West Catholic Defeats Archbishop Ryan 71-51: Kehler on Hoops

Written by: Dell Jackson on February 18, 2023

West Catholic Defeats Archbishop Ryan 71-51

West Catholic led all of the way in a Philadelphia Catholic League playoff quarterfinal against host Archbishop Ryan on Friday night and won a comprehensive 71 to 51 victory. With the win, West Catholic advances to the league semifinals on Wednesday night at the Palestra vs. defending Philadelphia Catholic League champion Neumann-Goretti. The win also reverses a 63 to 61 loss that West suffered to Ryan at home on February 3.

West Catholic has a squad of quick leapers, with some slashers and some outside shooters, and they matched up very effectively against Ryan’s 1-3-1 zone defense. West scored early from 3-point range and crashed the offensive board hard. The 1-3-1 concept has some weaknesses, and one of them is that it is not ideal for getting defensive rebounds. Another is susceptibility to outside shooting. In the first quarter of this game, West Catholic had more offensive rebounds than Ryan had defensive rebounds. 13 of West Catholic’s 15 first quarter points were scored on outside jump shots. West Catholic’s defensive pressure seemed to unnerve Ryan, as the home side rushed some shots and committed six turnovers in the first quarter. After eight minutes of play, West Catholic led 15 to 4, and the template for their victory was set.

Ryan’s best sequence of the game was in the second quarter. 6’ 4” Ryan junior Darren Williams hit three 3-pointers in the second frame, and the home side was able to get the ball down low to 6’ 9” junior Thomas Sorber, who scored seven points in the second period. However, four West Catholic players scored in the second quarter, and Ryan committed five more turnovers in the frame. West Catholic led 28 to 20 at halftime, but they were really more in command of the game than the score would suggest.

Ryan made some halftime adjustments. They were better on the boards in the second half, and they made some lineup changes in the third period to get more outside shooters on the court. Three different Ryan players made 3-pointers in the third quarter, but, every time that Ryan made some headway, 5’ 10” West Catholic senior Budd Clark would hit a shot. Clark, who had a superb game, scored nine points in the third quarter. West Catholic led 47 to 35 at the end of the third frame.

Ryan went back to their starting lineup at the outset of the fourth quarter, but a six point run by West Catholic’s Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui, a 6’ 3” senior, gave his team an insurmountable 55 to 38 lead. Wilbanks-Acqui was almost unstoppable in this game. The fourth quarter was very choppy, with West Catholic shooting 23 free throws in the final period.

For the game, Ryan out-rebounded West Catholic 31 to 27. West Catholic had eight turnovers, while Ryan had 19 miscues. West Catholic was 17 of 29 from the free throw line, and Ryan was 13 of 18. West Catholic made six 3-pointers in the game, while Ryan scored eight times from beyond the arc.

West Catholic scoring: Budd Clark 23, Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui 21, Zion Stanford 16, Amyr Walker 5, Isaac Cole 4, and Kingston Wheatley 2.

Archbishop Ryan scoring: Darren Williams 20, Thomas Sorber 13, Mark Gallagher 6, Jaden Murray 5, Michael Zaire Paris 4, and Rocco Morabito 3.

West Catholic 15 13 19 24-71
Archbishop Ryan 4 16 15 16-51

On Twitter: @david_kehler

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