Archbishop Ryan downs Archbishop Wood, 62-59
Matiss Kulackovskis needed every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame Sunday as the Archbishop Ryan junior charged at an Archbishop Wood shooter with about 15 seconds left in a Catholic League thriller.
Matiss Kulackovskis needed every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame Sunday as the Archbishop Ryan junior charged at an Archbishop Wood shooter with about 15 seconds left in a Catholic League thriller.
Wood sophomore Tyree Pickron had already hit a critical three-pointer 13 seconds earlier, but with Wood trailing by two points, his right-wing three would have given the host Vikings the lead.
Instead, Kulackovskis closed quickly, blocked Pickron's shot, and collected the loose ball to help ensure Ryan's come-from-behind, 62-59 victory.
"I was a little surprised [he got there], but he tends to make big plays in big moments," said Ryan's first-year coach Joe Zeglinski. "We usually teach our guys to stay on their feet, but what a play. [Pickron] had just hit a big three, so who knows what would have happened if you don't block that?"
The long, lithe Latvian might be new to Catholic League rivalries, but the packed, raucous crowd didn't seem to faze him.
"I've never played in anything like this before," said Kulackovskis, 18, who transferred to Ryan this year in hopes of playing college basketball in the United States. "When I was overseas, there [weren't] that many people around, [like] here. I have to be honest, it's very nice to play here."
Kulackovskis finished with 11 points and two blocks. Austin Chabot, with whom Kulackovskis lives, scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds. Izaiah Brockington led the Raiders (10-3, 3-1) with 17 points.
Wood (8-4, 2-2) was led by Pickron's 19 points. He also added nine rebounds.
Ryan led by 5-2 early but didn't lead again until a Kulackovskis three made it 52-51 with about three minutes remaining in the game. He also drained a pair of critical free throws after blocking Pickron's shot.
"I personally live for [these] moments," he said. "When I was overseas, I was the player at the end of the games to go get the ball and make something out of it."
With Archbishop Carroll stunning Roman Catholic, 64-51, on Sunday, Ryan finds itself in serious contention in PCL play. Carroll and Neumann-Goretti are tied atop the league at 4-0. St. Joseph's Prep and La Salle are next at 3-0.
"Not many people are talking about us right now," Zeglinski said. "This is a big-time win, big-time game."
Later he added: "[We] haven't won against Wood in four years for some of the seniors, so it was really for them, this win. Obviously it's one game, but it's a program win where people might start talking about us a little bit."
Archbishop Ryan 11 12 16 23 - 62
Archbishop Wood 14 14 14 17 - 59
AR: Austin Slawter 2, Izaiah Brockington 17, Matiss Kulackovskis 11, Austin Chabot 14, Freddie Killian 14, Amin Bryant 1, Chris Kuhar 3.
AW: Tyree Pickron 19, Tommy Funk 13, Collin Gillespie 11, Matt Cerruti 6, Karrington Wallace 2, Keith Otto 8.
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