pointer to give Archbishop Wood a 65-59 lead with 3:52 left to play. He hit two free throws down the stretch then Diggins (16 points, eight rebounds) closed out the 72-68 victory with a layup at the buzzer.
Wood vs. Lower Merion PIAA 6A Semifinal Highlights by Kathy Leister
Without Shepherd, Newton (10 points, 13 rebounds), and Cincinnati football commit Robert Jackson were tasked with slowing down Lower Merion’s 6-9 junior forward, Demetrius Lilley. Lilley dominated with 25 points and 15 rebounds but having the versatility to throw multiple bigs at him is something Mosco wasn’t sure he would have to do.
Still, his team responded and found itself in prime position to pull away late, a switch that he’s not sure they may have been able to do even two years ago.
“They’ve shown me their maturity,” Mosco said. “A game like Tuesday night, we would’ve lost [a few years ago] because everyone would’ve tried to go one-on-one instead of playing together. They’ve been through a lot, especially within the Catholic League where they’re used to everything an opponent can throw at them. They’re confident that they can get the job done.”
The Red Knights (25-2) are as versatile as the Vikings, which should make for an entertaining contest. They have won 17 of their last 18 games, with their lone loss coming against Marquette commit Stevie Mitchell and Wilson in the Berks Conference title game. They would enact revenge in the District 3 championship. Sophomore guard Ruben Rodriguez leads Reading with 14.7 ppg while junior forward Daniel Alcantara had 27 points in the state semifinals against Upper St. Clair. Moro Osumanu, an undersized but versatile center and a West Chester commit, is avg. 13.5 ppg this season.
These two programs last met in 2015 as Tommy Funk, who starred at Army, had 17 points, Pickron led the way with 23 and Gillespie chipped in 14 in the Vikings’ 67-59 win. Walker had 21 for the Red Knights.
Wood vs. Lower Merion - PIAA 6A semifinal gallery by Kathy Leister
Joe Zeglinski has been part of the rich history of Archbishop Ryan basketball as both a player and coach. He was a starter on the Raiders Philadelphia Catholic League semifinal team in 2006. Since he has taken over as head coach in 2015, Archbishop Ryan (12-5) has made the league semifinals four times. Add in that trip to the state semifinals versus Walker and Reading in 2017, and Zeglinski’s program has become a model of consistency in one of the toughest leagues in Pa.
His team’s run this season has been a testament to what he has built since taking over the job from his former coach, Bernie Rogers, and how the group represents decades of Raiders basketball.
“There’s a culture we have been able to maintain and we have alumni that come back,” Zeglinski said. “We’re playing for them and for the school, where in 53 years, we only have one total championship. Just to get here is a huge accomplishment but the job isn’t done. We have to finish it off.”
The Raiders will meet Cathedral Prep in the PIAA Class 5A Tournament title game on Friday night in Hershey.
It will be the program’s first-ever state final appearance. The trips to the Palestra along with four trips to the state tournament, including this one, has added another Philadelphia Catholic League program into the mix for state supremacy. With Archbishop Ryan and Archbishop Wood advancing, the Philadelphia Catholic League will have multiple boys programs in the state title game for the sixth time in seven years. Additionally, this is the first time the league has had multiple boys teams in the final since 2018.
Archbishop Ryan vs. Chester - PIAA 5A Semifinal Gallery by Mike Nance
They dismantled the Academy at Palumbo to secure the program’s first championship. Next, they cruised past Bangor in the quarterfinals then put together one of the most complete state semifinal games in recent memory by winning, 85-63 over Chester on the road.
Aaron Lemon-Warren, the 6-5 senior forward and First Team All-Catholic selection who is avg. 18.9 points and 8.5 rebounds, has spearheaded this run. A year after a broken foot derailed his season, one in which he was leading the league in scoring, the versatile forward, who holds offers from Penn State, Richmond and Saint Louis, looks to be back to his old self as evidenced by his averages of 27.3 points and 11 rebounds over the last four games.
While it has taken him some time to find his comfort zone with that foot again, Lemon-Warren stressed that it was time to take things up a notch if the Raiders wanted to reach a state final.
After falling to the Vikings, the eventual champion, in the league semifinals, the Raiders regrouped and downed Bonner-Prendergast, 52-50 in overtime to capture the Philadelphia Catholic League’s spot in the District 12 5A title game.
“During the season, I was trying to run and get back into the offense with the team because we didn’t have much of an offseason,” Lemon-Warren said. “I was getting back to it and once the Catholic League season was over, I knew I couldn't end it off like that. We had to get into the state playoffs so I really had to turn it up and show people what I could really do.”
He posted 36 points and 11 rebounds against the Chester Clippers on Monday. His 36 points are the most ever by a Philadelphia Catholic League player in a state playoff game as well as the most by a visiting player at the Clip Joint, a court that has seen the likes of Jameer Nelson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson put together special careers on it. The previous record by Philadelphia Catholic League players was 33, scored by Roman Catholic’s Tony Carr and Neumann-Goretti’s Zane Martin in 2016. Martin did it in the PIAA Class 3A final.
The addition of 6-9 senior forward Christian Tomasco has been instrumental to the Raiders success. The big man, who played the last two seasons at Bishop Eustace (N.J.), has been a terrific complement to Lemon-Warren. He is avg. 13.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game this season. Against the Clippers, he shot 12-for-13 from the floor on his way to 26 points. He added six rebounds and six rejections in the win.
First-Team All-Catholic senior, Aaron Lemon-Warren has been averaging 27.3 points and 11 rebounds over the last four games. - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
The starting backcourt has been efficient, with 5-11 senior point guard Dominic Vazquez (10.4 ppg) and 6-1 junior guard Luke Boyd (10.2), putting the bigs in position to score while finding spots to hit their own shots. Vazquez had 15 points vs. Bangor then dished out 13 assists against the Clippers. Finally, 6-1 junior guard Jalen Snead, one of the best defensive players in the Philadelphia Catholic League, is avg. 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals this season.
The Raiders opponent on Friday will be Cathedral Prep (18-7), a team that is making its first state title appearance since 1996. Liam Galla, the 6-5 senior forward, scored 11 points and surpassed 1,000 for his career in the semifinal win over Lower Dauphin. Another 6-5 forward, sophomore Khali Horton poured in 16 points in the victory. Both big men boast the versatility of Lemon-Warren and Tomasco as shown by their three combined three-pointers in that contest.
This title game means so much to the Zeglinski and Archbishop Ryan. The tip-off inside the GIANT Center on Friday will have even more importance than simply a game. It will be a moment not only six years in the making but 47 more when tallying all of the players who have come through the program.
“We’re trying to remember everyone who has put on a Ryan jersey,” Zeglinski said.