Archbishop Carroll boys jolt Father Judge
Ryan Daly is a complete offensive player now, but that wasn't always the case. The 6-foot-5 forward for Archbishop Carroll employed his vast arsenal of abilities Friday night in the Patriots' 69-57 triumph against visiting Father Judge.
Ryan Daly is a complete offensive player now, but that wasn't always the case.
The 6-foot-5 forward for Archbishop Carroll employed his vast arsenal of abilities Friday night in the Patriots' 69-57 triumph against visiting Father Judge.
Daly, a senior who will play at Hartford next season, finished with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He also added nine rebounds and two steals and hit 3 of 5 three-pointers for Carroll (14-1, 6-0 Catholic League).
After struggling to find his shot early last season, Daly focused on becoming a more complete offensive threat.
"I think I've made strides with my ballhandling instead of just being an outside shooter," he said. "Sometimes I'll need to blow by people, slow as I am, but I need to put the ball on the floor a little bit."
After feisty Father Judge (9-6, 2-4) pulled within 28-23 at the half, Daly scored nine points in the 12-4 Carroll run that started the third quarter and provided separation.
He finished with 12 in the quarter, thanks to a three-pointer opposite Carroll's bench that just beat the buzzer.
"I think I was just settling," Daly said of last season's early struggles. "I wasn't attacking. My first shot was always a three instead of letting the game come to me and getting in the flow. This year, I've tried to take a different selection of shots."
His floaters and fadeaways in the paint Friday night were indicative of a more varied selection.
Josh Sharkey was all-around magnificent for Carroll. The senior point guard finished with 18 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals.
Judge was led by Marc Rodriguez (17 points) and Quincy Reed (13).
The Crusaders trailed, 13-4, early in the first quarter before rallying to within 22-20 with 1 minute, 32 seconds left in the half.
Carroll, however, used the third-quarter run to seize control of the game and remain undefeated in Catholic League play.
"We knew Judge had just beaten [Archbishop] Wood and we had just beaten Roman [Catholic] and [Archbishop] Ryan, two of the better teams in the Catholic League," Daly said, "so we knew we couldn't have a letdown, especially on our home court."
Archbishop Carroll 13 15 25 16 - 69
Father Judge 4 19 18 16 - 57
AC: Josh Sharkey 18, Ryan Daly 23, John Rigsby 12, Miks Antoms 4, Colin Daly 9, Alex House 3.
FJ: Quincy Reed 13, Marc Rodriguez 17, Justin Fleming 13, Matt O'Connor 4, Mike Power 10.
