By John Knebels
(Photos by Donna Eckert)
The anatomy of “The Play” deserves special mention inside the glorious 79-year-old annals of Philadelphia Catholic League girls’ basketball.
With 12.2 seconds left and the score tied at 29-29 in a classic, defense-dominated PCL playoff semifinal Tuesday night at the University City campus of St. Joseph’s University, Archbishop Wood’s Delaney Finnegan is about to inbound from the left sideline adjacent to the free-throw line. Desperately searching for a teammate, the senior forward spots Emily Knouse as the sophomore guard breaks free and speeds to the left of the arc. Knouse receives the pass and flips to junior guard Ava Renninger, who takes three dribbles and returns a pass to Knouse, who immediately tosses to senior power forward Deja Evans, who, at that point, is unaware that the defining moment of her scholastic career and the most joyous moment of her life is but 7.4 seconds away.
Electing not to thread a low-percentage pass to a breaking Knouse angling toward the basket, Evans exercises a smart read when she pitches a pass to Renninger. Clearly intending to end this battle on her own, a fearless Renninger dribbles twice, takes two long steps, and with her body falling to the right, lofts an off-balance, high arcing attempt that barely misses as the ball hits the back of the rim and falls back into play.
Stationed underneath as she has done throughout the contest, Evans deftly avoids a foul as she reaches over her opponent and, with her right hand, simultaneously rebounds and attempts to bank home a shot. The effort misfires, but the ball bounces clean off the left side of the glass. Hounded by three nearby defenders, Evans catches the rebound and, in one ridiculously athletic motion, puts up a last-ditch shot to avoid overtime.
Her offer taps the left side of the glass, skims the rim, takes its good ol’ time rolling halfway around the globe . . . and falls through the hoop like a reluctant skydiver descending from an airplane.
Archbishop Wood vs. Cardinal O' Hara semifinal game highlights. (Video/ John Knebels & Donna Eckert for PSD)
Buzzer sounds. Archbishop Wood, 31, Cardinal O’Hara 29.
Evans, jumping on an invisible pogo stick, is mobbed by her delirious teammates. Knouse is the first to reach her. Finnegan pushes through the sea of green and white and grabs her heroic classmate. She spins Evans around as though auditioning for a musical; then extends her right arm around Evans’ neck en route to the bench.
After partaking in the traditional post-game handshake, the Vikings repeat a loud, jubilant encore near center court.
“It’s unexplainable,” said Evans, whose 19 points, 10 rebounds, and six blocks propelled the Vikings to this coming Monday’s PCL championship against top-seed Lansdale Catholic at the Palestra. “I’m very excited.”
If she had it her way, the first-team All-Catholic would have exited the delirious locker room incognito. That way, all of her teammates – like Finnegan (4 points, 5 rebounds, assist), Knouse (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Renninger (2 rebounds), senior Kara Meredith (3 rebounds, steal), and junior Alexa Windish (2 points, 3 rebounds, assist in limited minutes) could enjoy the interviews and positive publicity.
But sharing the spotlight was an unavoidable task for the likeable, soft-spoken young woman who scored all nine of Wood’s fourth-quarter points.
Lady of the hour: Archbishop Wood senior Deja Evans scored at the buzzer to get the Vikings a trip to the PCL Championship. (video/ John Knebels for PSD)
“I was scared that it was going to roll out, but it went in and all this excitement just shot through my body,” said Evans. “We just needed high energy, and I just wanted to come into the game with high energy and give it to my team. And my team fed off that.”
The Albany University-bound Evans said Wood’s final basket wasn’t exactly rocket science.
“It was just instinct,” she said. “I saw the ball coming off the rim and I just went to go get it.”
