Mays make it a good March for Wood

HERSHEY >> To Bailey Greenberg, Shannon and Katie May aren’t just teammates, they’re family.
Greenberg and younger sister Nicole are cousins with the Mays, all four members of the Archbishop Wood girls’ basketball team. So, there are few people more qualified to break down the impact Shannon and Katie May had on the Vikings’ 46-29 win in the PIAA Class AAA title game Saturday in Hershey.
Katie May, a sophomore forward, scored eight points with seven rebounds, providing a huge spark in a sluggish first half while Shannon May, a junior guard, had five points and four boards and her defensive peskiness helped hold Villa Maria to 20 percent shooting.
Late in the first quarter, Katie May forced a steal and a possession later hit two foul shots to cut Villa’s lead to just three entering the second period. In the second, the 5-foot-11 forward had a coast-to-coast layup, two more free throws then a huge play with 4:19 left in the half when she drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 12-12.
“She always comes in clutch, when I’m playing bad, that girl is there,” Greenberg said of her cousin. “She has such a high basketball IQ it’s unbelievable, you’d think she’s been playing for 30 years or something. She’s a sophomore and even freshman year, she’s just a rock. You couldn’t tell she was a freshman probably, she was just so calm and knew what to do.”
At 5-foot-6, Shannon May is still a pretty productive rebounder in her own right. But it’s the junior’s defense provides the biggest impact for the Vikings. Once Wood settled down, the Vikings sent a wave of double-teams and extra pressure at the Victors.
Villa Maria opened 3-of-6 from the floor, then went 5-of-34 the rest of the way. The 29 points scored by Villa was the lowest output in the AAA title game since 1994.
Shannon May, along with fellow juniors Karly Brown and Meg Neher, formed a defensive-minded bench mob that created a lot of headaches for opponents. The trio complemented starters Cassie Sebold and Claire Bassetti, both high-energy defenders themselves. That ability to annoy and pester also found its way to the practice floor.
“It’s Claire, Cass and Shannon, they’re like ‘The Three Little Pests,’ but Shannon is the worst,” Greenberg said. “I tell her to go away and she’s the worst pest ever. In practice, I’ll be trying to do a post move and she’ll come over and I just go ‘get out of her, go guard your girl.’
“She always has this fire that she wants to win. She’s one of the most competitive people I know. Shannon might not be the tallest but she’s going to work her butt off every possession.”
Shannon May also hit one of the game’s biggest shots, a wing 3-pointer to put Wood up 34-24 with 5:34 left in the game. Villa never got back within double digits as the Vikings closed out their fourth state title and first since 2012.
TURNING POINT
After Wood lost to Cardinal O’Hara on Jan. 8 to drop to 4-6 on the season, everything changed.
After 21 straight wins and a two-and-a-half month long winning streak, the Vikings were the last team standing in the state. The loss to O’Hara, which itself made it all the way to the Class AAAA title game, showed the Vikings a lot of their weak areas and turned a lot of things around.
The ball started to move more freely, the defense got better and players settled into their roles. Seniors Bailey Greenberg and Claire Bassetti knew it was their time to impose their will on the team and step up as its leaders.
“O’Hara in the past is a team we’ve always beaten so when they came out and beat us on our home court it was kind of like big flashing red lights and we all realized this was not good,” Bassetti said. “You don’t want to be the Wood team that wasn’t good that year. Once that happened, our motivation for the rest of the season was ‘we’re winning, we’re winning’ and we were going to keep doing the things that we needed to do.”
Wood evened the score with O’Hara in the PCL semifinals, using defense and methodical offense to stymie a talented offensive team. The next game, the Vikings did what no team had done in 53 games and beat Neumann-Goretti for the PCL title.
The Saints had beaten Wood in the last two PCL title games and in their regular season meeting. Again, a resilient defensive effort earned the Vikings a win at the Palestra, almost foreshadowing what would happen at the Giant Center.
“We’ve been here before so it was like the Palestra, we’ve done this but never felt the victory of it,” Bassetti said. “The fact we were able to feel that victory was unbelievable.”
“After we lost to O’Hara, we felt like if we want to win the PCL this year, we can’t lose again,” Greenberg said. “We all determined ‘that’s it, that’s our last loss and we’re going to win it all this year.’ Then we did it.”
DOUBLING UP
At the half, Bailey Greenberg knew it hadn’t been her best game. Even after three quarters she felt like there was more she could be doing. Her teammates were picking up the slack but when the fourth quarter started, the last eight minutes of her high school career, it was time to close strong.
The senior’s last game ended with 14 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. In the fourth, she scored seven points with three rebounds, a steal, both assists and both blocks.
NOTABLE
Junior guard Cassie Sebold had very strong postseason, capping it off with seven points in the state final. The scrappy guard, a tenacious defender, also had a knack for scoring early in each half to get the Vikings going. She, like all the Wood guards, rebounded the ball well and knocked down some high-pressure free throws in the PCL tournament to help Wood to that coveted title.
Teammates and coaches raved about the growth sophomore center Kate Connolly showed in the second half of the season. At 6-foot-2, she provides an imposing presence in the paint defensively, an unassuming but effective shot-blocker. With Greenberg off to Drexel, Connolly and Katie May will be looked upon to take a much bigger role and they both showed they’re ready for it.
The starting players often noted the work the bench players who didn’t get many minutes did behind the scenes to push them in practice. Underclassmen like Bridget Arcidiacono, Lexi Edwards and Shannon Kelly, along with all the others, are talented players and gave the Vikings strong competition in their own gym every day.
QUOTABLE
“It makes it 100 times better, 100 times more memorable. Overall, it’ll be something I never forget. It’s the same for my team too, these girls were the ones who helped me get here.” – Claire Bassetti on winning a PCL, District 12 and state title.
“We’re playing a state championship game. The nerves are up, the butterflies, Olive Garden a little.” – Bailey Greenberg on pregame emotions.
“We were down most of the first and second quarter, so we knew that shot would help us start build momentum.” – Katie May on the impact of her game-tying 3-pointer.
“This is exactly why we do it. We want to be tested, we want to make sure we know who can play in big games so when we get to this point in the season, we know who’s ready and knows what to do so we win these games. If you’re not tested along the way, you get used to winning and you’re not sure what to do in tight situations.” – Wood coach Mike McDonald on the team’s tough schedule.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. We might as well stick with what we know and not change it up at all.” – Cassie Sebold on the effectiveness of Wood’s defense after the state quarterfinals.
“I think it’s wanting to get the ball, not our ability to jump because I definitely can not jump high. If you want it, you can go get it.” – Shannon May on why Wood guards rebound so well.
“I told them after the first quarter we usually start out on fire in these state championship games and it doesn’t end well for us so it’s probably a good thing we were a little shaky to start the game. We were still close despite us not playing great.” – McDonald on the team’s slow start.
“The coaches are always saying if we’re pushing each other, the team is getting better and that’s true. We’re good friend off the court too so if we push each other on it, we know it’s nothing personal and we know it’s getting better at basketball. Practice is competitive but the more they can push me, the better I get and the more I push my friends and teammates, the better they get.” – Karly Brown following the state semifinal win.