Despite a season-ending loss to Imhotep, the future is bright for Archbishop Ryan boys’ basketball

Fans inside St. Joseph’s Preparatory School gym gripped the edge of the bleachers, nearly coming to their feet after Archbishop Ryan’s Michael “Zaire” Paris’ one-handed, arcing layup Monday night.

The senior gave his team a 25-24 lead over Imhotep Charter (29-3), the No. 5 high school boys’ basketball team in the nation. While Imhotep reclaimed a 26-25 lead by the first-half buzzer, that moment showed Ryan’s potential to upset the Panthers in the PIAA 5A semifinals.

That potential, however, was never realized. Imhotep went on a second-half surge to take home a 72-50 victory, sending the Panthers to their second-straight state championship appearance. Imhotep will take on Exeter Township at 8 p.m. Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

» READ MORE: How Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber became the center of attention for college basketball coaches

Despite Ryan’s season ending, the Raiders (17-11) have plenty to build off of and proved that they can hang with the area’s top teams.

“We’re proud of them because one thing about this team, every game they play, they lay it all out there,” Ryan coach Joe Zeglinski said Monday. “They don’t want to give up at the end there.

“They love to compete, and that’s the guys who you want to coach. It was definitely a fun year coaching those guys, and we played a really tough nonleague schedule, but our record doesn’t really indicate how good this team was.”

Among the team’s leaders was Thomas Sorber, an uncommitted junior who’s drawn offers from Maryland, Penn State, and Villanova. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 17.8 points and 11.2 rebounds.

They’ll also have junior returner Darren Williams. The guard, who has Division I offers from the likes of Florida Gulf Coast, is one of the top scorers in the Philadelphia Catholic League and had a season-high 28-point performance in the team’s upset over then-unbeaten Radnor in the quarterfinals last week.

Sorber and Williams will be big contributors in the future, but the team also returns core players like guards Rocco Morabito and Christian Durham, who Ryan was without during its run because of PIAA transfer rules. The two joined the school last offseason.

Other key rotational players include Ryan Everett, who had nine points, including two three-pointers, against Imhotep, and 6-foot-6 forward Jaden Murray.

“A lot of our guys grew up in the last month or so,” Zeglinski said. “We’re looking forward to it, obviously, but right now, this one’s going to hurt for a little bit because I thought if we were able to control the ball and not let [Imhotep] get that one run, we were going to be in it.”

Monday’s semifinal game wasn’t the first time Ryan came close to a championship.

Last season, the Raiders made their first PCL final appearance since 2008 but were left still searching for their first-ever title after falling to Neumann Goretti. Zeglinski has led Ryan to seven state tournaments, and it moved on to the final in the 2020-21 season.

This year, though, progress was evident. The Raiders won 10 PCL games and finished top three in the league. Their accomplishments, Zeglinski said, are expected, moving forward with the goal of finishing on the winning end.

“We’re not surprised by it,” Zeglinski said. “We are expected to compete and win every game you play. That’s the mindset going into this season and into every game this year. ... We made a great run in states.”