HERSHEY, Pa. – In a game played between two teams with similar styles, Archbishop Wood used an 8-0 third-quarter run to erase a three-point deficit on its way to a fourth straight PIAA Class title and its second in a row in Class 5A thanks to a 37-27 win over Cathedral Prep Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
“It was a game of runs,” Cathedral Prep head coach Doug Chuzie said. “They just had a three- or four-minute segment run at the beginning of the fourth. That kind of forced our hand there at the end. But, I am proud of everything that our kids did. I am proud of the game they played. Games like this come down to a few possessions, come down to a soft bounce of the rim, or a ball slipping off a fingertip to somebody else. We have played a lot of those games over the last 18 years, and we have been here (in the state championship game) eight of the last 18 years. Sometimes, that happens when two great teams are playing.”
Cathedral Prep receives its second-place medals
Cathedral Prep looked like it had the defending champions, who beat then Villa Maria which became part of Cathedral Prep last year in the 2021 title game to start its run, when Jayden McBride hit a foul-line jumper to give the Ramblers a 21-18 lead with 4:57 to play in the third quarter.
But that was Prep’s final bucket until Lena Walz hit a 3-pointer with 5:20 to play to get the Ramblers within one, 27-26.
“Sure (we were feeling good at that point),” Chuzie said. “It’s just part of what we do, part of our offensive game plan. Lena knocks down shots. It was a big moment in the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite close it out.”
Walz’s 3-pointer was the final basket Cathedral Prep made in the game. In fact, the Ramblers were just 10 of 33 from the field in the contest, and that after starting the game 3 of 6 while taking an early 7-0 lead.
“Mike’s (Archbishop Wood head coach Mike McDonald) game plans against us are pretty consistent through the years,” Chuzie said. “He’s going to trap and try to get the ball out of your point guard’s hands and have you make plays on the back end. I thought we made some really good plays on the back end today. At times, they might have got a finger on a ball and got a tip. But, I thought our kids executed very well.”
Any momentum Walz’s 3-pointer gave the Ramblers was taken away on Archbishop Wood’s next possession when Makayla Finnegan hit a 3-pointer with 4:14 left to put the Vikings ahead 30-26.
Archbishop Wood was 6 of 10 from beyond the arc on the night with Emily Knouse leading the way going 3 of 5.
“Going in, I think they had five players shooting 37% or better from the 3-point line,” Chuzie said. “They talk about the NBA all the time being a make-or-miss league, that just happened to be the way it played out today.”
The Vikings’ 3-point proficiency included back-to-back 3-pointers by Knouse and Laure Greer at the 4:19 and 3:52 marks of the third quarter following the McBride basket that gave Cathedral Prep the 21-18 lead.
Those tripes coupled with a Greer bucket with 54 seconds left in the third quarter gave Archbishop Wood a 26-21 lead that was still three, 26-23, going to the fourth quarter.
Then, once the Vikings got the lead up to four midway through the fourth they were comfortable slowing the game down and forcing Cathedral Prep to foul which led to the final score being a bit unreflective of how close it was throughout the night.
“In my opinion, it was the two best basketball teams in the state of Pennsylvania playing today,” Chuzie said. “I also believe they are the two best programs in the state as Archbishop Wood has been here 12 of the last 15 years and we have been here 8 of the last 18. My hats off to Archbishop Wood’s young ladies as well as coach Mike McDonald and his staff.”
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Things started strong for the Ramblers, as they scored the game’s first seven points including an Addie Biel offensive putback and a McBride jumper in the game’s first minute.
But following a McKenna Valone basket with 4:15 left in the first quarter Cathedral Prep went over six minutes without scoring, and Archbishop Wood went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-7 lead on a 3-pointer by Knouse early in the second quarter.
Cathedral Prep did take three more slim leads in the second quarter at 11-9, 13-11, and 14-13 before another 3-pointer by Knouse put the Vikings ahead, 16-14, with 1:48 left in the first half.
The Ramblers were able to tie the game at halftime when Walz scored with just over 30 seconds to play in the half, and Cathedral Prep started the second half on a 5-2 run thanks to a Walz 3-pointer and McBride’s bucket.
Despite the loss, Chuzie was able to put everything in perspective considering his team was one of 12 out of 700 girls’ basketball teams across the state to be playing in Hershey.
“It’s phenomenal,” Chuzie said. “There are four things that need to happen in order to make the state championship game. You need to play well. You need to be healthy. You need to have good matchups, and you need a little bit of luck. And those four things happened to come together for us this year. I couldn’t be more proud of the perseverance of our ladies fighting through adversity all year, through injuries, through the most difficult schedule we’ve had in 20 years. I believe we played three state champions and two state runner-ups. What a season. What a great season.”
