It's getting tougher to argue with the sheer numbers … and Juan'ya Green is putting up big ones.

The junior guard/forward scored 21 points, had five rebounds and handed out four assists in Archbishop Carroll's 64-51 PIAA Class AAA second-round victory Tuesday over Danville.

Temple assistant coach Matt Langel was spotted outside Carroll's locker room after the game.

When asked what that meant to him, Green had this to say:
“It's exciting, but I can't give it too much thought right now. I guess it's the way I play that people like. And I think I'm getting better every day, in practice and in games. I'm just playing hard.”

It's worth noting two additional things, for those Temple fans out there: Green, who lives in Conshohocken, grew up in North Philly. The other is that Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk played for Temple coach Fran Dunphy while both were at Penn.

Green said he has offers from Temple, Saint Joseph's, Maryland, George Mason and Boston University. He has gotten interest, as well, from Georgetown, Marquette and Providence.

As for Ben Mingledough, the Patriots' 6-4 senior forward ... If I had to take a guess, I'd say he's headed to St. Peter's (N.J.) The Peacocks' assistant coach, John Morton, made the trek to CD East from their New Jersey campus to see Mingledough. Does that mean a commitment is imminent?

“I haven't made a decision," said Mingledough, who also has an offer from St. Francis (Pa.) "You could say I'm close.” How close? “I don't know," he added. "I can't tell you yet.”

Oh, the intrigue of college recruiting...

For those counting at home, that would bring Carroll's Division I count to three. Senior guard D.J. Irving is headed to Boston University. And, if we're talking total D-I kids from last year's state-title team, the Patriots have four: Kasheef Festus is a freshman at Coppin State.

NOTE: The fifth and final starter from that 08-09 title team - the only one yet to be mentioned in this long, long blog post - was in attendance at Tuesday night's game. Andre Wilburn, who plays at Delaware State, joined the team in the locker room during postgame.

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.

Hey Delco hoops fans: Check out this game story I found while perusing the Web, about a high school boys basketball game in Romeo, Mich.

So get this: Romeo High beats Macomb Area High, 77-71, in overtime over the weekend. But the overtime finish, the game's high scorer, either team's record ... they all are of little consequence.

The game went to overtime when a Macomb Area player knocked down a 3-pointer before the buzzer sounded. He then promptly ran over to the Romeo bench and taunted players and coaches. The ref working the game whistled a technical foul, Romeo hit the free throws to go to the extra session and, there, Romeo won the game.

Stunning, right?

My apologies for not being as frequent a blog posted as I'd like to be ... but you have to admit that my first post in a couple days is a gem.

ON THE LOCAL FRONT
Tuesday is boys basketball notebook day in the Daily Times. Be sure to check it out for a feature story on Archbishop Carroll's Ben Mingledough, who has emerged as a scoring option for coach Paul Romanczuk and the Patriots. And there will be notebook items on teams from the Del Val and Central leagues. So pick up a copy!