The reigning Catholic League champion has earned another shot at the title.
On Wednesday, the Archbishop Wood boys’ basketball team took on Father Judge in the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra. After trailing 19-3, Judge mounted a comeback for the ages. Led by Temple recruit Derrick Morton-Rivera’s 27 points, Judge won, 52-46.
The Crusaders will face Neumann Goretti in the Catholic League final on Sunday at the Palestra. NG beat Bonner-Prendergast, 64-60, in the second PCL semifinal.
“Being confident in myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “Even if I miss shots or don’t get the shots that I want, I just keep believing in myself and keep trying to get shots or trying to make plays and look for my teammates.”
Morton-Rivera, the program’s all-time leading scorer and son of former Neumann Goretti star D.J. Rivera, is happy to leave his own mark on the PCL.
“It means a lot being able to leave a legacy, make a name for myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “A lot of people know me from being D.J.’s son — he went to Neumann Goretti and he was great. I’m glad I can make a name for myself at Judge.”
Father Judge coach Chris Roantree spent eight years as an assistant at Wood under opposing coach John Mosco before rejoining his alma mater five years ago.
“First for me and John,” Roantree said. “We have a great relationship, my best friend, coaching with them for nine years, but more importantly, he’s a friend. We went through a lot together, and somebody’s got to lose. That’s the hardest thing about it.”
Last year, Roantree and Father Judge earned the program’s first PCL title in 27 years. Now they have a chance to go back-to-back for the first time in program history.
“It would mean a lot because that’s what we talked about all season,” Morton-Rivera said. “Being the first class to come out of here with two championships. Nobody has ever done that before. That’s something that we definitely want to get.”
Wood dominated the regular season with its 1-2 punch of Caleb Lundy and Brady MacAdams, who are first and second on the team in scoring, while 6-foot-11 Jaydn Jenkins roamed the paint on defense.
Jenkins blocked Morton-Rivera’s first two shots, helping to stifle Judge in the first quarter. MacAdams hit a corner three and contested a layup on back-to-back possessions to push Wood’s lead to 16-3 after the first quarter.
“We’ve been here for the past two years,” Father Judge point guard Rocco Westfield said. “It’s not easy to come down here and play in this environment in front of 10,000 people. So we just really stuck together and really kept our mindset straight.”
Morton-Rivera scored 12 of Judge’s next 22 points to tie the score at 25 at the half.
In the third quarter, Judge forced the Vikings into taking outside shots, stopping Lundy’s dribble penetration and Wood’s offense while Morton-Rivera scored eight of the Crusaders’ first 10 points to open the half.
MacAdams did his best to keep Wood close, but the Crusaders kept the lead for the majority of the second half.
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