The Archbishop Wood Vikings make a habit of playing ball deep into March, with the crowning moment coming in 2017 with a PIAA Class 5A championship.
The PIAA moved Wood to Class 6A, but this Vikings’ senior class made four state runs.
Yet, on Tuesday night, Wood suffered a 59-51 setback to Parkland, falling in the state semifinals for the second year in a row following losses in the 2021 and ’22 championship games.
“There are a lot of programs across the state that would take that,” said coach John Mosco. “But we’re not satisfied.”
Mosco, in his 11th year, guided the Vikings to Philadelphia Catholic League titles in 2017 and ’21, and thought this year’s squad – led by stars Jalil Bethea and Josh Reed – could deliver his second state crown.
But it was the Parkland fans who got to throw Hershey’s Kisses on the court in the final seconds, as the District 11-champion Trojans (25-5) will be heading to the Giant Center on Saturday night to take on Central York, which topped District Three rival and defending state champion Reading, 79-65.
“They were hustling more than us,” Reed said. “We had no ball movement. No nothing.”
Reed, a Drexel recruit, scored a game-high 20 points. Bethea, a McDonald’s All-American who will play at Miami, was held to 10 points.
Reed picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter. Bethea was whistled for his third in the fourth quarter.
“They kept adding up and took the team out of rhythm,” Reed said.
The game took place at Norristown, the second game of a doubleheader that saw the Wood girls beat Bethlehem Catholic to reach the 5A final.
The Wood boys could not complete the sweep.
Wood (19-9), the third-place team from District 12, did a good job containing Parkland’s Nick Coval, a Davidson recruit and Bethea’s teammate on the Nike-sponsored Team Final AAU team. The Vikings used various players to guard Coval and often double-teamed him, holding him to 13 points and no made 3-pointers.
Coval, a 6-2 guard who has 2,105 points in his career, did a lot of other things, especially rebounding. And he had plenty of support from Jayden Thomas (16 points) and Robbie Ruisch (12 points, on four 3-pointers).
“We played him good, but No. 3 (Thomas) got whatever he wanted in the lane,” Reed said.
Mosco was not happy with his team’s toughness, rebounding or defense and wasn’t thrilled with the officiating. The focus on Coval was effective, but led to open looks for other Trojans.
“We chased, and guys made shots,” Mosco said. “Coval trusted his teammates a lot.”
Wood led by five at the end of the first quarter and trailed by just a point at halftime, with Reed scoring 10 points in the half and Mike Green coming off the bench to make three 3-pointers.
“I think Josh Reed kept us in the game. I think Mike Green kept us in the game,” Mosco said.
The score was tied at 49 with 4:05 to play after a Bethea 3-pointer and Wood had a chance to take the lead on its next possession, but Parkland used a 10-2 run to advance to the final.
“They beat us, I’m not taking anything away from Parkland,” Mosco said.
Mosco will miss the senior class.
“My seniors gave me everything they had for four years,” he said.
Reed was a member of a Catholic League championship team as a freshman and enjoyed his four years.
“I gave everything I had to the program,” he said. “I’ll always be a Viking.”
Next for Reed is four years as a Drexel Dragon.
“I’m excited to play for coach (Zach) Spiker,” he said.
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