Carroll’s Darrell Davis scored 18 points to help the Patriots dispatch Carver Friday night in a PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal game. (Pete Bannan – The Associated Press)
By Matthew DeGeorge
The book said that Archbishop Carroll was in danger of getting caught looking ahead Friday night. Instead, coach Francis Bowe made a disorganized team focus its eyes backward at halftime.
The team that Carroll might play next in the PIAA Class 4A tournament, Neumann-Goretti, had beaten the team it was playing Friday at Pottstown, Carver Engineering and Sciences, in the District 12 final, and handily. So the fact that Carver was within two of Carroll at half was cause for some concern in the Patriots’ locker room.
“He just mentioned Neumann to us,” point guard Darrell Davis said. “He said Neumann beat them by 40, and they’re looking like they’re a better team than us. We took that to heart.”
They took it to the scoreboard, too, scoring 21 of the first 23 points of the second half to roar into a second state semifinal in three years with a 60-42 decision. The reward is a date Monday with either Scranton Prep or the Saints, to whom Carroll dropped a heartbreaking 89-83 game in the PCL playoffs.
(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)