HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) - In total command from the opening tip on, Archbishop Wood captured its first state boys basketball championship in its first state tournament by wheeling past Meadville 73-40 in the PIAA Class 5A title game Friday night at Giant Center.
Popping four players into double figures, John Mosco’s Vikings (28-3) bolted to a lightning-quick 5-0 lead that grew to 17-2 before the closing moments of the opening quarter - and just continued to mushroom before the 32-minute exercise ended.
Tyree Pickron paced Wood with 18 points, Villanova recruit Collin Gillespie checked in with 15 points, 6-foot-11 junior Seth Pinkney popped a double-double (11 points/11 boards) and Andrew Funk chipped in 10 as the Vikings overwhelmed the District 10 champs.
Friday night’s victory, the 22nd straight win for Wood, capped a terrific season that also included Philadelphia Catholic League and District 12 championships.
What’s scary is five members of the Vikings’ nine-man rotation should return.
Meadville (26-2), which canned just one of its 11 shot attempts in the opening quarter, was led by Armoni Foster with 17 points. Simeal Wofford also reached double figures for the Bulldogs, pocketing 14 points.
Neither side shot well, as Wood converted just under 41 percent of its field-goal attempts (29-for-71). Meadville, meanwhile, bagged just 13 of its 59 shot attempts and finished the game connecting at a mere 22 percent.
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Archbishop Wood 73, Meadville 40
Archbishop Wood (28-3) 73
Collin Gillespie 6 0-0 15; Keith Otto 0 2-2 2; Tyree Pickron 6 1-2 18; Seth Pinkney 5 1-2 11; Matt Cerruti 3 0-0 7; Andrew Funk 4 0-0 10; Karrington Wallace 2 0-0 4; Julius Phillips 3 0-0 6. Totals: 29 4-6 73.
3-point goals: Pickron 5, Gillespie 3, Funk 2, Cerruti.
Did not score: Shawn Thompson, Zahree Harrison, Kyle McNamee, Joe Wade, Chris Garland, Bryce Stock.
Meadville (26-2) 40
Lashon Lindsey 4 1-2 9; Armoni Foster 6 2-3 17; Simeal Wofford 3 6-8 14. Totals: 13 9-13 40.
3-point goals: Foster 3, Wofford 2.
Did not score: Journey Brown, Jayden Agnew, Malik Wilson, Rashard Willis, Logan Swick, Ryan Pero, Jack Stevens, Shane McElhinny, Jayson Rhoades, Julius Ream.
Score by quarters
Archbishop Wood‘17‘23‘18‘15 - 73
Meadville‘5‘16‘8‘11 - 40
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