So Archbishop Carroll, minus two of its best players, hung on for a 48-43 victory Wednesday over Simon Gratz. The win does a number of things for the Patriots:

*** It assured them of District 12's third and final slot in the upcoming Class AAA tournament.
*** It guarantees that they'll have a chance to defend their state title.
*** It grants extensions to the careers of seniors D.J. Irving and Ben Mingledough, who missed the play-in game for varying reasons. (See previous posts)

Without Irving and Mingledough, the Patriots had to go young. Just how raw was Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk's lineup?

A first-time starter, freshman Yosef Yacob needed to be coached on how to bump fists with the game's officials following introductions. At first, he broke the huddle and went back toward the Carroll bench.

"He went to shake my hand," Romanczuk said. "It was obvious he had never started before."

And junior guard/forward Juan'ya Green, a first-time captain, knew little of the goings-on in the pregame meeting at midcourt.

"There was a funny exchange at center court, with the captains and coaches there," Romanczuk continued. "(The officials) asked who the speaking captain was for us and Juan'ya was the only one out there who was going to play and D.J was the other one, so Juan'ya raised his hand and said, 'I'm No. 10.'

"The officials said, 'We still need to see your jersey.' So usually the captains pull up their (warmups) and show their jerseys. But Juan'ya didn't grasp that concept because that's the first time he's ever been out there for a captains' meeting."

Either way, the Patriots move on. And, according to their coach, "they matured" Wednesday.