Bench sparks Archbishop Wood to PIAA AAA semifinal win over Berks Catholic
ROYERSFORD >> It was a scenario the Archbishop Wood girls’ basketball team has not found itself in many times the past two months.
The Vikings had started slow and were trailing Berks Catholic by five in the first quarter. Then coach Mike McDonald summoned his bench players and things turned around very quickly. Buoyed by the reserves, the starters got things together and just like that, Wood looked like Wood again.
The ball zipped, shots fell and the defense shut down another team as Wood routed Berks Catholic 61-37 in a PIAA Class AAA semifinal at Spring-Ford High School. With the win, the Vikings return to the state title game for the third year in a row.
“There’s nothing I really think about and I don’t think Meg (Neher) or Shannon (May) thinks about it either, our teammates just create the opportunity for us so we try to capitalize on it,” reserve junior guard Karly Brown said. “I saw it was 6-1 and I got a little scared. I’ve noticed the more that we don’t think about our game, the better we play. We just have to get into a flow for the game and take it from there.”
The Saints gave Wood something it hadn’t seen in a while by putting a big and physical front line out on the floor. Berks Catholic center Devon Merritt was an early catalyst, scoring six of the team’s first 10 points while guard Taylor Keys slid into a second fiddle supportive role. Merritt, who stands 6-foot-2, caused the Vikings defense some early troubles before the bench unit stabilized things.
After Berks took an 8-6 lead with 4:27 left in the first, Brown canned a 3-pointer off a May assist, then Neher scored at the rim and Brown followed a Merritt hoop with four straight points. Wood led 17-10 after one, then put the clamps down in a 12-3 second quarter.
“It made us all realize we had the crash the boards harder and rebound as well as push the ball a little more,” senior guard Claire Bassetti said. “We have scrappy guards who will run the floor hard if you get the rebound.”
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Merritt had one bucket in the second, but otherwise she stopped getting post touches as Wood’s defense got its act together.
“She’s a strong, tough kid who goes after the ball hard,” McDonald said. “I think it was our kids really realized ‘I have to put my body between her and the ball.’ The guards pinched down on Merritt a little bit more.”
Connolly to Greenberg inside Q4 @PaPrepLive pic.twitter.com/A38QYynEbw
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Brown said it was a bit of a calculated risk to sink in on Berks’ post players but it paid off. Merritt finished with 18 of the Saints’ 29, but no other player got more than eight points.
Wood’s entire guard unit has a knack for collecting rebounds, even with center Kate Connolly and forwards Katie May and Bailey Greenberg roaming around the paint. Shannon May said that was a point of emphasis coming in off the bench, take away Berks Catholic’s second-chance shots and the Saints would stop scoring.
“That was their strength,” May said. “It’s wanting to get the ball, it’s not our ability to jump because I definitely can not jump that high. If you want it, you can go get it, it’s all in your head.”
Wood’s offense hit a rough patch in the third quarter, losing the frame 16-13 to the Saints. Merritt got back on track in the period, scoring 10 points while Greenberg put in six of her team-high 16 to keep the team afloat. But Wood came out with a statement start in the fourth, with Bassetti finding May for a layup on a pocket pass, then swinging the ball to Connolly for a 3-pointer.
After a Saints hoop, Greenberg kicked off a 7-0 run by finding Connolly for 3, assisting Cassie Sebold then scoring a hoop of her own to basically ice the game. Brown and May both finished with seven off the bench while Neher chipped in two plus a late basket by Emma Stanfield gave Wood an 18-point bench scoring night.
“My mental game isn’t always too tough, I’m not that confident out there but this game I tried just not thinking about anything,” Brown said. “I just played. Whenever I’ve done that,
I’ve played pretty well in my games and I think the whole team, when they’re not thinking about things, they play well too.”
The Vikings will face District 10 champion Villa Maria in the state final on Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
“We’ve been to the Palestra and got through that one with a ‘W’, so we’re looking to do the same with this one,” Bassetti said. “Bailey and I are determined. We want this for us as seniors but also for our team because all the girls work so hard at practice and want to win this for us.”
