Snip Esterly-Berks Catholic

Snip Esterly called the Philadelphia Catholic League one of the best leagues on the East Coast. He was well aware that Archbishop Carroll was much better than its (12-10, 5-8) record. The Patriots went (7-1) against non-league competition. To say that Berks Catholic got a tough draw in the opening round of the PIAA-4A playoffs is a gigantic understatement. The District 3 champs scored the first five points on Tuesday night at Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium. Sophomore Moses Hipps answered with eight straight points; part of an 11-0 run by Carroll. The 6’4 guard was just getting warmed up. Hipps, a second team All-Catholic league selection, already has offers from Temple, La Salle, and Fordham. The sharpshooter poured in 31 points as the Patriots ended the Saints’ season with a 68-61 victory. Berks Catholic trailed 16-7 after eight minutes and 37-18 at halftime. Hipps splashed a deep 3-pointer in the third quarter. Moments later, he banked in a trey for a 54-27 advantage with about two and a-half minutes remaining in the period. That was his fourth triple of the contest and 64th of the season. The (23-5) Saints were down 58-34 entering the final quarter, but they weren’t about to go quietly into the night. Berks Catholic ripped off 17 consecutive points to get the crowd back into the game. Aidan Sands capped the run with a three-point play with just over three minutes to go. Ryan Koch hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and all of a sudden a 27-point deficit was down to six at 60-54 with 2:40 to play. Shortly after, Koch had a clean look from the deep right corner, but wasn’t able to connect and bring the Saints within three points. Hipps made two foul shots with one minute left to put Carroll on top 64-54. Free throw shooting played a big role in this terrific first round battle. The Patriots went 17-24 from the line, while Berks Catholic was 12-27. The Saints missed ten foul shots in the second half. Esterly was still extremely proud of his players and their gutsy effort in the fourth quarter. They outscored Carroll 27-10 over the last eight minutes. Jay Jay Jordan ended up with 21 points including a dozen in the final period. The all-county point guard was 5-13 from the FT line. Jordan went to the bench with 5:43 left in the second quarter after picking up his third foul. The 5’10 junior was assessed a technical foul midway through the third quarter when an official took exception to how Jordan threw the ball at him after making a layup. Jordan, Esterly, and the Saints’ fans were in disbelief. Esterly told me what a great person Jordan is off of the court. Koch contributed eleven of his 18 points in the fourth quarter when he knocked down three treys. Esterly said, “Ryan has all the potential in the world.” The 6’3 junior averaged 14 points this year. Koch leads the Berks Conference with 63 3-pointers. Sands chipped in with eleven points and Jack Miller had seven. Esterly described his senior class as “super.” He talked about Sands, Tyler Givens, Aron Reinhart, and Christian Cacchione who joined the team in mid-January. Carroll got 14 points from physical 6’4 guard Dean Coleman-Newsome. The junior was a third team All-Catholic league pick. He averages 14 points and 6.5 rebounds. 6’5 junior Blake Deegan made two of the Patriots’ seven triples. He had eight points off the bench. Carroll hadn’t played in nearly three weeks since falling to Devon Prep 70-67 in the first round of the PCL playoffs. They got into the state tournament when Martin Luther King High School opted out. I asked Esterly how Carroll would fair against Berks County and District 3-6A champion Reading. The longtime coach said that would be a great game! Esterly is (769-212) over 33 seasons. He won 542 games and a state title in 22 years at Reading Central Catholic. Esterly and the Saints have a lot to be proud of after going (6-11) a season ago. They earned the school’s fourth District 3 championship in eleven years.