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Wood's Bethea earns PA All-State Player of the Year honors. Reed makes second team

Tom Moore, Bucks County Courier Times
·2 min read

The honors keep coming for Archbishop Wood senior Jalil Bethea.

The school's first McDonald's All-American, Bethea was named Pennsylvania State Boys Basketball Class 6A Player of the Year on Wednesday.

The other Bucks County area selections were Archbishop Wood senior Josh Reed (second team), Holy Ghost Prep junior Adrien Varella (Class 5A, third team) and Germantown Academy junior Bryce Rollerson (non-PIAA, first team).

Archbishop Wood's Jalil Bethea (1) drives in for a layup against Lower Merion's Justin Mebane (10) during the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs.
Archbishop Wood's Jalil Bethea (1) drives in for a layup against Lower Merion's Justin Mebane (10) during the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs.

Bethea, a versatile 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 22.7 points, 7 rebounds and shot 88.3 percent from the foul line while earning Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year laurels and repeating as Philadelphia Catholic League MVP. He is a first-team all-state pick for the second straight season after making the second team as a sophomore.

A Miami signee, Bethea is Wood's all-time leading scorer with 1,693 points and ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the class of 2024. He just participated in the Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn.

Boys basketball all-area team: See who made our star-studded Bucks County all-area team

The 6-3 Reed improved his scoring average from 9.2 points as a junior to 18.9 points this season. A Drexel commit, Reed shot 60.7 percent from the field, as well as led the Vikings with 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, and helped Wood reach the PIAA 6A state semifinals once again.

Varella, a 6-3 junior, averaged 20.8 points and 8.5 rebounds for Holy Ghost. He had 30 points in a non-league victory over William Tennent and 24 in a close PIAA Class 5A first-round playoff loss to Upper Moreland.

Archbishop Wood's Josh Reed handles the ball during a PIAA state playoff game against Lower Merion.
Archbishop Wood's Josh Reed handles the ball during a PIAA state playoff game against Lower Merion.

Rollerson, a 5-11 junior, averaged 22.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals and shot 47.9 percent from the field for Germantown Academy. Rollerson averaged 26.6 points in 10 Inter-Academic League games, including 36 in a win over Springside Chestnut Hill, and has already surpassed 1,000 career points.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Boys Basketball: Bethea, Reed, Varella, Rollerson make all-state team