HERSHEY — Roll Vikings, Four-ever.
The number four holds a lot of significance for Ava Renninger. She’s the fourth of four siblings, the reason she wears No. 4 on her Archbishop Wood uniform and the meaning behind the small Roman numeral IV tattoo on her right bicep. Saturday night, it also held significance of the prize in her final high school basketball game.
Renninger and the Vikings made history, defeating Cathedral Prep 37-27 in the Class 5A final for their fourth straight PIAA title and the program’s ninth overall, the most in state history.
“It’s kind of ironic it lined up that way,” Renninger said. “I didn’t know it was going to be history or a four-peat but it just happened to work out that way. It’s pretty cool.
“I guess it was meant to be.”
The Vikings became the first team since Allentown Central Catholic from 2001-04 to quad-peat as state champions. Their ninth overall title moved them past Bishop Guilfoyle and North Catholic for first all-time in PIAA history.
Wood’s victory was the team’s most impressive of this latest state title run. Not only did the Vikings have to defeat the District 10 champion, they had to do it giving up a significant amount of size to a front line featuring 6-foot Jayden McBride (Georgetown) and 6-foot-2 Addie Biel plus a talented point guard in Lena Walz (St. Bonaventure).
Through some combination of the Ramblers’ size and the jitters that come with that first quarter in the Giant Center, Wood didn’t look like Wood through eight minutes. The Vikings fell behind 7-0 and usually steady finishers like Alexa Windish and Lauren Greer missed looks around the rim.
“I, unfortunately, am our biggest player and their biggest players were a lot bigger, a lot more physical,” Wood junior Emily Knouse said. “I think the biggest thing for me was I recognized I didn’t have to go to the basket every time and have my stuff swatted into the stands, I could play my usual game and knock a few threes down, which I did.”
Knouse put in another yeoman’s effort, the St. Joe’s recruit scoring a game-high 12 and ripping eight rebounds while sizing up on the defensive end. Knouse gave Wood a pair of leads in the second quarter, then hit the game-tying three in the third that kicked off the Vikings’ go-ahead 8-0 run.
She and Renninger settled in and played confidently, as expected from two of the team’s captains. Once they got their teammates to follow suit, it all turned around for the Vikings.
Coach Mike McDonald’s halftime message was simple enough. For as poorly as Wood had played offensively, it was a 16-16 game.
“Once we figured out what we needed to do, we were fortunate enough it was still a close game, if we locked down on defense then our shots were going to fall,” Renninger said. “Once we got momentum on defense, got a few stops, we were going to be able to pick it up.”
Greer was a bit frustrated at halftime. The senior had been pouring her all into defending McBride but her shot had betrayed her a bit, the co-captain 0-of-3 from three in the first half.
Renninger, ever the point guard, found Greer at half and told her teammate to keep shooting. She, Greer and Windish hadn’t stayed every day after practice and done all those shooting reps to lose confidence now and Renninger let Greer know the ball would be coming her way.
So it was, Renninger finding Greer at the top of the key, following a Wood offensive rebound and Greer nailing the go-ahead triple, then scoring off a back cut and dish from Makayla Finnegan to cap an 8-0 turnaround run.
“We put the history side apart but I was hit by it in the line for medals, definitely shedding a few tears,” Greer, who played her final game, said. “That was because we put in so much work to get here and it feels so rewarding we can leave with a triple crown getting the PCL, district and states.
“There’s so much to be happy and thankful for.”
McDonald called Greer’s three a key moment in the game. It forced the 6-foot-2 Biel out of the lane and put enough space in the Ramblers’ defense to ease some of Wood’s scoring trouble.
Greer has opted not to play in college, saying she’ll be attending St. Joe’s and focusing on her academic pursuits. She goes out with a senior state run that won’t be soon forgotten and not just because it led for four straight titles or a state-record ninth for the program.
On Saturday, Greer held McBride to six points on 3-of-10 shooting. That followed a game where she flummoxed Bethlehem Catholic’s Cici Hernandez to 2-of-11 shooting and five points, lockdown efforts on two all-state players.
Windish lauded Greer, calling her teammate and friend an example of everything Wood’s program is about. While Windish had a quiet offensive game with four points, the Kutztown recruit similarly worked her way up and made the most of her final run.
“It’s a mentality,” Windish said. “We want to win. We want it for ourselves. It all came from within ourselves as a team, everyone was hyper-focused on winning championships this year and that’s a big reason why we ended up being so successful.”
McDonald, who won his sixth state title leading the Vikings, wasn’t surprised this group found a way.
“There’s been a long-standing culture at Wood where they play the game the right way, play the game to win and people buy in and work hard all year round to do it,” McDonald said. “This group of seniors, Lex and Lauren, have been here for all four of them. It’s an incredible thing to tell your kids that they’re on one of two girls’ basketball teams to have ever won four in a row (in Pennsylvania).”
There was still one more big shot to be hit. In a sort of passing of the torch moment, it came from one of the team’s eight freshmen.
After Walz sank a three in the fourth to cut Wood’s lead to 27-26, Renninger picked out Makayla Finnegan open in the corner in front of Wood’s bench.
The freshman, a spectator in Hershey last year when her sister Delaney helped win the third straight, had no hesitation. Her three was pure, Wood’s lead was four and the Vikings were on their way to four in a row.
“We needed that shot, so I just shot it,” Finnegan said. “My teammates really helped me, they gave me the confidence and they passed the ball to me, so they trust me.”
The Vikings have a tradition after a big win, they gather together and recite their “Can’t chop Wood, can’t chop it” chant. Despite being the smaller team Saturday, Cathedral Prep couldn’t chop down Wood either.
The chant originated two years ago when Windish was a senior. Leaving their state semifinal game, where a boisterous student section in lumberjack garb had plenty of “Chop Wood” signs, the guard started reciting it to herself.
It stuck.
“I was walking out with Kara Meredith singing it to myself and she said ‘that’s so good, we have to sing that,’ we taught it to everyone on the bus, we kept doing it and it became a thing,” Windish said. “It’s just super-catchy, it’s a tradition now. I wasn’t trying to make anything out of it but here we are and we do it every time.
“That being the last one, I’m a little bit upset, but I hope they carry it on. Hopefully there’s a new ringleader.”
When her family moved to Yardley between her freshman and sophomore years, Renninger knew Wood won and won a lot. She wanted to be a part of that, but the guard had no idea what trip the next three years would take her on.
She’ll play at FDU next year, but there will always be a door open for her in Warminster when she wants it. Renninger got the IV tattooed on her arm to symbolize her family.
Thanks to Saturday’s win, it’ll be a symbol of two families she’ll always be linked with.
“They’ve been a home away from home for me and a second family for me,” Renninger said. “I’m forever grateful to be a Wood Viking and a part of this team forever.”
Archbishop Wood 37, Cathedral Prep 27
Archbishop Wood 6 10 10 9 — 37
Cathedral Prep 7 9 7 4 — 27
Archbishop Wood: Emily Knouse 12, Lauren Greer 10, Ava Renninger 8, Alexa Windish 4, Makayla Finnegan 3
Cathedral Prep: Lena Walz 8, Addie Biel 6, Jayden McBridee 6, McKenna Valone 5, Ava Lucarotti 2
