Long-range game lifts Ryan over McDevitt

CAN HIGH SCHOOL basketball players receive detention for disobeying the cheerleaders?

Not at Archbishop Ryan.

One of the gals' favorite cheers, delivered again and again, orders the Raiders to "shoot two!"

"Maybe they should change that to 'shoot three,' " Tyler Reed said.

Reed is a 6-1, 175-pound senior and, though his current position is wing guard, last season he played the point, and he hopes to do so in college. One of these days, he might even process what's being yelled to support him.

Reed, who perhaps was even serious, claimed he was unaware of the cheerleaders' shoot-two chant.

"I'm zoned out when I'm playing." he said. "I don't pay attention to anything the cheerleaders are saying."

Uh, oh. The gals might get angry over that admission.

"I guess we'll find out," Reed said, laughing.

Such a discussion took place Wednesday night at Ryan because the Raiders, as they often do, launched a boatload of treys in a Catholic League game against Bishop McDevitt.

They nailed eight and the result was a 59-50 victory.

Three were posted in the first 99 seconds as Ryan stormed to a 9-1 lead. Bryan Okolo got things started, followed by Gage Galeone and Reed. McDevitt, which opened the game in a 3-2 zone, quickly switched to man-to-man.

"Lots of teams plays us zone," Reed said. "It has happened every game so far in the Catholic League. We have to be the smallest team in the league - we start five guards - and that makes us the hardest to cover.

"It's not easy to chase us around all night [because of a Princeton-style offense]. Teams would rather play us zone and hope we're not hitting our threes. And I guess they figure, with their height advantage, they'll kill us on the boards out of a zone."

Of course, guys do not get credit for rebounds when they catch the ball as it comes out of the net.

Nothing like 65-odd feet worth of swishes to get things rolling.

"I was happy when they went to man-to-man," Reed said. "I haven't been hitting my [long-distance] shots lately, and against man, you do more driving. Plus, we're probably the best Catholic League team against man. We have good chemistry. We all play together. No one's selfish."

Reed did most of his damage in a 30-22 first half, posting seven of his 12 points, two of his three rebounds and four of his five assists. In the second half, he tried only two shots. Good from beyond the arc. Ditto from in front of it.

Galeone and Okolo halved 32 points, while Shawn Miller (10) also scored in double figures. Galeone added three assists and six steals. Okolo and Miller posted matching rebound totals (six) and Brendan Horan dished three assists.

Galeone led the way in Ryan's three-point party with four. Reed and Okolo connected on two apiece. Overall, the Raiders were 8-for-18 from Out-ThereVille.

Again and again, McDevitt scrambled within five to six points only to see the Raiders, like clockwork, up the spread to 10.

"I did notice that," Reed said. "I kept hoping we wouldn't let it go below 10. But when it did, at least we answered right away."

For McDevitt, Tyrell Long (16), Kenyatta Long (12; no relation) and Carl Garner (10) reached double figures in points, and T. Long snagged 10 rebounds.

Reed is playing his senior season with a handicap.

"I have tendinitis in both knees," he said. "The doctors gave me some medication and I'm doing a lot of icing. The pain's not really the dull kind. It's the sharp kind. Sometimes, I'll wake up in the middle of the night and my knees are just throbbing. I'm getting through it, though."

Reed said he did not mind granting coach Bernie Rogers' wish to move to the wing (Galeone is now the point) "because I figured it would up my scoring a little." Down the road, however, "I'll be looking to get back to the point, because I feel that's my natural position."

Reed, who lives near Bustleton Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, is being eyed by King's and Delaware Valley, among others. Because he's good with numbers, he wants to major in accounting.

He was aware of this long ago: Threes are greater than twos. Who knows? Maybe he'll even inform the cheerleaders.