Mar 25, 2023 5 min read

HERSHEY – The Archbishop Wood girls basketball program is as much a part of the PIAA Championships as the Giant Center and Hersheypark area. The Vikings have been to the state finals 11 times since 2010. Their players are battle-tested, skilled and confident.

Despite all the good things South Fayette has done on the basketball court over the last two seasons, including winning back-to-back WPIAL championships, playing in the state finals Saturday night was a new experience for the Lions. It was their first trip to the PIAA title game and head coach Bryan Bennett could tell his players were caught up in the moment during the game’s early stages, and that’s when Archbishop Wood took control of the game and never let go.

Archbishop Wood made five three-point baskets in the game’s first nine minutes, shot 71 percent from the field in the first half and went on to a 61-54 victory over the Lions to win the Class 5A championship before 1,270 at the Giant Center.

It is the eighth PIAA title for Archbishop Wood and the third in a row. The Vikings won the Class 4A titles in each of the two previous seasons.

“Our team is experienced. They have been through it before,” Archbishop Wood head coach Mike McDonald said. “We’ve played in a lot of big games. Our seven seniors have that leadership and maturity that you need. They were ready. Sometimes a season can wear you down, but reaching the final game you can relax you and you play free and loose.”

And The Vikings played well, especially in the first half, when they made 15 of 21 shots and raced to leads of 22-12 after one quarter and 37-24 at halftime.

“I think nerves were a huge factor in the first half,” South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett admitted. “There was a lot of self-destruction. I don’t think our communication on defense was as good as it could have been.”

Archbishop Wood (25-5) made four three-pointers in the first quarter that staked the Vikings, who have the well-earned reputation of being a defensive-oriented team, to a 20-8 lead. One of the three-pointers was a banked-in shot by Deja Evans, the Vikings’ top low-post threat and a University of Albany recruit.

“We have some good shooters this year,” McDonald said. “Getting out to that good start, we gained confidence. Just seeing the ball go through the net you feel good about it and you build confidence.”

The Vikings, the District 12 champions, made seven of 14 three-point attempts.

South Fayette (28-3), which lost for the first time in 2023 and had its 22-game winning streak snapped, had trouble scoring in the first half. Archbishop Wood’s defensive specialist Delaney Finnegan played tough man-to-man defense on Lions standout Maddie Webber and held her to only 11 points, three coming on a shot at the final buzzer. Finnegan’s defense made Webber a distributor in the Lions’ offense instead of a scorer.

“We wanted to keep the ball out of (Webber’s) hands,” McDonald said. “We didn’t want her to go off for 30 points. When she got the ball, we ran double teams at her.”

Bennett said he expected Finnegan to be matched against Webber, but the Vikings often ran two, and sometimes three, players at the Lions’ leading scorer in an attempt to make her pass.

“They collapsed a lot and took away Maddie’s drives,” Bennett added. “She missed some shots that she usually makes.”

After Archbishop Wood’s big first quarter, South Fayette outscored the Vikings the rest of the way. One reason for that was the play of junior forward Erica Hall, who led the Lions with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

“We noticed No. 30 (Emily Knouse) struggled to guard in the first half so our game plan in the second half was for Erica to drive to the basketball,” Bennett explained.

Each time South Fayette would made consecutive baskets and seemingly gain some momentum, Archbishop Wood would counter with either a driving basket by point guard Ava Renninger, who scored a game-high 21 points, or a three-pointer by Knouse or Kara Meredith (13 points).

South Fayette’s Ava Leroux fed Rachel Black for a basket and then made a jump shot that pulled South Fayette to within 39-30, but Evans converted a three-point play to push the lead back to double digits.

A layup by Leroux and a drive and basket by Webber cut the Vikings’ lead to 42-34, but Meredith and Knouse made consecutive three-pointers and it was suddenly a 14-point game.

It wasn’t until South Fayette switched to a full-court press – something the Lions have rarely had to use this season – in the fourth quarter that they made a run at the Vikings.

A free throw by Julianna Rossi and Juliette Leroux’s basket after grabbing an offensive rebound trimmed Wood’s lead to 52-42. Two baskets by Hall pulled South Fayette to within 56-48 with 1:16 remaining and Ava Leroux followed with a three-pointer that made it 56-51.

Renninger, however, made three of four free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

“We had multiple opportunities but shot ourselves in the foot,” Bennett said. “Our kids fought hard. If we could play them again maybe it’s a different outcome, but it just wasn’t our night. These kids aren’t quitters and they were going to fight to the end. Once the emotion of this settles down, they’ll realize that they had a great season.”