PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship breakdown: South Fayette vs. Archbishop Wood

By: Don Rebel
Friday, March 24, 2023 | 4:36 PM

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PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship

South Fayette vs. Archbishop Wood

6 p.m. Saturday, Giant Center, Hershey

On the air: TV: PCN; Radio: WJPA-FM 95.3; Streaming audio: TribHSSN.TribLive.com

PIAA titles: South Fayette 0, Archbishop Wood 7 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022)

South Fayette (28-2)

Coach: Bryan Bennett

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

2, Ava Leroux, 6-3, sr., F

11, Lainey Yater, 5-4, jr., G

25, Rachel Black, 5-7, sr., G/F

32, Erica Hall, 5-11, jr., G/F

34, Maddie Webber, 5-11, sr., G

Notable: South Fayette is appearing in its first PIAA championship game. … The Lions celebrated their second straight and third overall district title this season. In the two years South Fayette won WPIAL championships, the Lions lost in the PIAA quarterfinals to Villa Maria Academy in 2016 and to Moon in the 2022 second round. … South Fayette averages nearly 62 points per game, but only allows 37.5. … The Lions’ only losses were to 6A Norwin and St. Thomas Aquinas out of New Jersey. … The Lions have won 22 games in a row. … South Fayette knocked off West York, Mechanicsburg, Cathedral Prep and Oakland Catholic on the Road to Hershey.

Archbishop Wood (24-5)

Coach: Mike McDonald

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

4, Ava Renninger, 5-6, jr., C

11, Deja Evans, 6-2, sr., F

20, Delaney Finnegan, 5-10, sr., G

24, Kara Meredith, 6-0, sr., F

30, Emily Knouse, 5-11, soph., F

Notable: Archbishop Wood has become a dominant power in Pennsylvania high school girls basketball with seven PIAA championships. … The Vikings have reached the state championship game for the 11th time in 13 opportunities. … AW’s seven state crowns have come against Indiana (2010), Mercyhurst Prep (2011), Lancaster Catholic (2012), Villa Maria Academy (2016 and 2021), Trinity (2017) and Lansdale Catholic (2022). … Their three state title losses were to Blackhawk (2014 and 2015) and Mars (2018). … Archbishop Wood has reached the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game 13 of the last 16 years. … Three of the Vikings’ losses this season came to schools out of state. The two other losses came to Lansdale Catholic, which is a PIAA Class 4A finalist. … The Vikings have won five straight games.

Tags: South Fayette