City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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WARMINSTER -- Almost every day, Alexa Windish and Lauren Greer take a moment to savor where they are.

The Archbishop Wood seniors make up half of the Vikings’ quartet of captains and there’s no denying the work both have put in to get to that point. It’s also the first year in the starting lineup for both Windish and Greer and with two weeks left in the regular season, they’re well settled into those roles.

With the postseason only a couple weeks away, they’re also gearing up for that final stretch.

“I’d say we do that daily,” Greer said.

“We definitely give each other a little ‘look how far we’ve come,’” Windish added. “We really, really worked for these spots.”

Wood became the last unbeaten team in the PCL on Friday night with a 66-49 win over visiting Neumann-Goretti. Windish had 11 points, four rebounds and two assists while adding one to her team lead in charges taken while Greer tabbed five points, four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

Windish, who has committed to Kutztown, played off the bench last year as a consistent part of the rotation on Wood’s third straight state title team. Greer, who is uncommitted but has interest at the Division III level, played more sparingly as swing player between JV and varsity.

Whatever their minute totals at the end of last season, the two seniors knew much more was coming their way for their last campaign.

“We both worked really hard for this,” Windish said. “To be able to start this year, we wanted to use it as a big opportunity and step up as best we could as leaders on the floor.”

Greer, who played travel with Upper Makefield Heat Hoops and Windish, who played with the Mid-Atlantic Magic, both had strong summers in their last go-round with their respective teams and tried to carry it over.

“We’ve been on JV in years past, every day, we show up and we work hard just as everyone else does,” Greer said. “I think we’ve settled into our roles quite well and that’s what is helping us win a lot of these games.”

Wood’s two returning starters in senior Ava Renninger and junior Emily Knouse also compose the other half of the captain quartet. Those two are most likely going to be one and two in the scoring column most nights, so Windish and Greer have taken up supporting roles alongside them while also not fading into the background.

Greer (left) and Windish after Wood beat Neumann-Goretti on Friday evening.
(Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Greer routinely guards a top player on the other team, has a knack for making a great dish at a key juncture and has become more confident shooting the ball. Windish, as her propensity for getting bowled over to draw a foul on the opposing team shows, brings the energy and has also strived to be more assertive and confident in herself.

“The one thing for me has been confidence,” Greer said. “Being confident in my shot, my defense, my rebounding. My whole thing isn’t about just scoring, I do a lot on the boards and with assists, so finding confidence in my overall game and just trusting my teammates, we have a very strong connection and it’s very important.”

“Charges are big energy boosters in games, sliding over and taking a charge is always helpful to changing the energy of a game,” Windish said. “Makayla Finnegan for example, took a huge charge against (Archbishop) Carroll and seeing other people willing to step up that way is nice to have.”

Something both the first-year starters said they’ve tried to develop is a short-term mindset. They know Wood coach Mike McDonald is going to need them on the floor, so a mistake on the court isn’t something they can dwell on for long.

“While we’re in there, we want to move past any mistake we just made, move forward and impact the game as much as we can,” Windish said.

“You also have your teammates who are constantly lifting you up,” Greer added. “Everyone doesn’t always have their best game but your teammates are helping you through it so that’s a major part for me, getting over a turnover or something like that.”

Outside the four captains, it’s all underclassmen for Wood. Sophomore Sophia Topakas rounds out the first five and the rest of the main rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen. 

Greer and Windish get it, they worked their way up from JV and practice players to now starting as seniors and both agreed they’ve seen their teammates make some big strides already during the season.

Friday’s win put Wood in the pole position for the PCL’s top seed at the moment, but Greer, Windish and the rest of the team know that doesn’t afford them anything once February starts and the postseason with it. The two seniors want to go out with a PCL title, something they came three points short of last year, and a state title, which would be a fourth straight for Wood and something the program has never done before.

“We’ve seen each other do all this hard work,” Windish said. “We told each other, don’t give up on yourself, you made this far for a reason. It’s something we always pick each other up with.”

“It’s another reason why we play so aggressively in the games,” Greer said. “We know how much work we’ve put in, so we don’t want it to end on a bad note.

“With all the work we’ve put in, we don’t want that to go to waste.”