Archbishop Wood bounces back with easy win over Academy at Palumbo

PHILADELPHIA >> The Archbishop Wood girls basketball team wanted to put its Philadelphia Catholic League championship overtime loss against Archbishop Carroll in the rearview mirror.

The Vikings had the opportunity to get on the court before starting their PIAA Class-5A state playoff run and took advantage Wednesday evening against the Academy at Palumbo.

Wood got back on the right track with a dominant 60-26 win at Archbishop Ryan High School to claim the third seed in District 12.

“We wanted to see where we were at mentally,” Wood coach Mike McDonald said. “It was a tough game Monday night, just bouncing back to make sure we’re getting things going. I think these kids are aware that they still have another chance to win a state championship. This game gets our feet wet a little bit and then we’ll have a bunch of practices and hopefully a scrimmage before our first state game.”

“We came into this knowing we had to get the win,” sophomore Kaitlyn Orihel said, “especially coming off of Monday to get us rolling into states and move on from Monday. It was a good starter game to get us into states and hopefully we make a run there.”

It didn’t take long for Wood (15-11) to assert its dominance. Orihel scored seven points in the first quarter while Ryanne Allen had six to help build a 10-point lead, 16-6, after eight minutes.

The Vikings completely blew away the Lady Griffins in the second, winning the frame, 21-7, to take a 37-13 lead into halftime.

They increased the lead to 35 points, 54-19, after three quarters before cruising to the 60-26 final score.

Orihel scored a game-high 16 points and Lindsay Tretter joined her in double figures with 12 points. Annie Whalen added nine.

The playoffs start Saturday March 9. Wood will face the third-place finisher from District 1.