Archbishop Wood, the number-two seed who had also defeated three-seed Cardinal O’Hara, 47-37, during the regular season, took its first lead at 24-23 with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter when Evans turned three individual rebounds into a basket. After a bucket by O’Hara junior Joanie Quinn (10 points, 3 rebounds, steal) and subsequent free throw by sophomore Molly Rullo (6 points, 8 rebounds, block) – both first-team All-Catholics – put the Lions in front, 26-24, Evans converted two free throws to tie the game, then followed with a put-back to move Wood ahead 28-26 with 4:42 left.
A clutch three-pointer by junior Carly Coleman (10 points, three rebounds, steal) gave O’Hara a 29-28 lead with 4:30 remaining before a free throw by Evans knotted the soon-becoming-a-classic at 29-29.
After trading defensive stops, a highly questionable (putting it kindly) offensive foul call on Rullo with 39.7 seconds left not only relegated O’Hara’s best player to the bench with her fifth whistle, it gave Wood a final possession, and in a defensive game like this one, such an advantage was akin to gold.
Archbishop Wood's Alexa Windish provided a key spark during Wood's win over O'Hara. (Video/ John Knebels for PSD)
Sparkplug Windish, whose aforementioned statistics don’t accurately define her all-around contribution, watched the drama unfold from the bench.
“At that point, I’m definitely a fan,” laughed Windish. “I kept saying, ‘Come on guys. You got this. Just a couple more seconds. Give it your all.’ I was a fan the whole entire time.”
Windish couldn’t find enough glowing words to describe her teammate Evans.
“She’s a huge part of the team,” said Windish. “She makes all the plays. She’s so strong. She’s the perfect player for this team.”
After the Wood program advanced to the PCL final for the 13th time in 15 seasons, elated Vikings coach Mike McDonald engineered a mini-gallop down the sideline before embracing his coaching staff.
Having just notched his 100th career PCL victory in the quarterfinal triumph over Conwell-Egan five nights earlier, McDonald had never experienced something quite like this.
Archbishop Wood head coach Mike McDonald is asked where this dramatic win ranks in his coaching career. ( Video/ John Knebels for PSD)
“The ending was pretty amazing,” said McDonald. “We’ve had plenty of close games to get there. But the way that ended . . . I have that one ready to go on my phone and on the computer. I’ll go back and watch that probably about 100 times tonight.”
Once the ball was inbounded, McDonald could only hope his players would execute under extremely challenging circumstances, because regardless of the painstaking preparation, constant practice, motivational speeches, and words of wisdom, nothing truly prepares an athlete for the moment of truth.
Over those tense, anxiety-inducing final 12.2 seconds, every player from both teams rose to the occasion. Wood ran its offense with confidence and dexterity while O’Hara, which almost overcame a 27-15 disparity in rebounding, played extraordinary defense.
“They did everything I asked,” said O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan. “It wasn’t enough.”
Because the game came down to one dramatic final possession, McDonald – and every basketball coach – can remind players why the mantra of “play to the whistle” isn’t just a cliché; it can turn wins into losses, championships into what-ifs.
“The loose ball that you dribble instead of picking up matters, because it’s possession by possession,” said McDonald. “If you give up that possession and go down by six or seven, that’s the end of it in a lot of ways because now, you have to really play desperately.”
The Vikings played from behind for the entire initial three quarters, but they never trailed by more than seven, which occurred early in the second.
They trailed by 20-14 early in the third after a three by Coleman. A sensationally entertaining fourth quarter offered two ties and five lead changes.
McDonald was asked to describe what he was feeling during the last possession, and in particular, the final two seconds. Did he morph into part-coach, part-fan?
Archbishop Wood vs. Cardinal O'Hara Semifinal Game. (Photo gallery by Donna Echert for PSD)
“Without a doubt,” he said. “My knees are buckling. I’m ready to jump up. I’m saying, ‘Just go in.’ Part of me was like, I don’t know . . . another round? I can’t do another Round 13 in this boxing match.”
Didn’t have to. Deja Evans made sure of that.
“When you know that you’re going to the Palestra in that moment,” said McDonald, “it’s pretty special.”
(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)