PHILADELPHIA – If at first you don’t succeed, try again. And then try some more. And keep trying until victory is claimed.

That’s exactly what Carroll did on Friday night as the Pats finally claimed victory over their rival, Neumann-Goretti. Carroll used a 13-point third quarter performance from D.J. Irving to upset the Saints, 70-65, in the PIAA Class AAA state tournament quarterfinals.

Irving stood out in the fourth quarter when it counted the most. The Saints were bringing plenty of fire power, as they went on a 7-2 run with 3:41 remaining to put the Patriots on their heels. The Pats saw their lead diminished to three (58-55). (SEE SLIDESHOW AT LINK BELOW.)

“I knew if we played very well we had a shot at stealing the game,” said Carroll head coach Paul Romanczuk. “I am glad our guys came out the locker room with confidence.”

Irving clearly came into the game with confidence. After Juan’ya Green converted one of his five free throws of the quarter to put the Patriots up 62-59 with 1:40 remaining, a second Carroll starter fouled out on the next possession. Now with two senior starters on the bench, Irving, who is a junior, became the leader.

With just a minute left in the game the guard went to the charity stripe and nailed two free throws to finally give the Patriots a five-point cushion. He finished the game with 26 points.

“I was thinking if I miss they could hit a three and it’s tied up,” Irving said afterwards. “I knew I had to make one, at least one.”

Instead he made two, and helped the Patriots advance in the PIAA state tourney.

“D.J. is huge, he comes up big when we need him,” said Andre Wilburn who finished with 14 points.  (SEE SLIDESHOW AT LINK BELOW.)

In the third quarter the Patriots came out soaring. Ben Mingledough converted a free throw which capped a 5-0 Carroll run. After the Saints tied the game at 31, Carroll used Irving to go on the offensive attack. Irving scored eight points in a two minute span to cap a 10-2 Carroll run with 1:30 remaining in the quarter.

Irving then put an exclamation point on his third quarter performance as he ended the third with a half court shot to send the Patriots up 44-39.

Green called the third quarter “a big quarter,” which helped the Pats come away with the win. “It was an important quarter for us to make a statement,” Green said.

Despite his nervousness as the game progressed in the third, Irving said he knew what his team had to do to escape with a win. “We had to make a push,” he said of the Patriots’ mission in the third quarter. “We buckled our seatbelts and ran with it.”

Both teams were tied at 24 at the half as Irving finished with seven points at intermission, while Green went into the locker with six points.

While many may be surprised that Irving was the go-to-guy in this game, Romanczuk was certainly not shocked. He knew what his junior guard was capable off. “He is someone when the game gets bigger and the moments get tighter he gets calmer,” said Romanczuk. “He is big shot D.J. His play tonight did not surprise me.”

Though Carroll struggled with Neumann-Goretti this season, losing two of three games, this win was not only revenge, but the icing on the cake. Neumann-Goretti is going home while Carroll moves forward.

“They were in our way and we had to beat them,” said Wilburn. “It feels good to beat them. I can’t explain how happy I am right now. We wanted to beat these guys all season.”

“It feels good to win this game,” added Green. “They have been on a winning streak so I feel glad we were able to knock them off.”

Even with the celebration the Patriots were quick to note this is just one step closer to a state championship.

“I am so proud of the guys,” said Romanczuk. “Hopefully this emotion will carry over into our next game. This isn’t our end goal even though it was great win.”

Irving echoed his coach’s message.

“This isn’t the championship game,” said Irving. “We still got two games left.”