Carroll defeats La Salle in Catholic League semifinal

Yosef Yacob didn't have to think very long.

When you're as thin as he is even now, and you formerly could have been mistaken for a railroad tie, it's easy to recall the classic chops-busts.

But the No. 1 spot does not go back very far. In fact, we're talking last season.

"We were playing at West Catholic," Yacob began. "The whole place was packed with almost only their people. This was in warmups. I was standing at the foul line, getting ready to practice my free throws, and some girl yelled out, 'Hey, No. 1! That shirt's too big for you, isn't it?' "

He laughed.

"That was the best one," he added. "I didn't laugh then, but some of my teammates did. And in the locker room afterward, we all did."

Yacob is now a 6-foot, 160-pound (maybe) sophomore point guard at Archbishop Carroll High, and Wednesday night, he emerged as one of the heroes in a Catholic League basketball semifinal at the fabled Palestra.

He not only led the Patriots in points, with 18, in what ultimately became a surprisingly easy triumph, 58-45, over La Salle. He also did an outstanding job on the top Explorer, Rider signee Eddie Mitchell, who is likewise a point guard.

"Going back to the time I started playing basketball, people always doubted me," Yacob said. "I mean, they'd say I was pretty good, and had some speed, but also that I was too small and skinny to do anything in high school."

Pause. "I have always used that as motivation."

Yacob was efficient in scoring his points. He went 6-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the line, and 12 markers came on threes.

Pretty good, you're thinking. Four times he went deep . . . Not exactly.

Three times, he went hard for three-point plays and, on at least two of them, he finished with his opposite (left) hand while absorbing major body bumps.

And in the waning moments, he made a play that might have football coach Dan Bielli begging for his 2011 services. At the west end, soph Alec Stavetski fired a long inbound pass. Yacob made a leaping, um, reception just short of the east-end three-point arc and motored in for a layup.

"Nah, no football," he cracked. "I'll be sticking with basketball."

Among others, Yacob (yake-ubb) was particularly disturbed that the Patriots had lost to La Salle on their own floor during the regular season.

"That shouldn't happen," he said. "We had to come in here and turn things around."

Though the quick-footed Mitchell finished with 22 points, the total was a shade misleading. Nine were saved for the fourth quarter, and Mitchell shot just 8-for-18 from the floor.

"I wanted the assignment," he said. "If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I knew he could hurt me with jumpers, but his main thing is that hard drive, and I tried to prevent that."

Carroll took the lead for good, at 29-26, on Yacob's three-point play off a steal and fly-downcourt drive. That lifted his point total to 11, and he wedged seven into the fourth quarter.

The Patriots' other double-figure scorer was senior wing guard Juan'ya Green, a Niagara signee. And the points were part of something quite noteworthy, folks. Green's career total now stands at 1,438, 13 more than 1997 grad Martin Ingelsby. Point No. 4 came on the second part of a two-shot foul 3:54 before halftime.

It was not an anomaly. Green went 12-for-12 at the truly-for-him charity stripe.

When Jay Donovan took a pass from Green (four assists) and hit a trey with 6 minutes left, Carroll claimed a 39-33 lead. Soon, Tracy Peal (eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists) was bullying his way to an inside bucket, and all the Patriots had to do thereafter was treasure the ball and make free throws. Done and done.

For La Salle, Joe Brown totaled 10 points and six rebounds, and Stavetski mostly covered another highly regarded soph, Amar Stukes (four points).

Yacob, who lives in Chester, said he was collared for Carroll by former Patriots star DJ Irving, now a frosh at Boston University. The two formerly lived near each other and attended the same elementary school.

"We were friends," Yacob said. "He came to watch me play and said, 'I think you should come with us.' I thought of a couple places, but Carroll made sense."

So did body expansion.

"My brother told me last summer I had to get stronger," Yosef said. "So I started drinking protein shakes and lifting weights."

Really, he did. You should have seen him in ninth grade.

"I was maybe 135 pounds going into Carroll," he said. *