BOYS BASKETBALL: Archbishop Wood Defines Consistency, Key Victories & Impact Players Keeping The PCL Race Tight

Photos/Videos: Dan Hilferty, Kathy Leister, Rachel Macauley, Patty Morgan, Mike Nance, Jeremy Park, James Quinn, Krystal Williams, Mark Zimmaro

By: Rich Flanagan

PHILADELPHIA – When building a successful program, one of the biggest hurdles to the program’s consistency is graduation and player movement. Keeping the same team together from year to year varies due to seniors moving on, players electing to transfer and in some cases, players choosing to focus on one sport and having to step away from another. Regardless of the reason, roster construction is a puzzle where the pieces shift in the offseason and can even move around throughout the year, especially if wins are few and far between, and those pieces never come together.

When Archbishop Wood graduated the 2021 class of Rahsool Diggins, Daeshon Shepherd, Marcus Randolph, Jaylen Stinson and Muneer Newton following a Philadelphia Catholic League championship and a trip to Hershey in the PIAA Class 6A title game, Mosco knew that duplicating the success brought on by one of the most accomplished classes in program history was going to be as difficult a task as when he had to replace the 2017 group led by Collin Gillespie, Matt Cerruti and Keith Otto.

Even though players graduate from the school, Mosco - who was an assistant at Neumann-Goretti under Carl Arrigale for 16 seasons - has established a culture where players never graduate from the program and can be seen in the Richard “R” Kelly Gymnasium, going through drills or pick-up games with the current roster, just as Diggins did when he, head coach Frank Martin and the University of Massachusetts Minutemen were in town last week.

“That’s all from guys like Tommy Funk, Collin, Matt and Keith who come back and talk to these guys and tell them what it’s all about,” Mosco said. “They all know they’re ready when they go against Justin Moore and Rahsool for years in practice. They know they’re ready to take over and keep the tradition going.”

Archbishop Wood head coach John Mosco - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister

Moore, now playing at Drexel, was the next great point guard under Mosco and led a lineup of Bahsil Laster, Carson Howard, Tyson Allen, and Mike Knouse back to the PIAA Class 6A title game where they lost to Roman Catholic. Moore meant so much to last season’s success but the key to the rapid turnaround was 6-5 guard Jalil Bethea, who averaged 13.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and made 90 three-pointers while shooting 46.2 percent from behind the arc.

His breakout performance came in the state quarterfinals against North Hills where he shot 11-for-12 from the three-point line and finished with 37 points, which set the record for most points ever by a Philadelphia Catholic League player in a state playoff game.

Archbishop Wood has followed the example of players like Bethea and coming into this season, Mosco knew so much that the Vikings were going to do would be dependent upon the play of Bethea, especially when considering they dropped their first two league games and found themselves in unfamiliar territory.

“I was explaining to them that it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Mosco said. “It’s a long year and we realized we were young when we looked at last year’s minutes. Carson played over 500 minutes and so did Jalil. Jalil didn’t play as much in Catholic League play, so we practically had four new starters. We’ve been teaching everyone to learn their roles and now they’re starting to get it whether it be starters or guys coming off the bench.”

Archbishop Wood junior Jalil Bethea #1 is avg. 25.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block over his last six games - PSD Photo by Mike Nance

Moore and Allen graduated while Laster transferred to the Academy of the New Church. Howard, who is avg. 11.9 ppg and committed to East Stroudsburg, has picked up his play and become a terrific complement to Bethea, who has raised his play following the Vikings’ first two Philadelphia Catholic League losses.

The junior is avg. 25.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block over his last six games, a stretch that saw the Vikings go 5-1. He is shooting 59 percent from the floor and even more impressively, he’s hitting 46 percent from deep in these last six. It all started with a 72-63 win over Cardinal O’Hara on Jan. 9 where he had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists then against Devon Prep three nights later, he posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds to go along with seven assists but that wasn’t his biggest contribution. Bethea drilled the go-ahead trey from the wing with 44 seconds left to give Archbishop Wood a 53-50 lead and the Vikings did not allow the Tide to score a single point the rest of the way. Bethea helped Archbishop Wood (8-6, 4-3 Philadelphia Catholic League) close out a fourth quarter that saw them outscore the opposition, 20-0.

Bethea has been playing like the best player in the league during this stretch and, as Mosco notes, he needs to be at his best for this team to win.

“It’s an adjustment for him to learn that he’s number one on the scouting report and he has to attack the opponent differently,” Mosco said of Bethea. “The last couple games he’s been getting everybody involved and playing at an unbelievable pace. He’s focused and he’s getting guys involved and that helps make his job easier.”

