Father Judge overcomes early deficit to beat Archbishop Wood, earns spot in boys’ Catholic League final
Derrick Morton-Rivera, Judge's all-time leading scorer, scored 27 points as the Crusaders climbed out of an early 19-3 hole.
The reigning Catholic League champions have earned another shot at the title.
On Wednesday, Archbishop Wood boys’ basketball team took on Father Judge in the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra. After trailing 19-3 early in the contest, Judge mounted a comeback for the ages. Led by Temple commit Derrick Morton-Rivera’s 27 points Judge won, 52-46
The Crusaders will face Neumann Goretti in the Catholic League final on Sunday at the Palestra. NG beat Bonner-Prendergast, 64-60, in the second PCL semifinal.
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“Being confident in myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “Even if I miss shots or don’t get the shots that I want. I just keep believing in myself and keep trying to get shots or trying to make plays and look for my teammates.”
Morton-Rivera, the program’s all-time leading scorer and son of former Neumann-Gorretti star D.J. Rivera, is happy to leave his own mark on the PCL.
“It means a lot being able to leave a legacy, make a name for myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “A lot of people know me from being DJ’s son, he went to Neumann-Goretti and he was great. I’m glad I can make a name for myself at Judge.”
Father Judge coach Chris Roantree spent eight years as an assistant at Wood under opposing head coach John Mosco before rejoining his alma mater five years ago.
“First for me and John,” Roantree said, “we have a great relationship, my best friend, coaching with them for nine years, but more importantly, he’s a friend. We went through a lot together, and somebody’s got to lose. That’s the hardest thing about it.”
Last year, Roantree and Father Judge earned the program’s first PCL title in 27 years — and now has the chance to go back-to-back for the first time in program history.
“It would mean a lot because that’s what we talked about all season,” Morton-Rivera said. “Being the first class to come out of here with two championships. Nobody has ever done that before. That’s something that we definitely want to get.”
Wood dominated the regular season with their 1-2 punch of Caleb Lundy and Brady MacAdams, who are first and second on the team in scoring, while 6-foot-11 Jaydn Jenkins roamed the paint on defense — which was evident from the first possession of the game.
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Jenkins blocked Morton-Rivera’s first two shots, helping stifle Judge in the first quarter. MacAdams hit a corner three and contested layup on back-to-back possessions to push Wood’s lead to 16-3 after the first quarter.
“We’ve been here for the past two years,” Father Judge point guard Rocco Westfield said. “It’s not easy to come down here and play in this environment in front of 10,000 people. So we just really stuck together and really kept our mindset straight.”
Morton-Rivera scored 12 of the Judge’s next 22 points to tie the game at 25-25 at the half.
In the third quarter, Judge forced the Vikings into taking outside shots — stopping Lundy’s dribble penetration and the Wood’s offense, while Morton-Rivera stayed on fire, scoring eight of the Crusaders’ 10 points to open the half.
MacAdams did his best to keep Wood around, but the Crusaders kept the lead for the majority of the second half. Now, Judge will try to make school history in Sunday’s PCL final.