WEST NORRITON — Archbishop Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk has a good problem on his hands.

On offense, the Patriots usually defer to their All-Catholic League Blue Division backcourt of D.J. Irving and Juan’ya Green. Justifiably so, since they lead the team in scoring.

When Romanczuk needs a little something more — like he did Friday in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs — he turns to Kasheef Festus.

“We always talk about working our offense inside-out to get (Festus) started early,” Romanczuk said following the Patriots’ 56-50 win over Phoenixville at Norristown High School. “… This is what we want to do — get it inside to Kasheef. We feel like we have an advantage with him inside.”

The Patriots certainly did against their first-round foe, the Phantoms.

Festus bullied the District One champions for 20 points and 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. At times, Festus looked indefensible. He went off for 10 of his 20 in the third quarter, when the Pats made a 180-degree turn and made a three-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead.

The 6-5 center’s fourth 20-point effort of the season accomplished two objectives for Carroll (23-3): It extended the Patriots’ season by at least one game and it gave them the first state-playoff win in school history.

Festus hasn’t always played second fiddle for the Patriots. He was their leading scorer a year ago, as a junior. With so much talent on the perimeter, Carroll’s offensive schemes shifted to the outside.

“That’s OK with me,” Festus said. “I get my points off them shooting jump shots and, if they miss, I get the rebounds and score.”

Unfortunately for Festus, Carroll did not miss much in the quarter that changed the game significantly for both teams.

Phoenixville (21-6) usurped the Patriots in the scoring department just prior to halftime, taking a 23-20 lead into the locker room. That made no difference to the Patriots, who knocked down 10 of their 14 shots after the intermission to take a permanent lead.

At one point, it appeared as if the Phantoms wanted to put the finishing touches on Carroll, the third seed out of District 12. With Phoenixville ahead 33-30, forward Mike Matson launched a 3-pointer from the corner that clanged off the rim.

Had it gone down, the game’s final score might have been starkly different. Instead, Irving corralled the rebound and went on a fastbreak that started a 10-0 Carroll run that covered three minutes. Festus and Irving scored every point in that stretch.

The duo led the charge in the third quarter, finishing with 19 of the Patriots’ 23 points in that eight-minute span. Irving made three of his five 3-pointers in the third and finished with 20 points. It was the junior shooting guard’s sixth 20-point game of the season and second in as many games.

Aside from at the free-throw line, Festus did not score outside of 10 feet. He had a field day along the baseline, despite being matched with 6-7 senior Greg Peters.

“The scouting report said he was a shooter and that he didn’t really like banging down low,” Festus said of Peters, who scored 10 points. “I wasn’t worried about him.”

The Phantoms employed a 7-0 run midway through the fourth to pull within three, at 50-47. Corey Gordon’s potential game-tying 3-ball missed and Festus was there to clean up.

While Green, Carroll’s sophomore guard, was quiet on the scoreboard, he made all of his teammates look sterling. Green tossed in eight points and racked up nine assists for the Patriots.

But this was Festus’ night.

“It was too close of a game for (Festus) to not be a leader for us,” Irving said. “We’re a much better team than Phoenixville when me and him are shooting like we did. We had to take over.”

Visit Christopher A. Vito’s high school sports blog, Gettin’ Schooled, at delcotimes.com.