Mar 24, 2017 5 min read

When the Trinity High School girls basketball team gets to the Giant Center in Hershey this afternoon to play Archbishop Wood in the first PIAA Class 5-A championship game, everything will be new to the Hillers, which makes this a landmark event not only for the PIAA but Trinity and Washington County, as well.

It is the Hillers’ first appearance in the PIAA title game and the first time that a girls basketball team from Washington County will play for the state championship. So excuse the confident Hillers if they have to take some time to learn some of the minor details associated with this game. For example, the Hillers need to know where the team entrance is at the Giant Center, where the locker rooms are located and how to get from them to the court.

Such minor details will not be on Archbishop Wood’s to-do list. The Giant Center is the Vikings’ home away from home.

Archbishop Wood (23-7), the Philadelphia Catholic League runner-up and the District 12 champion, is no stranger to Hershey. The Vikings are in the state finals for the fourth year in a row and seventh time in eight years. Archbishop Wood has won three PIAA titles, including the Class AAA championship last year when it defeated previously unbeaten Villa Maria of Erie in the final.

“Experience is huge,” Trinity coach Bob Miles said. “They know what to expect, what the venue is like. We’ll go in and have to find out where the clocks are.”

Though Archbishop Wood has an edge in championship-game experience, there are many similarities between the Vikings and Hillers. Both teams lack a tall, dominant center and rely on tough, aggressive defense. Each team fell behind by at least nine points early in the state semifinals and didn’t take the lead until the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth quarter to win by double digits.

Trinity (26-3) erased a 10-point first-half deficit and beat South Fayette 61-51 in the semifinals. The Hillers received a scintillating 30-point performance by senior guard Sierra Kotchman, who is one point shy of 1,700 for her high school career. Miles knows Kotchman, a Fairmont State recruit, will be the focus of Wood’s defense, which is allowing only 32.3 points per game in four state tournament contests. Two of the Vikings’ opponents failed to score 30 points.

“They play very good man-to-man defense,” Miles said. “They try to take away the opponent’s best player and they do a lot of switching, similar to South Fayette.”

That means the Hillers might need a double-figure scoring game from an additional source, perhaps point guard Alayna Cappelli or forwards Riley DeRubbo, Abbey O’Connor or Rachel Lemons.

“We’re going to need Alayna and Riley to step up and be more assertive on offense,” Miles said. “We know Wood will try to take Sierra away. Then again, this might be Abbey’s opportunity to score more.”

Archbishop Wood fell behind District 3 champion Susquehannock 7-0 and 12-3 in the semifinals and didn’t take the lead until starting the second half with a 7-0 run. The Vikings sealed the win with a 15-0 run to open the fourth quarter and led by as many as 20 points before settling for a 56-41 victory.

Unlike Trinity, Archbishop Wood doesn’t rely on one player for the bulk of its offense. Balance is the Vikings’ game. They do have two players, senior guards Shannon May and Cassie Sebold, who, like Kotchman, are recruits for NCAA Division II programs. Wood might be without May, who injured her right shoulder while diving for a loose ball during the semifinals. Her status for today is unknown.

“May is a tough kid, so I know if she is physically able to go, she’ll play,” Archbishop Wood coach Mike McDonald told reporters after the semifinal game.

Junior forward Katie May, a Northeastern recruit, led Archbishop Wood with 13 points in the semifinals.

Another similarity between Trinity and Archbishop Wood is both teams have played and beaten Archbishop Carroll. The Vikings beat Archbishop Carroll twice, most recently by 16 points in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals. Trinity beat Archbishop Carroll 44-39 last Saturday in the PIAA quarterfinals in Chambersburg.

Don’t be fooled by Archbishop Wood’s seven losses. The Vikings play a national schedule that included the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona. Archbishop Wood’s only loss to a team from Pennsylvania was to Cardinal O’Hara in the Philadelphia Catholic League title game. Cardinal O’Hara lost in the PIAA Class 6-A semifinals.

“We have to do some of the things we did well against South Fayette,” Miles said. “We have to force them into taking long three-pointers and rebound well.”

Tipoff is 6 p.m. and the game will be televised live by the Pennsylvania Cable Network. … Archbishop Wood’s boys team won the Class 5-A title Friday night, beating Meadville, 73-40. … Trinity is one of only eight public-school teams – boys and girls – among the 24 that qualified for the PIAA finals. … Archbishop Wood won state titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016. … The game is the next-to-last among the 12 championship contests being played over three days in Hershey. Tickets to the session could be tough to get at the gate because it will be followed by Reading against WPIAL champion Pine-Richland in the Class 6-A boys final. Reading was given 2,300 tickets for the session and they were sold within two hours. Pine-Richland also sold out its allotment.