Beating Carroll becoming a Daly challenge

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The scouting report compiled by New Castle last Friday for its meeting with Archbishop Carroll certainly listed Derrick Jones at or near the top.

It likely made mention of the slipperiness of point guard Josh Sharkey, the shooting of Ryan Daly, and the dribble-drive tendencies of David Beatty.

Understandably, guard Colin Daly likely wasn’t too high up the list, and for that, you might sympathize with the plight of New Castle, which dropped a 77-48 decision in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals.

The game pivoted on a 10-0 run in the second quarter, which blew open a three-point contest and provided Carroll a cushion it never relinquished. The pendulum-swinging run was propelled by 3-pointers by Ryan Daly and his younger brother, Colin. The latter is emblematic of the abundance of options the Patriots possess to attack opposing teams.

That diversity and balance of scoring is a major factor in the Patriots’ berth in the PIAA semifinals, where they will take on Eric Cathedral Prep, the District 10 champion, Tuesday night. Tipoff at Bald Eagle Area High School in Wingate is at 7:30.

No team gets to the point that Carroll (22-6) has without a bevy of methods of posting Ws.

Want to play zone? Then the brothers Daly can tee up shots from deep. Try to focus on stopping the penetration of Sharkey? Just let Beatty handle the ball, or allow he and Ryan Daly to show off their impeccable mid-range games, fostered by their size and instinct to find pockets of space. Thinking of fronting Jones to deny possession? Then you’ll have to somehow keep him off the glass, too.

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