PHILADELPHIA - The Neumann-Goretti girl’s basketball team won 53 straight games heading into Monday night’s clash against Archbishop Wood for the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship. The two teams have plenty of history together, especially in recent years. Both the Neumann and Wood girl’s teams have played in the PCL final for the last three years, but Neumann always seems to be the team to beat in Philadelphia.

On that warm February night, the Saints’ winning streak would be snapped at the Palestra in what turned out to be one of the most competitive games played between the two squads, but from the tip, it was clear that Wood came out with a more aggressive and motivated mindset.

Archbishop Wood started out the game on an 11-2 run, and it seemed as though the game was already starting to pull away in the first five minutes of the contest.

The nationally ranked Neumann Saints showed that they would not go down without a fight though, ending the first quarter on a strong 4-0 run to keep the game within reach with an 11-6 score heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter was a grind-it-out period for both teams. The two PCL standout schools struggled to buy baskets, and a total of four field goals were made in the second quarter.

The quarter started out with Neumann-Goretti splitting a pair of free throws at the line, pulling the Saints within four points of Archbishop Wood. Bailey Greenberg, one of the dominant senior forwards for Wood, responded with an impressive post shot to push the lead back up to 6 with five minutes remaining in the half.

Once again however, the undefeated Saints of Neumann-Goretti showed their toughness by answering back with another commanding 4-0 run on their own, sparked by the veterans of the team.

Junior guard, Chyna Nixon, started off the scoring burst with a strong layup in the lane with 4:10 to go in the second quarter. After some scrappy defense played by the Saints to keep Wood scoreless for the next four minutes, senior star, Alisha Kebbe, scored on an athletic driving layup to make the contest a two-point game, the closest it had been the entire night to that point.

With the crowd coming alive for Neumann-Goretti, sophomore forward, Kate Connolly quieted the black-and-gold faithful with a calm and composed layup to put Wood up two possessions at the end of the quarter.

Heading into halftime, Wood still led 15-11, but momentum seemed to be shifting towards the PCL’s top-ranked Saints.

The third quarter began with a picture-perfect three pointer for Neumann-Goretti, pulling them within a single point of Wood, but on the next possession, the Saints would give back those three points by fouling Cassie Sebold of Archbishop Wood on her three-point attempt.

Sebold would head to the line shooting three free throws, and swished in all three to calm things down for the green-and-gold, once again pushing the lead back to four with an 18-14 score in favor of Wood with 5:30 left in the third.

Kebbe, the Saints’ star senior would respond once again with a determined drive to the hoop, scoring on a strong layup assisted by sophomore center, Daijah Parmley, to make it a two-point game.

Then, one of the defining moments of the game played out.

Wood’s sophomore guard, Katie May, drained a long three-pointer to push the lead back up to five. The Saints looked to respond quickly on the other end, but another sophomore for Wood, Kate Connolly, rejected a shot in the lane which led to May draining another spot-up three to make it an eight-point, 24-16 lead over Neumann.

A story retold, the Saints would answer back with a signature 4-0 run thanks to field goals made by seniors Kamiah Smalls and Alisha Kebbe, to once again make it a two-possession game with under two minutes left in the quarter.

A veteran of their own, Wood’s, Bailey Greenberg, responded with a vital three-point play, drawing a foul and draining a basket simultaneously. Greenberg made the succeeding free-throw, making the score 27-20 to end the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Alisha Kebbe once again brought the Saints within striking distance of Archbishop Wood, going on a 5-0 run of her own with four minutes left in the game. After rattling in a clutch corner three to make the score 30-27, she was able to make two free throws on the next possession after being fouled by Wood.

The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch to keep it a one point game until the final minute. With 1:30 left in the game, Archbishop Wood led Neumann-Goretti 34-33.

Clutch free throws, defense and rebounding in the last minute would be the difference maker in the game.

Cassie Sebold (3), Claire Bassetti (1) and Bailey Greenberg (2) combined to make six free throws in the final 60 seconds to put the game out of reach.

A last second three pointer by Alisha Kebbe would make the final score closer for the Saints, but Wood came out of the Palestra as the victor.

Archbishop Wood earned the 2016 Philadelphia Catholic Girl’s Basketball Championship with a 40-36 win over formerly undefeated Neumann-Goretti.

“We were able to slow it down offensively to keep them with less possessions on the other end,” Wood head-coach Mike McDonald said after the championship victory. “They can clearly score the ball, holding them to 11 points in the first half was gigantic, but I think that some of it was our defense and a lot of it was how patient we were on offense. We weren’t putting up bad shots, we weren’t turning it over that often.”

Much of the reason that the Lady Vikings were able to milk the clock and take high-percentage shots was due in large part to senior guard, Claire Bassetti, who was truly able to control the pace of the game with her patience on the perimeter.

“Who doesn’t want to get a W at the Palestra?” Bassetti exclaimed with a smile on her face after the game. “We have really worked hard this season to get back here. We came out strong and we accomplished our goal which was to win the PCL Championship at the Palestra.”

Bailey Greenberg, one of the game’s standouts not only had a big day on the hardwood on Monday, but she also had an important day in the classroom.

“I was kind of stressed because I had two tests and I didn’t want to fail them, but I did good so it’s okay,” Greenberg cheerfully said. “After my two tests were done…I had butterflies the whole time, I was so nervous, but then I realized we had nothing to lose so we were going to go out there and play our hardest and we did.”

The two tests turned out to be anatomy and theology, but the latter of the two subjects caught Greenberg off guard.

“You would think theology is easy, but it’s actually not,” Greenberg comically said. “You’d think, ‘I love God, we win’ but no it’s not like that.”

Well it turned out that maybe, just maybe, the extra time she put into studying faith might have actually paid off.