Sharkey scores 28 as Carroll boys beat La Salle

While Josh Sharkey handled the Archbishop Carroll offense, Miks Antoms anchored its defense, which gave up 98 points last week.

The 6-foot-7 senior from Latvia blocked four shots as the Patriots overwhelmed visiting La Salle, 66-52, in the lone Catholic League contest Tuesday night.

Last week, Neumann-Goretti skewered Carroll's defense for nearly 100 points.

In the fourth quarter Tuesday, however, Antoms' defense started a sequence that illustrated vast improvement.

"Play of the game," Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said. "Play of the game."

With La Salle trailing, 46-38, Antoms blocked a shot by a driving Jarrod Stukes (10 points), which started a fastbreak that led to an open Colin Daly three-point shot.

Daly misfired, but Antoms collected the rebound, scored the putback, got fouled, and completed the three-point play.

"I thought that was without a doubt the play of the game," Romanczuk said. "He struggled early on getting into the flow, but then as the game wore on I thought he had an excellent second half for us."

Sharkey led Carroll (16-2, 8-1) with 28 points. The 5-foot-10 senior also had seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

In the first half, La Salle's big men dominated down low.

Seniors Shane Stark (eight points) and Ryan McTamney (six points) finished a combined 7 of 12 from the field after two quarters.

McTamney finished with a team-high 15 points while Stark finished with 10 for La Salle (14-4, 6-3).

"Neumann had just scored almost 100 points on us, so it was our target to hold [La Salle] to [about 50,]" said Antoms, who transferred from Latvia this season. "In the second half, I started playing better and so did Josh."

Antoms finished with eight points and six rebounds.

Sharkey finished 9 of 13 from the field and was 9 of 9 from the foul line. Ryan Daly added 10 points for Carroll and John Rigsby had 13.

La Salle 12 12 10 18 - 52

Arch. Carroll 7 18 17 24 - 66

L: Ryan McTamney 15, Shane Stark 10, Jarrod Stukes 10, Matt Paulus 8, Dan Remolde 4, Allen Powell 2, Konrad Kiszka 3.

AC: Josh Sharkey 28, Colin Daly 5, Ryan Daly 10, John Rigsby 13, Miks Antoms 8, Jesse McPherson 2.

cartera@phillynews.com

@AceCarterINQ