As he and his Archbishop Carroll team walked off the Giant Center floor last March after falling to Imhotep Charter in the PIAA Class AAA championship game, Paul Romanczuk knew he’d be starting over at the point guard position this year.
Two-time All-Delco Yosef Yacob graduated and is already starting as a true freshman at Binghamton, but there was the thought that Nick Jones would be the incumbent. Jones, the cousin of Monsignor Bonner star and 2006-07 Daily Times Player of the Year Jeff Jones, was expected to take over with a mostly seamless transition.
How quickly things can change. The junior left Carroll to go to defending PIAA Class AAAA champion Lower Merion, and Romanczuk was left scrambling for options to fill the shoes of his departed floor generals.
It looks like the Patriots will be just fine, as they showed Friday night by crushing the Aces, 79-43, in the marquee game of the Kobe Bryant Classic. At the forefront of it all was All-Delco Derrick Jones, who had 20 points on 10-for-11 shooting to go with 14 rebounds, four blocks and a pair of assists. The five-star junior recruit earned game MVP honors for his efforts, but it was the play of Abington Friends transfer Josh Sharkey that served notice that the Patriots will be just fine without Yacob and Jones running the point. Webmaster note: You can listen to the entire game by clicking on our Game Archive.