Teamwork key as Archbishop Wood tops Neumann-Goretti in first-place PCL Red duel

WARMINSTER >> It started with a three that rattled off the rim a couple times before going in, but once Archbishop Wood and Neumann-Goretti got going Tuesday night, they weren’t slowing down.

The first meeting of the season between the two teams atop the PCL girls basketball Red Division lived up to the billing, with a four-a-half-minute stretch in the third quarter giving the combined talents of both teams a chance to really show off. Daring shots, tough takes to the rim, clutch makes and difficult conversions went back and forth as the visiting Saints and host Vikings battled for first place.

Spurred by a huge night from junior Kaitlyn Orihel, Wood out-dueled Diamond Johnson and Neumann-Goretti for a 71-60 win to stay unbeaten in PCL play.

“It was a little different than a typical Wood game,” Vikings coach Mike McDonald said. “There were a lot of talented kids on the floor. Kaitlyn I thought played awesome, she was really, really good the whole game and in the second chance, we started limiting their second chance opportunities.”

Wood (11-5, 7-0 PCL Red) senior Izzy Larson said she couldn’t wait to get on the floor and had been looking forward to the matchup with the Saints (10-6, 6-1 PCL Red) for a while. The forward, in her first year at Wood, has found the PCL to be everything she hoped for and more with Tuesday’s packed house adding to the energy around the game.

Likewise, Vikings sophomore Ryanne Allen couldn’t hold back her anticipation. Wood hosted a number of local grade school teams and Allen said a bunch of young players either texted or messaged her to say they were coming to the game.

“Having all the little kids here, they look up to us and a lot of them told me they were coming, so I wanted to get a win for them,” Allen said.

“The energy is insane, I’ve never been in a gym for a girls high school basketball game that had so much support and so much energy,” Larsen said. “The history and rivalry, you can see it through everything you do when you play and it makes for a really special atmosphere.”

The Vikings knew their efforts would start with trying to keep Saints senior Diamond Johnson somewhat in check. Johnson, a Rutgers recruit and the 2018 Gatorade PA Player of the Year, had a 54-point game and twice eclipsed 40 points this season so nobody on Wood was expecting to keep her scoreless.

Orihel and sophomore Bri Bowen took most of the shifts guarding Johnson, a 5-foot-5 guard with unlimited range but plenty of quickness, strength and craftiness to get to the rim. Larsen said the idea was to cut off the lane and try to hold Johnson to outside shooting, but the Neumann-Goretti senior wasn’t deterred by a hand in her face.

“She’s Diamond Johnson, you’re not going to limit her to zero points,” Orihel said. “You want to make those shots as hard as you can and when she’s shooting over you all the way out there, there’s only so much you can do about that. It’s the easy layups inside you want to try and stop as much as you can.”

“She’s taking NBA range threes and more power to her that she’s putting those in but that’s the shot we want her taking,” Larsen said. “If we’re going to make her make anything, it’s going to be those.”

Johnson scored 11 of her team-high 29 points in the first half but where Neumann-Goretti really shined was second chances. The Saints, including Sierra Bermudez, Christa Ricks and Omolye Jordan, were just more physical and determined to rebound the ball, leading to plenty of second shots and many of them wide open with Wood’s defense scrambling.

Two hustle plays, the first leading to a Shannon Morgan layup and the second Morgan ripping the ball loose for a steal and hitting Orihel for a runout layup, put Wood ahead 27-25 at the break.

Orihel, who led all scorers with 32 points, thrived in the physical game and said she came out of the half looking to build on the team’s narrow lead. A driving and-one and a pair of free throws the next possession put the Vikings up 35-27 but only set the stage for the fireworks to come.

“It makes you want to work even harder,” Orihel said. “When they’re pushing you around, they don’t expect you to push back. When you push back, it brings you energy.”

