By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
WARMINSTER – Contesting every shot and practically every dribble, Archbishop Wood smothered Scranton Prep’s offense while taking control of Tuesday night’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state semifinal.
On the other end of the floor, the Lady Vikings got 3-pointers from six different players to pull away for a 56-39, home-court victory in a game that matched the state’s two top-ranked Class 4A teams.
The victory moved Archbishop Wood, the top-ranked team, according to TribHSSN.com, to within one win of its sixth state title in a dozen years. Scranton Prep (18-2) ended the deepest state tournament run in school history.
“One you win the (Philadelphia) Catholic League title, I think you can say ‘that felt really good, if we can win that, I think we can win the state’,” Archbishop Wood coach Mike McDonald said.
Scranton Prep, which averaged 65.8 points per game, had only been held below 50 once, in a loss to state Class 6A semifinalist Cumberland Valley. The Lady Vikings limited the Classics to 29 points until they scored the game’s last 10 points in the final 1:40.
“That’s the way, we like to play,” McDonald said. “We like to get up and guard. We like to pressure. We like to double-team.
“I just think it gives our kids energy. I think when you come out aggressive, it builds up your energy. The one thing you have to watch is foul trouble and we got into a little bit.”
The Lady Vikings had many ways to overcome that.
Dana Kiefer went 4-for-6 from 3-point range while scoring 14 points. Five teammates made one each as the Lady Vikings were 9-for-25 (36.0 percent) from beyond the arc, compared to 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) by the Classics.
All-stater Ryanne Allen, a 6-foot-1 junior, had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Archbishop Ryan (16-2). Villanova commit and 2019-20 state Class 5A Player of the Year Kaitlyn Orihel scored 11 points. Brianna Bowen grabbed 14 defensive rebounds to lead a 40-29 advantage on the boards for the much taller Lady Vikings.
“Their ancillary players made shots from the very beginning of the game,” Scranton Prep coach Bob Beviglia said. “You hear about Orihel and you hear about Allen, but Kiefer made shots, Bowen made plays for them and Baxter made plays.”
Rachael Rose led Scranton Prep with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Ceclia Collins added 13 points and 8 rebounds. The rest of the team managed just five points, two of them in the last five seconds, on combined 2-for-27 shooting.
“We wanted to make sure if (Rose) came off any screens, we had somebody there to double it or at least hedge it until the kid can recover,” McDonald said. “We had someone in help if her or Cecelia, if one of those were going to the basket, we wanted to take our chances with overhelping to make it tough for them to get to the basket.
“We wanted to make sure we never left Rose and Cecelia.”
Lizzie Neville made six steals. Maria Belardi had five rebounds and a team-high three assists.
Kiefer opened the game with a 3-pointer from the left corner just 12 seconds in and Archbishop Wood led the rest of the way. She hit another from the right corner to begin the process of breaking the game open after Scranton Prep remained within 12-10 through the first minute of the second quarter.
Noelle Baxter, Orihel and Delaney Finnegan followed with 3-pointers to complete a 12-0 run to a 24-10 lead with 3:16 left in the half.
Scranton Prep got into the lane to close the gap before halftime.
Rose scored twice on drives, then Neville hit Collins cutting down the lane to make it 24-16 with 35 seconds remaining.
Scranton Prep had three shots at getting even closer with under 10 seconds left.
Instead of getting within 6, the Classics found themselves down 10 at the half when Bowen went the length of the floor to beat the buzzer with a leaning, left-hander in the lane.
That play started a run of 13 straight points.
Kiefer hit 3-pointers to begin and end the streak of 11 to open the half and take a 37-16 lead.
“They played well on their home floor, which we expected them to do,” Beviglia said. “It wasn’t the right night for us to have the shooting night that we had, but a lot of that, they coerced.
“They forced us into bad shots.”
The Classics went more than five minutes without scoring after halftime until Rose’s drive produced a three-point play.
By then, it was getting to be too late.
Rose and Collins ended the third quarter with 3-pointers to make it 41-25.
Archbishop Wood again started a quarter with a flurry.
Allen began the fourth by completing an and-one. She wound up with seven points in the quarter for the Vikings, who scored the first nine and put together a 13-2 run to a 54-27 lead.
Scranton Prep did not score for the first 5:03 and did not have a field goal for the first 6:20 of the quarter as the Lady Vikings put the game away.
Rose (South Carolina Upstate) and Collins (Bucknell) head off to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I scholarships after leading the Classics to four unbeaten Lackawanna League seasons for Division 1 titles, four District 2 Class 4A championships and a combined 45-2 record over the past two seasons.
They’re two outstanding players,” McDonald said. “They play really well together.”