Archbishop Wood vs. Father Judge - PSD Highlights by Kathy Leister

Archbishop Wood vs. Father Judge - PSD Photos by Kathy Leister

Gillespie and Diggins took home league MVP honors in their time playing for Mosco with Diggins winning the award in back-to-back seasons, and Bethea is mirroring so much of what they did. He’s far and away the best shooter of the three and he’s developing more into what those two were with their ability to collapse a defense to find open teammates or being able to finish at the rim before they can stop him in the lane. Take last week’s contest against Neumann-Goretti. Not only was the game on the road in a place where the Saints have rarely lost under Arrigale but the Vikings sat at .500 in league play. Bethea did everything to will his team to victory and finished with an astounding 31 points on 10-for-16 from the field, eight boards and five assists in a 90-79 upset over last year’s league champion.

Bethea was relentlessly attacking the rim then took long rebounds and turned them into rhythm offense at the other end. Howard had 15 points and 14 rebounds, junior guard Josh Reed posted 17 points, sophomore guard Deuce Maxey chipped in 11 points, and guards Mike Green and Gus Salem sank two three-pointers apiece on a night that saw the Vikings shoot 51 percent from the floor in a near flawless win.

Mosco's forte at Archbishop Wood has been guard development and while Bethea differs from Gillespie, Diggins, and Moore, he’s coming along with some many facets of his game that those three had perfected over the course of their careers.

“Jalil is different from those guys because they were able to get into the lane and create for others while Jalil started off as just a corner shooter,” Mosco said. “Now he has the ball in his hands more and we want him to be creating for others as he’s bringing the ball up.”

In the Vikings most recent win – an 88-57 triumph over Mosco’s former assistant, Chris Roantree and Father Judge – Bethea poured in 29 points (12-for-18 shooting), 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

Archbishop Wood vs. Neumann-Goretti - PSD Highlights by Kathy Leister

Archbishop Wood vs. Neumann-Goretti - PSD Gallery by Kathy Leister

Archbishop Wood’s recent streak came to an end on Monday at the hands of Archbishop Ryan as Michael Paris’ game winner proved to be the difference in a 55-54 win that didn’t come without some controversy. Bethea, who had 18 points, drove and missed a potential game winner on the left side of the rim, but Milan Dean converted a tip-in.

The issue was that the ball was still in his hand as the clock hit 0:00 and the Raiders escaped with a huge win. Still, there’s no denying Bethea’s play and what it has meant to the trajectory of the Vikings’ season. If he continues at this pace, there’s no telling what Archbishop Wood can do to build on its phenomenal run with Mosco at the helm.

Archbishop Ryan 55 vs. Archbishop Wood 54 - PSD Highlights by Rachel Macauley:

Archbishop Ryan's Zaire Paris talks about intense game vs. Wood on Jan. 23 - PSD Video by Rachel Macauley

Impact Players & Notes From Around the League

Archbishop Carroll is one of the hottest shooting teams in the Philadelphia Catholic League this season. In the Patriots’ 73-53 win over Conwell-Egan on Monday, Ian Williams hit four of the team’s 14 three-pointers. The 5-10 freshman point guard had 15 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals while senior Dean Coleman-Newsome tallied 13 points, four rebounds and two steals. Jake West hit two treys and finished with 15 points, and freshman Nasir Ralls (11 points) and 6-6 senior Blake Deegan (eight) combined to make five three-pointers on the night.

Archbishop Carroll vs. West Catholic - PSD Gallery by Dan Hilferty

Archbishop Carroll vs. Bonner-Prendergast - PSD Highlights by Rich Flanagan

Jacen Holloway looked to be out for an extended period with a severe ankle injury but he’s back and making an immediate impact for Devon Prep. The 6-5 senior lefty and Army West Point commit had 19 points on 7-for-13 from the field in his first game back against Father Judge on Jan. 16 then averaged 13.5 ppg over the next two contests against St. Joe’s Prep and La Salle.

Devon Prep vs. La Salle - PSD Gallery by Krystal Williams

Devon Prep vs. Father Judge - PSD Highlights by Rachel Macauley

Devon Prep vs. St. Joseph's Prep - PSD Gallery by Jeremy Park

It never hurts to have a four-year starter with a multitude of big-time games under his belt and St. Joe’s signee Xzayvier Brown has been proving that this season. The 6-1 senior guard had 24 points, three rebounds, five assists and seven steals in a win over West Catholic last weekend. He shot 10-for-11 from the free-throw line and put a stop to several Burrs runs with quick steals that turned into layups at the other end. He found Jermai Stewart-Herring for a key three-pointer late in the fourth and helped put the game away at the line to keep the Cahillites undefeated in league play. Roman Catholic has not fallen off with the loss of Brown’s former teammates in Daniel Skillings Jr. and Khalil Farmer, and he is the focal reason why.

Roman Catholic vs. West Catholic - PSD Highlights by Rich Flanagan

Roman Catholic vs. Lansdale Catholic - PSD Gallery by Krystal Williams

Following a strong nonleague portion of the schedule, Bonner-Prendergast has struggled to finds its way in Philadelphia Catholic League play in head coach Billy Cassidy’s first season, but a bright spot has been 6-3 junior guard and Chester transfer Kevin Rucker Jr., who leads the Friars with 13.5 ppg. He had 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in a loss to Archbishop Ryan then poured in 15 points, five boards, three assists and three steals versus Cardinal O’Hara. Rucker has been terrific in his first season in the league and one of his best games of the year came against Neumann-Goretti as he scored 20 points. The Friars can still secure a playoff spot with a few more wins to close out the season, but even if they miss out, Rucker will be a key player to watch as a senior.