Allen’s night got off to a slow start, with the sharpshooting sophomore netting just two points in the first half and missing her first five 3-point tries. Sometimes, all it takes is one to go down and that was all Allen needed when, after a couple helpful bounces off the rim, she got a three to drop with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

That was the kickoff to a frenetic finish to the frame, with both teams trading shot for shot. Johnson answered with a three, only for Orihel, who went 11-of-15 overall, to respond with an and-one to put Wood up 41-35.

After Johnson hit two at the line, Bowen found Allen for three with 2:49 to go to kick off a series of six straight 3-pointers between the two teams over the  next 1:29 capped when Johnson found Mihjae Hayes (16 points) off a drive-and-kick.

“I was struggling in the first half and knew I needed to knock down some shots,” Allen said. “Once I hit that first, I had the momentum going to knock down the rest.”

Allen hit 4-of-8 from long range in the quarter, including a quick-fire trey off Linday Tretter’s pass in the final seconds to cap the flurry of scoring and put Wood ahead 55-46. The sophomore stayed locked in, scoring 20 of her 22 in the second half including eight key fourth quarter points.

“Once one goes in, I know I can shoot it and I just have to keep stroking it and they’re going to go in,” Allen said. “We just have to keep playing like a team like we always have, share the ball, get open shots for the people who can knock down shots. Kaitlyn, we got the ball in her hands, she made big plays and we just found each other.”

For all of Wood’s offensive proficiency, the Vikings’ lead was just 55-52 after Hayes and Johnson buried threes to open the final quarter. Allen drew a foul shooting a three with 5:47 left, knocking down all three at the line but Hayes just came back with a trey.

No matter what Wood did, the Saints had an answer and it was still only a three point lead with 2:19 left when Johnson unselfishly gave up the ball for a Bermudez three in the corner. Johnson hit seven 3-pointers in the game and was 6-of-8 from the floor in the second half.

“Composure and team ball, we play the most team-oriented basketball of any team I’ve been on so far,” Larsen said. “We made sure we kept our heads on straight because it was a three-point game. If you see that and it rattles you, that’s when you start missing free throws and that’s when those games get tight.

“We pulled away because we stayed composed.”

Orihel, who ended the night with 990 career points, made four straight free throws to put Wood up seven. Bowen made one of the key plays of the game, stealing the ball away from Johnson and taking it in for a layup with 45 seconds to play and all but seal the victory.

Tuesday’s win gave Wood possession of first place in the Red Division but by no means sealed anything up. The teams will meet again at Neumann-Goretti on Feb. 1 and both squads have a handful of division games left, including Wood’s showdown with Archbishop Carroll on Sunday at Jefferson University.

Orihel said it was a win worth celebrating but once the team gets back to the gym on Wednesday, it’s back to work. She added that the Saints took plenty of incentive with them and they’ll have some new tweaks ready in a couple weeks for Round 2.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Larsen said. “If anything, it just lit a fire under them to come after us even harder when we play them in February.”

“Being excited about a win makes you feel good and it trickles into other games,” McDonald said. “It’s also important for us to focus in practice still. When you show up to practice, you’re not giddy about the last game, you’re focused on getting better and that usually takes care of itself.”

ARCHBISHOP WOOD 71, NEUMANN-GORETTI 60
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 12 15 28 16 – 71
NEUMANN-GORETTI 14 11 21 14 – 60
Archbishop Wood: Izzy Larsen 4 1-1 9, Kaitlyn Orihel 11 8-8 32, Ryanne Allen 6 5-5 22, Lindsay Tretter 0 1-2 1, Bri Bowen 2 1-2 5, Shannon Morgan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 16-18 71.
Neumann-Goretti: Mihjae Hayes 6 0-2 16, Diamond Johnson 9 4-4 29, Omolye Johnson 2 0-0 5, Sierra Bermudez 3 0-0 8, Christa Ricks 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 4-6 60.
3-pointers: AW – Allen 5, Orihel 2; NG – Johnson 7, Hayes 4, Bermudez 2, Jordan.