Carroll tops Boys’ Latin to determine AAA seedings

The best estimate is probably 7 feet.

Even with the addition of 100 more feet, Juan'ya Green would have smashed his lifetime record for Shortest Total Distance of All Shots Taken From the Floor.

"I actually did," he said, smiling, when asked whether he'd realized his only three field-goal attempts - all successful - in Wednesday night's game to determine the third/fourth seeds in the upcoming PIAA Class AAA state playoffs had been layups.

We know what you're thinking. This was a fake Juan'ya Green. Some look-alike impostor. A long-lost twin brother.

After all, in the just completed Catholic League playoffs, Green, a 6-3, 200-pound senior guard and Niagara signee, had launched 49 shots from the floor while tying the record for points in a playoff series with 85 (same as Mark Zoller, of St. Joseph's Prep, in 2003) and claiming the mark for highest percentage of his team's output (45.9).

Fifteen of those firings had been three-point attempts.

But in this one, played at Southern, Green shot 3-for-3 - again, all layups - and 6-for-7 for 12 points as Archbishop Carroll bested Boys' Latin Charter, 72-61.

There is a need for an asterisk: He sat out the first quarter for violating a team rule.

"Sitting there on the bench, I think I cheered better than anyone else," he said, trying to keep things light.

Green took no shots until the exact end of the second quarter, when he converted a nifty pass from Jay Donovan. His other two shots came 22.9 seconds before the end of the third (on a feed from Tracy Peal) and 34 ticks into the fourth (on a fastbreak drive), with both resulting in three-point plays.

We're gonna say that the first two layups were curled basketward from 2 feet away, and that the final distance was an ungodly 3 feet.

What the heck was going on? Was this part of a master plan?

"I couldn't find a good shot," he insisted. "Every time I was going to the hole, somebody was there. So I had to pass. I thought I had a couple of longer shots lined up, but somebody was always there.

"Also, their fullcourt pressure was making me tired, and I was out of breath. Fatigue was setting in."

Said coach Paul Romanczuk: "They were always double-teaming him. Playing him in his chest."

It wasn't as if Green had a bad outing. He did deal eight assists, helping Yosef Yacob (23) and Donovan (21) post impressive scoring totals.

Green also was part of this unusual development: Early in the fourth quarter, he hit the front end of a double-bonus, but then had to leave when blood was spotted on his left arm. Sub Shane Randall missed the second shot and the ball went out of bounds. Green, having been quickly treated by the trainer, and now standing at the scorers' table, checked right back in.

Monday night was not the best in Carroll's history. Not only did the boys fall to Neumann-Goretti, 59-55, for the CL title, but the girls were edged by Archbishop Wood, 33-31, in their bid for a crown.

"I can't say it was real quiet around school [Tuesday]," Green said. "Everybody was saying to me, 'Sorry you lost.' Or maybe, 'Keep your head up. You've still got states.'

"I didn't [ignore] people. I'd listen and then say we're trying to put it behind us. That's my only thought right now. To only look forward and not backward, at all. That Neumann game is done. Can't change it."

Peal (11), Yacob (seven) and Donovan (six) paced Carroll in rebounds, and those last two guys halved six assists. Carlos Taylor (21), Maurice Watson (18) and Yahmir Greenlee (11) were the only Warriors with more than three points. Watson added six boards, five assists and four steals. Taylor (seven rebounds) and Greenlee (four steals) also made other contributions.

"I was frustrated by our lack of composure," Romanczuk said. "That was hard to watch."

Hey, when it ended, Juan'ya Green's right arm didn't need to be iced.