Jaylen Stinson’s defense helps Archbishop Wood advance past Holy Ghost Prep in Class 5A playoffs

Stat sheets lie.

Friday night at Archbishop Carroll, Jaylen Stinson didn’t shoot well, got beat on defense several times, turned the ball over, nearly fouled out, and was arguably the key to Archbishop Wood’s 52-41 Class 5A first-round victory against Holy Ghost Prep.

Wood will face District 1’s Penncrest on Tuesday at a time and locale to be determined.

Stinson, a 5-foot-11 sophomore who had led the Vikings in scoring in four of their last five games, was relentless on defense.

He had no choice.

Holy Ghost senior point guard Greg Sylvester happens suddenly on the basketball court.

And Wood coach John Mosco was well aware.

“The game plan was just to stay attached to him, pressure him, get him tired,” Mosco said. “Because I don’t think ... they’ve seen guards like we have.”

To be fair, few have seen Wood’s guards, lately.

The Vikings (17-8) have played just twice since Feb. 15, when they lost to McDevitt in the Catholic League semifinals.

Wood did beat Mastery North on March 2 in the Class 5A District 12 title game.

Rust, however, was apparent early Friday night.

That is until defense changed the game after a nine-all tie through the first quarter.

“Our motto right now is to not be satisfied and keep pushing,” said Stinson.

A thunderous, two-handed dunk by Wood sophomore Daeshon Shepherd opened the second quarter. Defensive pressure followed. Soon after, Wood built a nine-point lead.

A few quick offensive triggers, however, helped the District 1 No. 6-seed Firebirds (20-10) get within 27-22 at the half.

Sylvester, who finished with eight points, five rebounds, and five assists, beat Stinson off the dribble several times early, making plays for himself and others.

But nearly every time Sylvester brought the ball back up the court, Stinson hounded him for all 94 feet.

“He’s a good player,” Stinson said. “A lot of moves, a lot of fakes.”

Later, he added: “Every time he beat me it was just, ‘Get right back at him; get right back at him.’ It’s competing, basically. I don’t want to get ‘chumped’ out here, you know?”

Stinson, who finished with four steals, took a charge on Sylvester in the second quarter that led to another Shepherd dunk.

Yet Stinson shot only 1-for -7 from the field and finished with eight points, mostly from a 6-for-9 effort at the foul line.

Separating his offensive performance from his defensive effort is something new, Stinson said.

Sermons from the good book of defense preached by his father, Marvin Stinson, and uncle Tahar Sutton, the Imhotep assistant known to whip the Panthers into a defensive frenzy, finally made Stinson see the light.

“It’s really hard,” Mosco said of not letting offense affect defense, “because we didn’t get that kind of production [consistently] from all our guys. They think that once the ball doesn’t go in, the game’s over.”

“We try to preach you can do more than score to help us,” he added.

Ultra-slick sophomore Rahsool Diggins led the Vikings with 16 points (6-for-11 overall). Diggins also spelled Stinson defensively on Sylvester at times.

Shepherd finished with 11 points, while fellow sophomore Muneer Newton added 10 points and energy off the bench.

Tyler Mish led Holy Ghost with 17 points (5-for-5 from three).

Perhaps from exertion, Sylvester’s speed and verve seemed to wane late, which meant several empty trips for Holy Ghost.

The ovation he and his senior teammates received from their fans as they subbed out with 45 seconds left and their loss no longer in doubt was well-earned.

According to Mosco, so is a good night’s sleep.

As he subbed out Stinson in the final seconds, Mosco embraced the sophomore, and whispered in his ear.

“I just told him that he won the game,” Mosco said. “It doesn’t matter about points. ‘’That kid’s gonna sleep well tonight, because you tortured him up and down the court tonight.’ ”

Holy Ghost 9 13 6 13 -- 41

Archbishop Wood 9 18 9 16 -- 52

W: Rahsool Diggins 16, Jaylen Stinson 8, Julius Phillips 5, Muneer Newton 10, Daeshon Shepherd 11, Brendan Kersey 2.

HG: Greg Sylvester 8, Tyler Mish 17, Jack. Rittenmeyer 5, Jack Calvin 3, Sean Sylvester 2, Sean Elliot 4, Marco Dimitriadis 2.

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