Lady Vikes have one
last chance to make states

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Surprise performances sometimes turn into astonishing campaigns.
Coming off one of its best years (23-3) ever, Archbishop Wood entered this season having lost four of its starting front five including standout Rosie Tarnowski, now playing at Washington State.
The Lady Vikings also had to take the floor this year without the services of Alyssa Parsons (Rider), Langhorne’s Lisa Strack (American), and Holland’s Taylor Peltzer (Philadelphia/lacrosse).
What’s more, Wood lost projected starter Ashley B’Oris when the senior guard tore her ACL before the start of the season. And senior Jen Maxwell suffered a high ankle sprain keeping her out for the first month of the campaign.
AW head coach Jim Ricci gives it to you both the way the prognosticators saw it and the way he and his staff perceived it.
First, the latter.
“We thought we were going to be a very good team,” said Ricci. “We knew we might surprise some people.”
What the pundits were saying was completely different, however, said the coach.
“When everybody left and graduated last year, most people thought we wouldn’t be able to compete.”
In terms of difficulty, Wood’s schedule has not slacked off one bit from its previous seasons. The Vikes are always going against the top talent in the country.
Wood has also gotten trounced in some of those battles. The Vikes got smoked by Mount Notre Dame, ranked No. 11 in USA Today’s Super 25 preseason poll.
They also lost to Fenwick Catholic which was ranked sixth in the nation at the time Wood played the Illinois opponent.
While the Vikings struggled at first this season, dropping four of their first nine games, Wood came on like gangbusters from there, winning 14 of their next 15 games including playoff victories over Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Ryan.
”We took some bumps early but we competed,” stated Ricci. “As the season went on, we started to mesh a lot better and we’re playing pretty good right now.”
The Vikings’ latest win over the Ragdolls puts them in last Monday’s Philadelphia Catholic League championship game at the Palestra.
The opponent?
Wood’s old nemesis Archbishop Carroll, which defeated the Vikes in the PCL title game two years ago and ousted them in the semis last season.
How Wood made its way all the way to the championship, no one is sure. One thing that is known, however, this bunch talent, despite last year’s departures.
Scoring leader and St. Joe’s-bound center Ashley Robinson was helped by a superb crop of sophomores stepping up for the Vikes this season including Christine Verelle, Steph Keyes, Victoria Arnao and Cait McCartney.
“This year, we did have a little more adversity. We had kids hurt, we had kids starting who had never started before,” explained Ricci. “Last year’s group was a seasoned group. This year’s was kind of raw in terms of playing time.”
First-year starters for Wood included Verelle, Sam Greenfield, Jenelle Hudson, Jen Maxwell and Arnao, who stepped up in place of Maxwell when she went down with an injury.
Ricci lists among the highlights of the current campaign Robinson surpassing 1,000 points on the season. Of course, defeating Cardinal O’Hara, ranked tops in the nation at that time, was a pretty big deal. And the way the players blended together, he adds.
“We can compete with anybody; we proved we can play against the best and win.”
Carroll, PCL tournament semifinal winners over fifth-ranked in the nation Cardinal O’Hara, is currently ranked 17th in the nation.
So the question remained could the Vikes get past their old nemesis and claim their first ever PCL crown since 1982?
The short answer was they could not. Despite Robinson’s 10 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, Wood still trailed Carroll at the break. The Vikes shot just 7-for-34 from the floor on their way to a 35-22 defeat.
Carroll will play Prep Charter Feb. 28 for the District 12 Class AAA championship. Wood will face D-12 runnerup Roxborough Feb. 25 in their last chance to make states.

Labels: Archbishop Wood, Girls Basketball

Council Rock South rebounded from a Jan. 27 loss to Pennsbury, posting a 30-point win over the Falcons last night at South. Ann Silverthorn was high scorer for the Golden Hawks with 10 points. Chelsea Allen, Steph Gillio and Alex Wheatley chipped in with 9 points apiece. South took a 31-18 edge into the half on its way to a 59-29 triumph Jan. 29 at South. With the win, the Hawks pushed their season mark to 12-7 overall on the season. Lacey Balascsak was high scorer for Pennsbury with 11 points.

LINESCORES
...................1....2....3....4.....Final
CR South.......13...18....11...17.......59
Pennsbury......8...10.....4.....7.......29


CR SOUTH
Ann Silverthorn, 10
Chelsea Allen, 9
Steph Gillio, 9
Alex Wheatley, 9
Jackie Weber, 8
Emily Nowicke, 7
Lea Britton, 3
Lindsay Kirlin, 2
Alexa Crosier, 2

PENNSBURY
Lacey Balascsak, 11
Lauren Pisauro, 7
Kersten Formento, 3
Kelly Rebert, 2
Lauren Gerity, 2
Emily Atunrase, 2
Molly Phillips, 2



Morrisville rebounded from a Jan. 27 loss to Lower Moreland with a 13-point triumph over MaST Charter last night at home. Cassandra Gainey led the Lady Bulldogs' scoring effort with 11 points. Tanya Argueta and Jah'Mirra Chambers added 8 points apiece as Morrisville outpaced the Panthers 37-24 Jan. 29 at home. With the win, the Bulldogs pushed their record to 7-11 overall on the season.

LINESCORES
.......................1....2....3....4.....Final
Morrisville..........10....8......8....11.......37
MaST Charter......4.....4......5....11.......24

MORRISVILLE
Cassandra Gainey, 11
Tanya Argueta, 8
Jah'Mirra Chambers, 8
Kievanna Lacey, 5
Shey Porras, 3
Staci Ramagli, 2

MaST CHARTER
Meena Byers, 11
Kaitlyn Rapko, 9
Megan McCarthy, 2
Saralyn Andrick, 2

- Steve Sherman, sports editor

Labels: Council Rock South, Girls Basketball, Girls Hoops, MaST Charter, Morrisville, Pennsbury