WOOD SURVIVES READING SURGE

Vikings move onto state quarters

Coach John Mosco knew it could not be as easy as his Archbishop Wood boys basketball team made it seem in the first half Sunday afternoon.

In a rematch of last season’s PIAA 6A final with Reading, the Vikings put together a stellar opening 16 minutes, stifling the Red Knights’ high-energy attack and executing on the offense end

to build a 36-15 halftime lead in the state second-round matchup at Easton Area Middle School.

Four straight points to start the third quarter extended Wood’s advantage to 25. But then the defending champs woke up in a big way.

“We talked about it at halftime, the game ain’t over,” Mosco said. “They’re not going to stop coming.”

Reading ripped off 16 straight points to get back into the contest The Vikings for a moment settled down, pushing the lead back to 15 at 5:57 left in the fourth but the Red Knights again charged back with a 13-0 run, pulling to within 49-47 after Ruben Rodriguez scored on a

drive with 3:29 remaining.

Archbishop Wood, however, never caved. Clutch free throws from Justin Moore and Carson Howard allowed the Vikings to stay ahead and hold off a lastminute Reading burst to claim a 66-58 victory.

“That second half was crazy,” Moore said. “It was definitely the momentum of the game changed, felt like the whole crowd was against us, felt like an away game. So we just had to stick together as a team and grind out. It was a hard-fought win by us and I’m proud of our team.”

Moore finished with a teambest 18 points, the senior Drexel commit making 7-of-8 foul shots

in the fourth. Wood (19-7) went 15-of-20 from the line in the final quarter and 26-of-32 in the game to survive Reading’s second-half surge and advance to the state quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive season.

“You just got to know when it’s your time to take over the game,” Moore said. “I knew at the end of the game we were struggling getting buckets, so I know I was going to have to try to create for myself and find a way to get easy baskets.”

Tyson Allen totaled 11 points while Bahsil Laster and Jalil Bethea both scored 10 points — Laster going 8-for-8 on free throws for the Vikings, who face

COURTESY OF BILL SNOOK Reading High’s Joey Chapman is fouled going to the basket during the Red Knights’ loss to Archbishop Wood in a PIAA Class 6A secondround game.