Experience lifts Archbishop Wood over Archbishop Carroll

RADNOR>>As the season begins to come to an end it is often the more experienced and composed teams that come out on top and improve down the stretch. Friday night’s matchup between Archbishop Carroll and Archbishop Wood came down to just that, as the Vikings used their senior leadership to earn a 45-21 Philadelphia Catholic League Victory.

Senior Bailey Greenberg was dominant for Wood, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds to lead her team in both categories. The Drexel commit used her rare blend of size and touch from beyond the arc to beat Carroll in almost every way imaginable.

“She (Greenberg) is just phenomenal,” Wood head coach Mike McDonald said. “She’s really stepped up, she’s leading the team, she’s doing everything we need her to do both on the court and off the court and it’s just been great.”

The game ended with in sort of a blowout fashion, but for the early part Carroll was able to get to the line and give the more experienced Wood team a run for their money.

The first quarter ended with Wood leading just 11-8 and Carroll finding holes in the Viking’s defense, but as the game went on the Patriots seemed to get worn down.

“I think that our inexperience really hurt us tonight as the game went on,” Carroll head coach Thomas Nerney said. “When teams take things away from you like they did tonight the more experienced teams can see that and I don’t think our kids see that that well and it hurt us.”

After scoring eight points in the opening quarter, Carroll’s offense went cold, combining for just six points in the second and third as a three-point lead grew to a 20-point deficit by the start of the fourth.

The Vikings are hitting their stride at the right time. They’ve rebounded from a 4-6 start to win nine in a row and bring their record to 13-6 overall.

This was an especially important win for Wood, too, as it pulled them ahead of Carroll in the PCL standings from fourth to third, putting them in great shape as they prepare for the league tournament.

“This is great,” McDonald said. “It sets us up now where were in a position to have home games all the way up to the quarter finals and we always want to play at home any chance we get so this win sets us up in good position to hopefully get back to the semi’s and see who we play there.”

As for Carroll, even though its a somewhat inexperienced team, with just two seniors on the roster, the Patriots still find themselves in fourth place in the PCL, which is a nice accomplishment in itself.

The problem for them is that it doesn’t get any easier as they close out the regular season with games against Neumann-Goretti, Cardinal O’Hara and Lansdale Catholic.

“We’ve got some really tough games going forward into the playoffs.” Nerney said. “I just think of this young team as the beginning, we’re building.”