Archbishop Wood’s heralded senior class fell a game short of boys’ basketball state title

John Mosco called a timeout and drew up a play where Muneer Newton would catch the ball higher and Rahsool Diggins, throwing the inbound pass from near the half-court line, would take a handoff and go toward the basket.

With 3.9 seconds remaining in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 6A Tournament championship game and Archbishop Wood trailing by one, there was more than enough time to run the play and escape with the title. Unfortunately, Joey Chapman intercepted Diggins’ pass and Reading was the one beginning the celebration with its first state title in four years, the same year the Vikings won their first state crown in program history.

The Red Knights outlasted the Vikings, 58-57, at the GIANT Center in Hershey last Saturday after turning the ball over on their previous possession, which enabled the opportunity for Archbishop Wood (19-1) to nearly complete a perfect season. Chapman, Reading’s sixth man, picked off the pass to close out a victory that saw the Red Knights erase a seven-point halftime deficit.

After picking themselves up off the ground, the Vikings’ heralded 2021 class, which went 74-25 in four seasons, graciously accepted the runner-up trophy. While it wasn’t what seniors like Marcus Randolph wanted, it brought a culmination to one of the most accomplished eras in Archbishop Wood boys basketball history.

“It was joy and heartbreak at the same time because there wasn’t anything for us to really be mad about,” Randolph said. “It was realizing this is coming to an end. This is the end and we’re not going out the way we felt we should be going out.”

Four years after Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Tyree Pickron and Co. brought home the first state title for the program, Diggins (UConn), Randolph (Richmond), Jaylen Stinson (James Madison), Daeshon Shepherd (La Salle) and Newton had just finished playing in the Vikings’ second state title game appearance in three years. Diggins, a four-year starter and two-time Philadelphia Catholic League MVP, scored a game-high 26 points, including the clutch three-pointer to cut the lead to one with under 6 seconds left. He finished his career as the Vikings’ all-time leading scorer with 1,513 points, surpassing Pickron earlier this season.

Newton had seven points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in his final game playing alongside four Division I prospects. Randolph led Archbishop Wood at 16.6 points per game. Stinson hit 34 three-pointers while averaging 13.4 ppg. Shepherd, who had missed the first two games of the state playoffs due to COVID-19 contact tracing, finished his career with 1,099 points.

Mosco, a longtime assistant under Carl Arrigale at Neumann-Goretti before taking the job at Archbishop Wood in 2013, felt this 2021 class vaulted the Vikings to state prominence with everything it accomplished over the last few seasons.

“They continued what Collin and that class did, which was put Archbishop Wood on the map,” Mosco said. “Rahsool and Daeshon made the Catholic League playoffs every year, going to the semifinals their junior and senior year then winning the championship this year. I’m so proud of them in keeping the program going and building on what we started.”

While Archbishop Wood took home its first Philadelphia Catholic League title since Gillespie’s senior season as well as the District 12 Class 6A title, it could not complete the third part of its preseason goal. After falling in the league semifinals and not being given an opportunity to finish its state run due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the Vikings were hoping to finish with a state title. Despite jumping out to an 11-point, first-quarter lead, the Red Knights, behind 21 points and 12 rebounds from West Chester commit Moro Osumanu and 12 points from guard Ruben Rodriguez, fought back and left Hershey with a state title.

Another Philadelphia Catholic League team, Archbishop Ryan (12-6), made its first-ever state title game appearance last weekend. The Raiders fell to Cathedral Prep, 69-49, in the PIAA Class 5A title game last Friday.

Aaron Lemon-Warren, a 6-foot-5 senior forward who holds offers from Penn State and St. Louis, had 16 points and eight rebounds while point guard Dominic Vazquez scored 15 points for the Raiders, who shot 1-for-14 from behind the arc.

Christian Tomasco, a 6-9 big man who began his high school career at St. Joe’s Prep, had six points, six boards and six blocks, in the state final against two quality big men in the Ramblers’ 6-6 sophomore Khali Horton, who had a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds, and 6-5 senior Liam Galla, who poured in 12 points.

The Raiders, who have developed into a state contender in the six seasons head coach Joe Zeglinski has been at the helm, fell to the Vikings in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals but rebounded to win the District 12 5A title over the Academy at Palumbo.

Lemon-Warren scored a Philadelphia Catholic League state playoff record 36 points while Tomasco had 26 points in Archbishop Ryan’s 85-63 win over Chester in the state semifinals.

Since Zeglinski became head coach, the Raiders have made the league semifinals four times and the state semifinals twice.

“We seem to keep getting stronger as the seasons go on,” Zeglinski said. “Getting over that semifinal hump was huge. We’ve been to four Catholic League semifinals then a state semifinal a few years back. This team delivered the first state championship appearance and we’re hoping we can continue this.”

Rob Moore’s Constitution Generals not only navigated through the Philadelphia Public League but they also made a phenomenal run to the PIAA Class 2A championship game, where they fell to undefeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 62-49 on Friday afternoon.

Constitution (14-7), playing in its sixth state title game since 2012, was led by senior guard Quadir Miller, who had 19 points, and 6-3 junior Jacob Beccles, who 13 points and three steals.

With 33 seconds left, Moore called a timeout to congratulate his team on an incredible season, particularly when considering its semifinal opponent, Old Forge, had a positive COVID-19 case and the Generals, the District 12 2A champions, almost couldn’t participate in the state final. The team was cleared on Thursday morning after all tests came back negative.

To Moore, this run holds greater significance than the four state titles he has on his résumé.

“There wasn’t a lot of negative energy about losing the state championship,” Moore said.

“The kids were really upbeat. I told the guys, ‘we’re just happy to be here. It wasn’t what we wanted but to play this many games, play in a state championship and be on this stage, it was special.’”