Wood, Carroll roll into Catholic final

Archbishop Wood senior Christine Verrelle knew that with teammate Cait McCartney out with a high ankle sprain for Tuesday night's Catholic League semifinal game against Cardinal O'Hara, all the Vikings would have step it up a notch or two.

"She's good at picking up the rebounds and loose balls," Verrelle said of McCartney.

Verrelle did her part, helping spark an effective pressing defense that stymied O'Hara much of the night at Philadelphia University and also scoring a game-high 14 points as the Vikings advanced to the championship game with a 60-37 victory over the Lions.

Wood will face Archbishop Carroll, a 52-36 winner over Archbishop Prendergast in Tuesday's second semifinal, in the title game at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Palestra.

"I've been spending some extra time on my shooting," Verrelle said after her effort against O'Hara (19-5), which finished in third place during the regular season. Wood (19-4) finished second to Carroll for the second straight year.

A big second quarter boosted the Vikings. Verrelle scored nine points and Victoria Arnao had five of her 10 to propel Wood to a 32-14 halftime lead. That margin went to 20 several times in the third quarter.

"They are a very, very good team," O'Hara coach Linus McGinty said of the Vikings. "We had a good first quarter, but they took us out of it in the second."

Carroll (17-6) took a 13-8 first-quarter lead and never looked back against Prendergast, which had finished fourth during the regular season. It was the 13th straight win for the Patriots, who started the season by losing four of their first six games to some very strong nonleague competition. They finished the league regular season with a 12-0 mark.

Senior Jen Carney led Carroll with a game-high 16 points. Junior Meghan Creighton added 11.

Prendergast trailed by 34-20 with a little more than two minutes to go in the third quarter but pulled to within 37-26 with 23 seconds to go in the period. However, Carroll pushed its lead to 42-26 early in the fourth quarter.

"I don't think we've reached our potential," Carroll coach Chuck Creighton said. "We haven't played our best basketball yet, but we're trying to get there."

Jessica Rotella scored 11 points for Prendergast (17-6).

Cardinal O'Hara   9 5 13 10 – 37

Archbishop Wood   11 21 15 13 – 60

CO: Mackenzie Rule 2, Alex Stam 7, Marissa Manning 5, Shanice Johnson 8, Emily McPeak 2, Lia DiSciascio 2, Aminah Farmer 5, Libby Lannon 4, Nicole Daly 2.

AW: Jackie Pierson 3, Jenna Swope 6, Christine Verrelle 14, Victoria Arnao 10, Stephanie Keyes 9, Grace Mirack 2, Aubrey Howland 4, Laura Trisch 1, Alex Heck 2, Lauren Nealon 3, Jenna Swope 6.

Archbishop Prendergast   8 5 13 10 – 36

Archbishop Carroll   13 11 16 12 – 52

AP: Taylor Fitzgerald 2, Mackie Fitzgerald 3, Lindsay Crase 6, Sara Smith 9, Brittany Merkle 3, Mary Kate Sullivan 2, Jessica Rotella 11.

AC: Shannon Shields 3, Mary Victoria Barr 2, Meghan Creighton 11, Emily Fazzini 8, Olivia DeRogatis 1, Rachel Pearson 5, Jen Carney 16, Sarah Curran 6.