Bonner-Prendergast vs. Archbishop Ryan - PSD Highlights by Rachel Macauley

Bonner-Prendergast vs. Carroll - PSD Photos by James Quinn

Cardinal O’Hara is sitting at 4-4 in league play and Ryan Nemetz has gotten everything he could ask for out of 6-5 senior guard Izaiah Pasha.

The Iona signee is avg. 16.5 ppg over his last four games and the Lions have season-defining matchups with Devon Prep, Neumann-Goretti, Father Judge and St. Joe’s Prep upcoming to not only secure a playoff spot but improve their seeding. Pasha had 20 points and 10 rebounds vs. Archbishop Ryan then followed that up with 22 points, 10 boards, six assists and three blocks in a win over Conwell-Egan.

He put together an 11-point, nine-rebound, eight-assists outing against Bonner-Prendergast on Monday.

Cardinal O'Hara vs. Conwell-Egan - PSD Gallery by Mark Zimmaro

He is one of the most versatile players the league has to offer and will be pivotal to Cardinal O’Hara’s hopes as the postseason approaches.

Cardinal O'Hara vs. Conwell-Egan - PSD Highlights by Mark Zimmaro

COH senior Izaiah Pasha talks about O'Hara's offense - PSD Video by Mark Zimmaro

Pearse McGuinn talks about O'Hara's game plan vs. CEC - PSD Video by Mark Zimmaro

Philadelphia Catholic League Leading Scorers (through Jan. 26)

Jalil Bethea, Archbishop Wood 22.6 ppg

Robert Wright III, Neumann-Goretti 21.8 ppg

Thomas Sorber, Archbishop Ryan 19.5 ppg

Adam “Budd” Clark, West Catholic 18.4 ppg

Zion Stanford, West Catholic 17.5 ppg

Jaron McKie, St. Joe’s Prep 16.7 ppg

Izaiah Pasha, Cardinal O’Hara 16.3 ppg

Dean Coleman-Newsome, Archbishop Carroll 16.0 ppg

Jacen Holloway, Devon Prep 15.8 ppg

Darren Williams, Archbishop Ryan 15.6 ppg

Laquan Byrd, Father Judge 15.5 ppg

Horace Simmons, La Salle 15.4 ppg

Lucas Orchard, Devon Prep 14.8 ppg

Antwone George, Conwell-Egan 14.6 ppg

Ty Mishock, Devon Prep 14.5 ppg

Xzayvier Brown, Roman Catholic 14.3 ppg

Jermai Stewart-Herring, Roman Catholic 14.1 ppg

Sultan Adewale, Neumann-Goretti 13.6 ppg

Kevin Rucker Jr., Bonner-Prendergast 13.5 ppg

Neumann-Goretti vs. La Salle - PSD Gallery by Patty Morgan

Roman Catholic vs. Devon Prep - PSD Gallery by Krystal Williams

Jake West, Archbishop Carroll 13.1 ppg

Pearson McGuinn, Cardinal O’Hara 13.1 ppg

Aasim Burton, Cardinal O’Hara 12.4 ppg

Evan Lojewski, Lansdale Catholic 12.1 ppg

Kyle Jones Jr., Father Judge 12.0 ppg

Josh Coulanges, Cardinal O’Hara 11.9 ppg

Deuce Ketner, Bonner-Prendergast 11.9 ppg

Carson Howard, Archbishop Wood 11.9 ppg

Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui, West Catholic 11.4 ppg

Michael Paris, Archbishop Ryan 11.2 ppg

Shareef Jackson, Roman Catholic 10.9 ppg

Reggie Selden Jr., Bonner-Prendergast 10.8 ppg

Khaafiq Myers, Neumann-Goretti 10.6 ppg

Jalen Harper, St. Joe’s Prep 10.5 ppg

Tristen Guillouette, St. Joe’s Prep 10.2 ppg

Jordan Ellerbee, St. Joe’s Prep 10.2 ppg

Amir Williams, Neumann-Goretti 10.0 ppg

Philadelphia Catholic League Standings (through Jan. 26)

Roman Catholic (8-0)

Neumann-Goretti (6-1)

St. Joe’s Prep (6-1)

Archbishop Ryan (5-2)

West Catholic (5-3)

Archbishop Carroll (4-3)

Archbishop Wood (4-3)

Cardinal O-Hara (4-4)

Father Judge (3-4)

Devon Prep (3-5)

La Salle (2-5)

Bonner-Prendergast (1-6)

Conwell-Egan (0-7)

Lansdale Catholic (0-7)